Online Selling 101
Online Selling 101
(Acronyms, basics, etc.)
Selling
is one of the easiest ways to earn money and the internet made it easier for
sellers to sell their products and also for young entrepreneurs to start their
businesses.
However,
there are pros and cons of online selling. A separate post will be about it
soon. For now, here’s are the basic things you need to know as a seller or
buyer.
ACRONYMS
Hm? – how much?
Sf – shipping fee
Lp? – last price
Sfs – shout for a shout
Nfs – not for sale
M.O.P. – mode of payment
C.O.D. – cash on delivery
D.O.P. – date of payment
Eta – estimated time of arrival
O.F. – Order form
O.R. – official receipt
R.O.I. – return on investment
PH – Philippines
RTW – ready to wear
RTW – ready to wear
MTO – made to order
*Acronyms are to be updated. For now, these are
the ones I can think of. If you would like to contribute an acronym not stated
above, please comment below.
Basics
I came up with eight (8) important things you
need to do, think of and more importantly, understand before putting up an
online shop and before you start selling.
1. Mission/Goal
I believe you must have a mission or goal why you
are putting up an online shop. The main objective is to earn money… or extra
money (for some people). Some are motivated to sell online because they could
get quite a good return and use it to buy the other things they want to buy
without asking their parents money. Some, too, sell online to get earn money to
help the family or the house expenses while some have really decided to make it
a business.
But it takes a lot of understanding to see online
selling beyond earning profits. Let’s say for example the three basic reasons
stated earlier. Some girls (mostly college students) enter the online business
because they would like to earn money to buy what they want. They do this
because they no longer want to ask their parents money. If you understand the
goal here (which is to help their parents by being financial independent), then
you’re ready to go to the number 2. If it’s still unclear, let me give you
another example.
Some opens an online shop because they want to
help their family. Not every one of us is fortunate to be born with a golden
spoon. Some needs to work their ass off to earn extra income to help with the
expenses or help a family member. Their goal is to earn money, yes that’s right
but deeper than that is their love for their family. They are motivated because
they want the best for their family. Are you getting the point now?
It is important to know your objective because
this will motivate you and when you’re motivated, you exert efforts to make a
sale. You need to understand why you’re doing it because if you just do it for
the sake of earning, I’m sure you’ll lose interest when you have no more buyers
buying from you.
2. Product/Service and Target Market
If you have distinguished or established your
goal, next to think of is the product. What product do you want to sell or what
service do you want to offer? You must choose the product or service you’re
most knowledgeable or at least passionate about. This will help you be more
interested in what you’re going to do when you start selling.
There are so many products or services to sell
online. You can sell RTW products which you could get from thrift stores or
well-known supplier markets like Divisoria/Baclaran. You could sell ready-made
or made-to-order accessories – female and male accessories like jewelry, bags,
hats, caps, etc. You can also sell gadgets but that would be quite a risky and
hard item to sell online. You could sell school suppliers or stationaries like
the famous washi tapes and colorful pens. There are a lot more products you can
sell, I’m pretty sure you have something in mind already.
As for the services, there are famous services
being offered in the internet today like the printing services (business card,
receipt, record books, address book, packaging, etc). Though this comes with a
product, but the service of having it printed and delivered to a customer is
still under the service category. More services could be offered like paid ads,
logo making, survey/researching, virtual assistance, etc. The famous
Freelance.com is one of the websites that display different service jobs.
Once you have decided what to offer, you now have
to know your target market. In marketing, target market is defined as…
You have to know which your product/service is
targeted to. Why? Simply because it’s going to be hard for you to sell to every
individ ual in the market. Knowing a target market depends on many factors;
factors such as demographics, geographics, lifestyle, behavior, etc. You can’t
sell to a14 year high school student, who has an average lifestyle and lives in
a province, a pair of shoes worth more than 800 pesos. Maybe you could but
wouldn’t it be much easier to sell to a 20 year old college student who lives
in an urban area and has a much better lifestyle than the high school?
Knowing your target makes it easier for you to
assess which of the products you chose would be profitable.
3. Capital
In many books, you’d see that checking your
financial is in the first steps before choosing a product to sell. But for me,
based on what I did, when I decided what product to sell, that’s the only time
I checked my savings or the finances I could use. I was short of a couple of thousands
but I saved up for it and some I borrowed from my parents.
If you are short too, at least you have a fair knowledge how much money you’ll need to get the products to sell. This way, you can still save for it and prepare for it. For me, it was more motivating (and easier) to know what I’m aiming for than basing my decisions and actions on what I only have. But if you feel that it’s better to check your finances first, go ahead. There is nothing wrong because you can swap number 2 and 3 in the process anyway.
If you are short too, at least you have a fair knowledge how much money you’ll need to get the products to sell. This way, you can still save for it and prepare for it. For me, it was more motivating (and easier) to know what I’m aiming for than basing my decisions and actions on what I only have. But if you feel that it’s better to check your finances first, go ahead. There is nothing wrong because you can swap number 2 and 3 in the process anyway.
4. Platform
Now you have to select which platform are you
going to use in selling. Before, I was more active in Multiply.com. I moved to
Facebook but didn’t get to focus because I was a graduating student. After
graduation, that’s when I pursued online selling again, but through Instagram.
There are different platforms you can choose
from. Most of the platforms used are the social media sites like Facebook and
Instagram. Others are Sulit.com, Wordpress, Wix, Etsy, Ebay, and many more.
Choose just one platform to begin with then
slowly create accounts in the different platforms to gain internet presence
advantage. It is important to observe and assess which platform you know best
and which platform your target market is using. Research and observation is the
key!
5. Courier and Mode of Payments
As soon as you have decided which platform to
use, you must then check which courier service is accessible for you. Not only
that, you must also consider the rates whether it’s affordable for your buyers
or not. Also, you have to check which mode of payments is accessible and most
convenient for you. Yes, you read it right… FOR YOU… at least for now.
I have started selling and receiving payments
through GCASH and BPI Bank deposit. Then as the business goes, I saw which
payment methods are most convenient or accessible to my buyers. That’s when I
started to offer the other mode of payments.
Before, GCASH one of the famous mode of payments
however, because of the fees Globe has required, many buyers would like
different options like bank deposits and money transfers.
In my opinion, the three (3) most recognized modes
of payments are BPI bank deposit, LBC and Cebuana money transfer. This is
because:
BPI
- convenient if you already have an account with them because you can now easily transfer money through their BPI app
- they do not have bank fees and accept transfer for as low as 10 pesos
LBC
- they are very accessible in almost anywhere in the Philippines however their service charge is higher
Cebuana
- accessible and the service charge is much cheaper than LBC
I will be discussing more
about the following in a different blog post soon so please watch out for it.
6. Supplier
If you chose to sell
products, let’s say RTW, you must find a good supplier. It takes time meaning
you won’t find the best supplier in one visit. Just like in life, it takes a
while to establish a good relationship with a supplier. Also, you have to find
a supplier nearby so you won’t have too many additional expenses like fares and
meals (include the effort and time!).
Choose a supplier that is
easy to speak with. Choose those who have a legit stall or store and who could
provide contact details like calling cards or receipt. This is to assure that when you start getting
items from them, they will still be around; think of a long term relationship.
Because if you choose those stalls on the streets of Divisoria or Baclaran,
they may change their location anytime without you knowing so when you ran out
of stocks, it will bring you stress.
For the first transactions,
have at least three suppliers for the same product to see which one is worthy
of the relationship. It’s always better to have options.
7. Packaging
Some sellers have forgotten
the power of packaging. Good packaging satisfies customers and satisfied
customers results to customer loyalty which means, repetitive purchases.
Packaging is an important
strategic tool. It has the potential to give the product and/or brand the
competitive advantage to make it stand apart from the competition.
There are different
packaging styles – from cost effective to the most complex ones - and I will
share it with you guys soon too.
8. Pricing
After considering everything
– from the cost of the products, expenses like internet fee, fare to
suppliers/payment centers to the packaging costs – you must then calculate how
you will price your items.
Buyers always decide whether
the utility and satisfaction gained from the product and/or brand is worth the
price paid in exchange for it. Here are a few ways on how to price your item/s:
Competitive Pricing, Bulk-Pricing, Cash Pricing, Seasonal Pricing, Premium
Pricing, and Penetration Pricing.
More information about each
will be discussed further in the following days. I’m still making the blog
post.
Those are the 8 important
things to know and understand before actually setting up an online store. These
are based from my experience and may differ to some sellers. If you have
questions, suggestions and other interpretations, do not hesitate to comment
below.
For the other scheduled
topics and posts, check them here.
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