You’re going to build an online shop. You’ve got in mind what you want to sell and you can get a good price from a wholesaler/distributor. You think you know who your customers will be. You’ve got money on the hip to invest in the project. You build a website. You get no traffic. You run out of money. You lose interest. You do something else.

This is the oh so familiar story behind e-commerce projects where basic marketing knowledge has been completely missed out.

To use one analogy; you run a book shop in a small alley off the High Street. You know who your competitors are – they’re on the High Street around the corner (perhaps Waterstones or WHSmith). Your customers and potential customers pass your shop when walking to the bus station.

You open an online book store: your competition has increased hundred-fold and you don’t exactly know how any traffic will find you, you get no passing trade because the search engines don’t know your site exists, the minimum bid on Google Adwords is not a price you want to pay per click.

Still sound familiar? So what’s the answer?

1. When deciding on a project consult Porter’s Five Forces Model. Look it up. Google it. If there are too many competitors, substitutes and buyer power, don’t bother. If you’re a book shop, are your prices comparable to Amazon, Play, Waterstones, WHSmith, Blackwells? What about ebay?
2. Work out your 4P’s: What is your Product, price (+pricing strategy), place (how you’re going to get it to the marketplace) and promotion (e.g. advertising).
3. Is it a niche/specialised product? If so you stand more chance of it becoming a success. Work out why people need your product. Individuals buy products and services to solve a problem. The difference between a need and a want is massive. Consult Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Google it. It’ll be easier to market your product within specialist media too – thus cutting costs in the promotion route.
4. Spread the word verbally. demonstrate your strengths and commit to personal services that the big boys can’t deliver. Conduct a full SWOT analysis for the business.
5. Promote the business. Use the AIDA principle: Attract (through advertising your strengths) – (create) Interest (in your products and services) – Desire (need to have it) – Action (to buy)

In Brief

It’s difficult to make an instant success from e-commerce. The competition grows hundred- (or even thousand-) fold and it can be more expensive than it first seems to get traffic to the site.

Traffic is for vanity, sales are for sanity, and it’ll be frustrating to see that 1000 visitors have been on your site yet you’ve received no sales.

In order to get the pieces right needs an understanding of the basics of marketing above, preferably a niche or specialist product and the desire to keep going when things don’t look like they’re working out.

What instant hit options are available?

1. SEO (search engine optimisation) – ensure your site is easily visible to search engines
2. Advertise in specialist media
3. Network with business professionals
4. Attend trade shows and exhibit – sell a few products then signpost visitors and customers to the website

Easy? Not quite, but it might help show that embarking on the e-commerce route is not all it’s cracked up to be… unless you get the basics right. Good luck!

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