Ecommerce Facts

Online selling can be a chancy business. Why do we say that when so many sites offering 'unbeatable' services are suggesting the opposite? Because of our own experience, the experience of companies we have helped, and some obvious business facts. Low entrance costs ensures that ecommerce is a vastly overcrowded marketplace.

Suppose you're competing on costs. That usually means selling in bulk — a well-oiled selling process, dedicated hosting to handle the volume, and slim profit margins. But since it can cost upwards of $40 to acquire a customer in the first place, you'll be counting on repeat orders. More important, you'll be calling on a very large marketing budget to achieve the necessary sales volume. That will increase your customer acquisition costs, and seriously extend the pay-back period. Yes, many spectacular ecommerce failures fell into this trap, as our e-book will show you.

Or you may be competing on variety. It's called finding your market niche, and many companies supplying collectibles, personalized services and local products belong to this category. But here your problems will be conversion rates. Figures in the 1 to 5% range are often quoted, but these rates apply to well-established companies selling popular brands. Customers are much harder to persuade when they don't know you or your products, and you can expect very poor conversion rates unless you adopt some of the strategies in our e-book.

Or you may be counting on superlative service. Most companies are, in a sense, because they need repeat orders. But if superb customer service is the main plank of your online selling plan, then you're in competition with the professionals. You're up against companies that made many mistakes in the early days but have now fine-tuned the selling process.

The Facts

The ecommerce facts are that many companies are achieving sales, but not getting a proper return on investment. Visitors flock to the site but don't buy much. Or they don't come back to make repeat purchases.

Why then have so many savvy e-merchant beaten the odds, with their ranks being swelled every week? What's the secret of their success?

Caution, sound business sense, and continual testing. Sometimes the answer is a simple tweaking of the site. Sometimes major redesign is indicated. Sometimes the whole business model was flawed and has to be refashioned. But whatever the situation, for building or running an ecommerce enterprise you do need the facts, and good listings of sites where you can easily get those facts.

All of which makes our e-book such a fantastic time-saver. Here you will find the information you need. No promises of instant wealth, but independent and carefully-prepared summaries that cover the whole spectrum of online selling. Check-lists that give you the essentials. Plus a wealth of detailed topic sheets, product analyses, ecommerce statistics, business models and surveys, case studies. . . and thousands of hand-picked references — many of which you'll find nowhere else.

Some of the material you can find yourself on the Internet — given months of research, a technical background and the actual experience of being in the ecommerce marketplace. But most e-merchants, struggling even to get their investment back, will find themselves only swamped by shallow journalism, company hype and Internet technicalities. We know because we've had to read so much of it. Nonetheless — though you won't like us saying so — without having the key information assessed and summarized, you are not likely to make a success of online selling. You can suppose otherwise, and purchase no end of simple and inspirational 'how to' guides, but what you're usually being sold is a dream. Some are happy with pie in the sky, but if you really want to see things clearly, and give yourself the best chance of succeeding, then there's no alternative to the sort of detailed planning we recommend.

We know that this advice is exactly what many newcomers to ecommerce do not wish to hear. They want a foolproof solution, and will try one scheme after another, whatever the results. In that's your approach, we suggest you first read the free material on this site. Then assess what other sites have to offer. Join a few affiliate schemes, or invest in more optimistic guides and money-making schemes. Perhaps you'll be successful. We very much hope so.

But if you're not, and ecommerce doesn't seem to be paying its way, then you may want to come back to our plain talking, and start seeing how to calculate the odds. The opportunities are there, but they have to be worked at. Ideas, research, planning and effort are essential, just as you'd expect in any other business.

At $37.50, our e-book covers far more than you'll find in publications costing many times that price, not to mention seminars and online tutorials. And you can hardly lose: the publication comes with a cast-iron, 30-day guarantee. But if you're pressed for time, and want professional advice immediately, then we do offer a consulting service.

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