Ecommerce Benefits

Ecommerce benefits: what works and what doesn't work in ecommerce.

Selling Material Goods: Finding a Market Niche

Ecommerce benefits in transferring an existing business online are obvious: you are building on established skills and an existing customer base.

New companies selling material goods won't have those advantages, but it's worth remembering that a brand name doesn't mean so much online, as every e-store is just a click away by the impatient customer. Reliability, price and delivery times are what customers look for.

No one should underestimate the resources needed to bring an ecommerce store into being. Even with the "all-in hosting" and "out of the box" solutions, it takes time, effort and flair to create a compelling website. And a good many more months to set up warehousing, office accommodation, fulfillment arrangements, staffing and a legal presence.

After that comes the long cash drain while traffic and sales slowly build.

Nonetheless, planned and built properly, the resulting good e-shop can be just as effective as its big chain counterpart — provided it remembers the rules of Internet selling.

Most things have now been done. You can't compete with the likes of Amazon Books or eBay auctions unless you have their millions to play with, and even then you're very unlikely to catch up.

Your advantage lies in what they cannot accomplish, in what is called niche marketing.

Every city can support a few bookstores, for example, but never one that severely restricts its stock to a specialist interest. Yet this would be eminently suited to the Internet. Amazon carries only the smallest fraction of what's available, and devotees would be happy to patronize the specialist outlet.

The point is worth laboring. To compete in the free-for-all of the Internet, you need to establish your specific benefits, namely:

• establish sufficient demand for your product or products.

• research and define your own market niche.

• sell in a manner or at a price that your competitors cannot or would not wish to match, e.g.

  • unrivaled selection.

  • enthusiastic knowledge and expertise.

  • personalized service.

  • useful help sheets.

  • detailed information on products.

  • superb after sales service.

• maintain your selling advantage, when

  • sales really take off.

  • competitors move against you.

Competing in a Market Niche

Suppose you find your proposed market niche is already occupied, which is often the case. Other companies have got there first, and there seems hardly the opportunity for another player. Is that the end of your business plan?

It can be. You may have "wasted" months researching your ecommerce benefits, but there's clearly no point in throwing good money after bad. But before abandoning the plan, consult our e-book details to see what's worth salvaging.

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