Selling on marketplaces – Dos and Don’ts for online sellers

Sell Online 101 – Part Six: What should I know about selling online?

Selling online can seem intimidating, especially so if you have no guide to prepare you for the challenges that lie ahead.

Want to get started, but don’t know how? Read our post to start selling in these 3 simple steps.

In our series, we’ve covered how Lisa managed to not only sell on her own web store, but also on multiple marketplaces.

Lisa’s story –

Lisa has a business selling women’s clothing. Year on year, her business grew to become profitable.

After a while, her sales stopped growing. She wanted to grow her profits, scale up her business, and reach more customers. She decided that the best thing she could do was sell online.

Since then, she has grown her business reach – and the profits have grown with it. Amazon, Flipkart, AskmeBazaar, eBay, Lazada USA, Snapdeal – she is selling on multiple marketplaces with ease.

Initially, it can get difficult to understand which marketplace to sell on. Read here to decide for yourself.

This is a list of some common dos and don’ts for newbie sellers:

DOs:

• Develop a strategy – Before you begin online selling, it is important to have a marketing strategy in place for all the products you intend to place on your catalogs. In marketplaces, it is important to have a unique, different brand identity so as to stand out among the clutter.
• Search words, Search words – If you are not discoverable, you will not sell! Leverage search words relevant to your listings to make yourself and your brand more accessible to potential customers.
• Choose an order management software to sell easily – Selling on a single marketplace? Two? Multiple? Selling on marketplaces can get tedious – updating inventory, handling dispatches, etc. on many marketplaces at the same time. A better option would be to go for software that manages all this for you – across all the marketplaces that you want to sell on.
• Provide accurate product information – Would you want to lose customers over fuzzy product information? Your products are your identity – and the first touchpoint with your customers. Buyers want to know what they are buying – before they make the purchase.
• Images – Ensure that your images are clear, and representative of the actual product you are selling. The picture should be easy to see and the item you’re selling should be the focal point. Zoom in as much as possible to highlight the item. Take photos from different angles.
• Product Descriptions – To avoid losing customers, ensure your product description is accurate, clear and concise. For example, far too often, vague words like ‘awesome’ and ‘cute’ lead to confusion among your customers.
• Packaging and shipping – Will you package and ship your orders yourself? Or would you like to get that done by the marketplace? For instance, if you sell on Amazon, you have the option to get your orders fulfilled by Amazon. Choose the option that offers the most value to your business.

DONT’s:

• Disregard feedback – Most marketplaces allow customers to give feedback and ratings. Take the feedback seriously – parameters for seller performance include cancellation orders, customer returns, complaints about quality, etc. Low ratings could affect your reputation in the marketplace – which in turn affects your sales.
• Try to sell too many products. Be focused on what you are selling – In a competitive market, more often than not, you will find sellers selling niche products do better. Marketing your products in a competitive space can be more difficult than marketing them in a niche market space. If you have a strategy in place, stick to it. Don’t try to sell too many products under your brand all at once, while starting out.

These tips worked for Lisa – did they work for you?  Let us know in the comments below.

Looking to sell online? With ready integrations to global marketplaces, front-ends, and leading last-mile fulfillment companies, Vin eRetail eXpress helps you sell across marketplaces, manage orders across multiple channels & fulfill with ease. Request a demo today.

Next in our series – 3 steps to selling across borders.