Notionet

I still believe Ecommerce is the best, easiest and quickest way to make money online. We have seen how these venture has turned people into billionaires not to mention how it has grown to accommodate anyone who wishes to invest in it.

Today one can create an online shop or store with almost zero knowledge of web design and coding. Its also free, with market places like Jiji, pigiame, jumia deals and platforms like shopify and woocommerce and wordpress, creating an online store won’t take you more than 30 minutes.

Well, as much as Ecommerce is that good, and creating a shop that easy, selling your items is another thing.

While creating an online store sometimes we might tend to focus on the wrong areas. One of those is choosing products that look good for the shop instead of those that are good for buyers. We might also tend to focus much on what we should be getting from our shop instead of what we should be offering through our store.

To at least give you more factual infor, I will share what I learned in my experience trying to sell certain items.

First, I took some time to chat with a few Alibaba and AliExpress suppliers. My research was based on the kenyan market but in terms of sourcing, most was based on china made products. I also looked at a few products and sellers on Amazon and Ebay.

After comparing prices, shipping fees and trying to understand what was selling and what was not, I then went on and created a shop on pigiame and posted some headphones, later I posted a second hand items on Jiji and Jumia deals. I also listened to some people who had managed to sell their items and this is what I learned.

What do online buyers want?

Honesty

Except a few genuine sellers, very few will tell you, that their product is cheap or unreliable and buyers know that. So what they do is that they look at some things a seller might do when selling a fake product.

For example, If you are selling second hand items, making them look like new products will make you lose buyers.

One thing about online shoppers is that they know what they are looking for. Its one of the reason they chose to buy from an online store instead of the store across the street. If they intend to buy second hand items, they expect them to appear used, unsealed and posted in a manner that suggests they are being sold by the current owner of the product.

 

Quality

Quality might mean something different to different people to some the higher the price, the higher the quality, to others its about the brand name, to some its the warranty while to others its about how the product is presented, but if there is anything that suggests your product is of good quality, that will give shoppers the confidence that they are buying a quality item.

 

Affordability

There is a difference between affordable and cheap products. Sometimes as a seller, you might be tempted to sell cheap products in the hope that the pocket friendly price will attract more buyers. What most customers want is a quality product being sold at the lowest price possible, now that’s affordability.

Shoppers will want to buy a Nike sport shoe that costs $20 when its being sold at $15 instead of a generic fashion shoe that is being sold at $12

 

Delivery with Free shipping

First, delivery has to be there and not just any kind of delivery but the most flexible one. They want to be sure they can get the item wherever they are (door to door delivery ) If its a pick up station they want one that is easy to access.

They will also want the most affordable shipping. If the free shipping is reliable, its what they will select.

 

Quick delivery

The faster you can deliver, the faster they will be willing to buy your product. The longest you should take to deliver an item should be 5 -7 days. If possible, make it same day delivery. This means you will need a local ware house or store if you ship from abroad. You might also need to partner with other sellers i.e local wholesalers to fulfill your orders on time.

 

Awareness

Buyers want to buy products they are aware of, That is products they have used before or products that are being used by people they know. That means you might have to select the most trending and selling products in the market.

 

A selling point

A selling point, sometimes called a selling feature is the benefit that comes with the product one is buying or selling. Buyers want a reason why they should buy from you and not other sellers. What’s the offer, whats different, whats in it for them? Could be free shipping, good packaging or professional support services

What you will be selling is actually not the products because they are the same products everyone is selling but the different thing you will be selling through the same products.

To expound on this, we can think of an actual store like QuickMart instead of an online one. Such a store can decide to provide parking enough to serve every client that comes to their store with a vehicle. Now, this can be their way to get more client because its what they are offering.

 

Credibility

Shoppers want to buy products from stores that have a good history. These are stores that have proven to deliver what they promise.

To acquire a reliable reputation can take time. Its why some opt to sell under marketplaces that are trusted by buyers