There’s a lot to think about when you start your first business. Going down the route of e-commerce can be extremely profitable, even more so if your business operates in the area of tech and gadgets. Once you’ve set up a website, established a social media presence and nailed down your business model, the time comes to order your first set of inventory.
#1 Compare prices and quality
Most startup e-commerce sites operate on extremely thin margins. That’s even more true where tech is concerned. There’s a lot of competition and you’ll need to get your pricing right to make any kind of impact. The best way to do this is through comparison. Depending on the type of tech you’re stocking you can use a specialized search engine like Octopart. These allow you to search for tech components from a range of suppliers and use that information to find the best price.
Take margins into account and don’t forget about postage as it can really eat into your profits and is sometimes overlooked. It’s not all about money, though. Prices will make you stand out, but if you want to maintain a long-term business selling tech, then you’ll need a reputation for quality. In such a crowded field, bad reviews stack up fast. Source the highest quality tech from the best suppliers to ensure your reputation rises over the long term.
#2 Decide how you’ll fulfill orders
When it comes to fulfilling your orders you have two options. You can choose to hold your own inventory and take care of delivery yourself, or dropship. Dropshipping is popular among e-commerce businesses that specialize in tech. Dropshippers don’t hold stock, so you won’t have to worry about sending out deliveries. Instead, when a customer places an order, it’s fulfilled by a third party.
As attractive as that sounds it does often equate to slower deliveries and a somewhat fraught returns process. Holding your own stock has the advantage of putting you in total control, but you’ll need a storage facility. For e-commerce sites selling tech, that’s even more important. Tech is often expensive, so you’ll have to pay special attention to security.
#3 Identify trends and follow them
The tech industry is ripe with trends and they’re usually easy to follow. Regular tech users are plugged into social media, so it’s simple to track their tastes. New trends can emerge overnight, but as a business owner, you’re more interested in the long term. Look for new releases in the tech industry and tap into their popularity to leverage your own stock.
SEO has a part to play here. Trends spawn a range of applicable keywords and phrases that can be used to drive traffic towards your online store.
By researching trending topics carefully and using keywords effectively, you can establish even the smallest of businesses as a leader within the market. SEO is powerful and you’ll likely use it frequently, but it’s never more important than when it’s tied to market trends.
