THE ETAILSUCCESS7MISTAKES….When building a successful Ecommerce Business

7 MISTAKES WHEN BUILDING ANECOMMERCE BUSINESS

1.Thinking it’s easy

2.Believing that custo m ers will just “fi nd you”

3.Thinking that yo u are

“diff erent” and “unique”

4.Making yourself “secret”so nobody fi nds yo u

5.Believing that it is all about the

w ebsite and the front end

6.Thinking that yo u can trade

across the w orld and with

any partner

7.Leaving custo m e r service as an afte rthought

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1. THINKING IT’S EASY

T h e re is a ma jo r misconcept ion that it is ve r y

easy to set up an E c o m m e rc e business….

that is partly t rue …

it is fairly easy to set up an E c o m m e rc e

w ebsite

T o set up an E c o m m e rc e Bus iness is

demanding and long te r m – there are mil l ions

o f w ebsites ou t there , that sell your p roduc t

and yo u are just o n e w e b s i t e in a mass ive e-

ocean

A n E c o m m e rc e Bus iness is just that – it is a

real bus iness , and as such it needs planning,

strategy, funding and then d eveloping

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2. BELIEVING THAT CUSTOMERS WILL JUST “FIND YOU”

M a ny people believe that o n c e yo u set up a w ebsite yo u wil l be “found ”

U n fo r tunate ly this is n o t the case – a w ebsite has n o p resence until it has been through a p ro p e r, and de tailed launch p rocess

Imagine walking d ow n the high st ree t w h e re yo u see m a ny shops o n bo th s ides o f the road – they all have big signs ac ros s the fron t and p robab ly a bus s to p sign to see fro m the s ide , they have p lenty o f co lou r and they have a relevant w i n d ow display – all of which you will notice

Yo u w ou ldn ’t o p e n a shop o n the high st ree t w i thout these basics in place , s o w h y launch an onl ine shop w i thout E c o m m e rc e bus iness basics

Mak ing yo u r E c o m m e rc e bus iness o p e n to be “found ” involves m a ny technical and marketing areas – e .g. making su re the headings are set, making su re the m e ta data tags are readable and ensur ing yo u have p lenty o f relevant c o n tent

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3. THINKING THAT YOU ARE “DIFFERENT” AND “UNIQUE”

W h e n people have the idea to set up an E c o m m e rce business they believe they are to tally d iff eren t and unique….unfo r tunate ly in m o s t cases they are not .

D u e to the large nu m b e r o f E c o m m e rce businesses, m o s t p roduc t s are so ld by a nu m b e r o f e tailers in a nu m b e r o f d iff eren t w ays.

T ry it fo r yoursel f…….Choose yo u r favour i te p roduc t and google it. C l i ck o n the shopping results and yo u wil l see h ow ma ny people sell that p roduct !

S o m e E c o m m e rce bus inesses are truly unique, i.e . if they have a special p roduct that is patented or new to the market

In the main, the uniqueness is due to ; the brand values, the w ay the p roduc t s are sold and the custo m e r service .

Th i s wil l make a unique brand and E c o m m e rce business, n o t on ly the p roduc t

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4.MAKING YOURSELF SECRET SO NOBODY FINDS YOUW h e n building a new E c o m m e rce business,

o w n e r s o ften w a n t to keep themselves secre t and n o t let the compet i t ion see w h a t they are doing and w h a t they are d eveloping……..Th i s c reates a sec re t w ebsite wh ich people wil l n o t fi nd.

E c o m m e rce is open and searchable 24/7 – be p roud , hones t and open wi th yo u r E c o m m e rce business – make sure yo u are seen in all the fo rums , social media and shopping sites

Yo u w a n t yo u r E c o m m e rce business to been seen by eve rybody, including yo u r compet i t ion .

T h e m o re people are exposed to yo u r brand the m o re o p p o r t u n i t i e s yo u have to sell p roducts

R e m e m b e r the law o f 7 – Peop le need to see yo u r brand at least 7 t imes befo re the buy fro m yo uC O P Y R I G H T R E TA I L P O T E N T I A L LT D

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5.BELIEVING THAT IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WEBSITE AND THE FRONT ENDTh i s is a ve ry c o m m o n mistake – the fro n t end is

ve ry impo rtant, as this is w h a t the custo m e r see’s, bu t a go o d fro n t end is useless w i thout a great backend and people visiting

H aving an amazing looking fro n t end is a c o m m o n target fo r ma ny E c o m m e rce businesses…m y cl ients are neve r targeted o n a great fro n t end , they need to ensure brand cons is tency and ease o f use , bu t w e fo c u s the cl ients o n functionality and custo m e r service

T h e backend m ust enable a custo m e r to purchase an item seamless ly, adding to the basket, paying fo r the ite m s and receiving them should all be s imple .

T h e backend needs up to date stock and a custo m e r needs to be able to track their o rde r and easily return o r interact with C u s to m e r service if neededC O P Y R I G H T R E TA I L P O T E N T I A L LT D

5.BELIEVING THAT IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WEBSITE AND THE FRONT END

A great looking fro n t end is n o t going to attrac t t r a ffi c and customers - it will con ve r t them and help them re-visit, bu t it d o e s nothing to bring them there in the fi rst place .

M a r keting in all it’s fo r m s ( P P C , SEO , Email, Socia l Med ia e tc) is w h a t makes an E c o m m e rce business successful , yo u m ust drive t r a ffi c to the E c o m m e rce w ebsite in o rde r to be able to sell to t hem

Driv ing t r a ffi c to the w ebsite and delighting the custo m e r s , builds yo u long term success – n o t an amazing looking fro n t end

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5.BELIEVING THAT IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WEBSITE AND THE FRONT END

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6.THINKING THAT YOU CAN TRADE ACROSS THE WORLD AND WITH ANY PARTNER

Many peop le set t ing out on the Ecommerce journey be l ieve they can se l l to any cus tomer anywhere – th i s i s a g reat ambi t ion , but a complete red herr ing in the beg inn ing

At the s ta r t , you must have a n iche and ta rget in mind – market ing your Ecommerce bus iness to the wor ld w i l l cos t mi l l i ons and cause many i ssues

G loba l laws and ru les make t rad ing g loba l ly d iffi cu l t – many d iff erent laws and taxes make th i s a complex task .

Long term i t w i l l bu i ld a success fu l Ecommerce bus iness , but in the shor t te rm i t w i l l cause many i ssues

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ACROSS THE ORLD AND WITH ANY PARTNER

Thinking globally means new E c o m m e rce bus inesses look to A m a z o n and Ebay to set up their shops and sell their p roduc t s – afte r setting up 5 E c o m - m e rce bus inesses in the last 4 years, I can p romise that this is a ve ry d iff cu l t task

Selling o n Ebay is n o t to o d iff cu l t , bu t it takes t ime , needs planning and has extra cos ts in the fo rm o f fee ’s

Selling o n A m a z o n fo r a start-up is m o re a less a n o go – A m a z o n is t rusted and on ly allow s go o d quality E c o m m e rce bus inesses to trad e . T h e y also have a compl icated p rocess , wh ich means it takes m o n t h s to start trading.

H o w ever, o n c e set up, both Ebay and A m a z o n are great marketing and gro w t h engines fo r a successfu l E c o m m e rce businessC O P Y R I G H T R E TA I L P O T E N T I A L LT D

6.THINKING THAT YOU CAN TRADE ACROSS THE WORLD AND WITH ANY PARTNER

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7.LEAVING CUSTOMER SERVICE AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT

Customer service is the number one priority in all Retailers and etailers (See my book to find out how important the customer is)

When you set up a successful Ecommerce business, you must think about the customer in every part of the business.

From deciding which products to sell, to the branding and the way you will attract your customers they must be thought of.

When building the website, thought on how the customer will interact is critical.

The website must be easy top use, clear and have very simple Customer Service procedures, should the customers need to contact you

Customers are key and must be thought about through the whole process

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THE PROGRAMME

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The goal of the Etail Success programme is to enable you to set up a successful Ecommerce business.

Through the programme you will build up your knowledge of YOUR business and YOUR customers, which will enable you to set up an Ecommerce business that meets their wants, needs and desires.

T h e p ro g ra mm e is split into 4 modules :

•Planning Yo u r E c o m m e rce Business•Building Yo u r E c o m m e rce W ebsite and b e c o m e Mult ichannel

•Launch, M a r keting and Socia l Med ia•M e a s u re , T est and Impro ve

Each module covers the in depth details of what you need to do, in order to set up a successful Ecommerce business.

Copyright Retail Potential Ltd

C O P Y R I G H T R E TA I L P O T E N T I A L LT D

opyright Retail Potential Ltd

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NOTE WHEN BUILDING AN ECOMMERCE BUSINESSIt is impo rtant fo r yo u to unders tand that w e are n o t talking about building a w ebsite and e-shop – technical ly that is a ve ry easy job . Des ign and brand- ing takes a whi le , bu t m o s t w ebsites can be built quickly and at a reasonable pr ice

W e fo c u s o n building a successfu l Ecommerce business

W e have launched 5 E c o m m e rce Businesses , and they have all been ex - tre m e ly d i cu l t and compl icated, but w e have d eveloped a p rocess to set up an E c o m m e rce business during the last 4 years

T h e foundat ions o f any business is a plan - A l l bus inesses need a plan and fo r a successfu l E c o m m e rce business this go e s m uch further than a w ebsite

Wi t h o u r tried and tes ted training and suppo rt p ro g ra mm e s w e take yo u through the who le p rocess and suppo rt yo u eve ry step o f the w ay

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ABOUT US

Antony Welfare – Founder and AuthorA n to ny w a s b o rn into a family o f R e tailers – in the 1920 ’s his G reat Grandfather, at the age o f 26, set up a ve ry successfu l p ro visions shop in K ent

Antony has been a retail and Ecommerce expert for over 20 years, with experience from international multi-channel retailers; Marks & Spencer, Sainsburys, Dixons Retail and Homebase. The last few years have been working with smaller entrepreneurs, online stores and fashion brands.

•Onl ine R e tail & Socia l Med ia expe rt•Author – T h e R e tail H a n d b o o k•Exper t speaker and TV News commentato r•W rite r and Expe rt fo r the Nat iona l Digi tal H igh St reet Skills training programme

•Retail M anagemen t BS c H o n s•20 Years in R e tail•Large R e tailer exper ience for 15 years

•Inte rnational exper ience for 2 years.

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EAGER TO LEARN MORE?

A NTO N Y @ R ETA I L POT E N T I A L . C O M

@ A N TO N Y W E L FA R E

FA C E B O O K . C O M /A N T O N Y W E L FA R E

07976 367992

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