Thinking of selling online? – 4 things you need to know
If you’re a new or existing business looking to sell online, then you’ve made a sensible decision. According to a report by IMRG and Capgemini, e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 14 percent in 2017 alone, more than double the growth of general retail. In 2016, UK consumers spent more than £133 billion online, which was up by 16 percent on the year before.
If you’re thinking of selling online, here are five things you need to know.
WordPress Based Sellers Should Learn WooCommerce Functionality For Maximum Impact
If you run a WordPress-based e-commerce store, then there’s a good chance that you’re already using the WooCommerce plugin. But WooCommerce is much more than a simple e-commerce platform for your store. In fact, it’s a veritable ecosystem of different functions, providing you with many more options to sell online. These include setting up recurring payments, membership options, auctions, status updates and much, much more. New online sellers on WordPress need to make sure that they use the WooCommerce to the fullest extent possible to drive revenue. Yostrato are experts who can guide you on how to make the best use of WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin.
Take Note Of Shipping Restrictions
Not all shipping providers will ship the same products, so it’s worth thinking carefully about who you partner up with before signing up or paying any fees. The list of potentially restricted items is long, but companies may limit the distribution of poisons, perfumes, nail polish, hazardous chemicals, explosives, cigarettes, ammunition, alcoholic beverages, airbags and aerosols.
Talk to your shipping provider ahead of time to make sure that they ship your product.
Get A Social Media Marketing Plan
If you’re a new online business, or simply transferring an existing business to the digital marketplace, then you’ll need a social media marketing plan, something our professional web design business near Aylesbury recommends. Plugins, like Yoast, are free and can boost WooCommerce SEO by making it easier to connect with people over multiple social platforms. Using the plugin, online businesses can cultivate their online presence, create a Twitter card and track their engagement levels on Facebook.
#4: Not All Payment Gateways Are Created Equal
If you’re going to sell goods online, you need a system which can take payments from customers, quickly and easily. However, there is an enormous choice of payment gateways out there, and some are more suitable than others. For instance, many payment gateways restrict the sales of particular products. Others have high transaction fees, termination fees and monthly fees which may add unnecessarily to your overhead. Expert web design agencies like Yostrarto based in Aylesbury provides full e-commerce solutions with EPOS integration.
To Be Successful, You’ll Need To Integrate With Major Shopping Platforms
One of the great things about WordPress e-commerce sites is that they give you the ability to sell across multiple platforms, including Amazon. The WooCommerce Amazon Affiliates plugin integrated fully with the Amazon API, allowing you to display your store on the world’s most popular e-commerce site, opening up your market to millions of new potential customers. The plugin also offers new online businesses a host of new features, such as Amazon reviews and “frequently bought together” recommendations.
If you’re struggling to manage your online business, help is at hand. At Yostrato, we can help you set up payment gateways, manage your WooCommerce plugin, improve your web design, boost your SEO and much, much more. Contact us today to find out more.
