According to Remarkety, a US-based marketing platform for
e-commerce, there are over 190 million online buyers in the United States alone.
However, only 28 percent of US small businesses have made their products
available for online shoppers. With competition in the e-commerce sphere not yet
to turn aggressive among small businesses, it opens up a huge scope for you to go
online and find retail success.
Before moving forward, it’s however important for you to decide
which model of online selling you want to opt for? Should you revamp yourexisting website and start your own dedicated e-store or should you opt for an
online marketplace and list your products on that website? The answer lies in
the size of your business and your brand (recognition) value. If both fare
high, an e-store is the obvious choice. If not, why not set shop in a thriving
‘marketplace’, and make the most of its popularity!
Why choose a marketplace?
You must have made umpteen purchases from eBay, Amazon or Etsy,
haven’t you? Do these sites manufacture the products they sell? No. They are all
online marketplaces. Here, shoppers have the option to try out a wide range of
products listed by the respective brands on the site. A vendor has to pay the
website (read market place), a certain percentage of sales on its products that
are here, while the owner of this website handles the responsibility of managing
the monetary transactions and attracting the customers.
The sole reason why you should sell your products on online
marketplaces is to tap into a massive rate of daily traffic. The community
programs manager at Etsy, Susannah Bradley feels, “With over 19.8 million active buyers worldwide, Etsy offers the
potential to get in front of a huge global audience. With free listing codes
for new sellers, there is 0% investment until an item has been sold”. Smorgasbords
such as Etsy is a great option for small and growing businesses, where they can
quickly reach a wealth of customers at an affordable rate.
WORLD’S LEADING MARKETPLACES AT A GLANCE
WEBSITE NAME
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TRAFFIC
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amazon.com
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Reaches over 77 million Americans, monthly
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eBay.com
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Reaches over 77 million Americans, monthly
|
etsy.com
|
Reaches over 9 million Americans, monthly
|
flipkart.com
|
Reaches over 23 million Indians, monthly
|
snapdeal.com
|
Reaches over 17 million Indians, monthly
|
GOING WITH AN E-STORE
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You can obviously take the big leap of turning your own website
into an exclusive e-store when shoppers are well acquainted with your brand.
However, for a small business that’s yet to find a strong footing in the
competitive market, it’s probably a bit too early to take that risk. With hordes of big names acting as
competitors, products from small businesses often run the risk of being
ignored. When shopping virtually, people tend to prefer trusted brands they
are familiar with.
However, there have been instances of small businesses creating
their own e-commerce stores, too. With precisely targeted paid advertising
now running amuck on social networking sites, these businesses are
effectively using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to make people more
aware of their products. Once your brand is a popular one, online shoppers
will visit you directly and buy your products from your own e-commerce store.
This will also save you of the commission to be paid to the marketplace owner
on sold items. All you need is a little upfront cost during the promotional
phase. To begin with, you can first list yourself on a popular marketplace,
and once your brand name and products gain popularity, you can kick start
your own online shop!
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Need help listing your product in a marketplace or want to designyour personal e-store at an affordable price? We can help you with both. Contact
us here.
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