Skip to main content

How to start an Online Selling Business using the Smartphone? Think big, Act big and Sell Online through the Small Smartphone!!

                                               


The phrase mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 by Kevin Duffey at the launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum, to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer’s hand, anywhere, via wireless technology."  - Wikipedia

Kevin Duffey at the time of coining the word Mobile Commerce never thought that Mobile Commerce shall be making billions and billions on Online Selling Marketplaces. The growing number of smartphone users (32% of the world population), the tremendous growth in world transportation and logistics are leading us towards more dependency on the Smartphone and Online Selling.

The dream of every online seller has become true due to the smartphone technological improvement. The formidable growth in the 4th Generation and 5th Generation technologies has broken the barriers of speed in the information technology.

In this blog, we would like to bring out in limelight the possibility of starting and doing an online business using only a smartphone. 

Most important of any work is the PREPARATION for the start.   

Registration:

Aspiring online seller has to register first with the online marketplace. Register with at least Two marketplaces since it shall be better than one. Download the agreement and execute it.
Essentials for the registration:
1. A Bank Account in your name or in your company name.
2. Valid email address
3. Phones.  One landline and one mobile line.
4.Tax registration certificate as per the Local Government                   Requirement.

Description:

In online business, the communication with the buyer is through the description of the products, with the words and the pictures. We have to create a title for the product with ten to fifteen words which shall give a short description of the product. 
An example "A Hand carved sterling silver traditional lamp of south India". It is very much important to have an attractive and meaningful title for the product. 

Next step is displaying our products through the pictures.  There is a saying "One picture worth 1000 words ." We incorporate a minimum of five to six pictures in different angles highlighting the product description ( Please refer our blog How to take clear and beautiful product pics....)

We have to give our product a true description in detail with the choicest words,  confining to the limited number of words as given by the marketplaces. 

All these things shall be made into a folder and kept in your smartphone for easy uploading with the marketplaces.

Pricing:


Pricing of the product is one of the valued steps for the seller in attracting the buyers.  Hence much concentration is required in fixing up the price of the product.

Analyse the market for the similar product prices. Workout the cost and add your margin.  Compare it with other similar product prices. Always ready to vary the price because of the competition in the market.  Be on your toes and ever watchful.

So far so good.  You have made the preparation and now ready for the Execution.



Execution:


Log into the marketplace where you have registered. Carry on with the uploading of the title, product description and pictures completing the step by step instructions. You will be provided with the ID of the product of your sale and that will be your guiding and a managing factor of your sale.

Managing :

As long as you have a single product for selling, managing the stock account shall not be a problem.  When you have three or four products then managing the inventory shall be a tricky one.

Android Phone -Word App.
Online orders are of 24 X 7 nature and answers has to be attended to irrespective of the time factor. The intimation comes into your email and has to be replied in time to sustain the sale.  Hence managing the inventory is of an important factor in the online sales. The inventory management, if you have iPhone can be managed by the Numbers App. In Android phone, a word application shall be of help in creating a table of inventory.

You can prepare templates of reply and keep them in the draft folder of your email application. Similarly, queries can be attended to with stock replies kept in the draft folder.

Shipping:

Once the purchase has been confirmed by your marketplace, you have to ship it to the concerned buyer. In this many methods of shipping are being authorised by the different marketplaces.  Execute the shipping according to the instructions of the marketplaces.

Payments:

Payments shall be credited to your registered bank account by the marketplaces as per their rules and regulations.

Dear Online Seller, In this blog we have tried to project how a simple smartphone could be of use in starting an online selling business.  The bigger you grow in your online selling business, you have to face more and more integration hard work. SELLinALL - software creates a harmonised online selling environment. Integration of SELLinALL with the world's leading 25 online marketplaces eases the working of the online sellers.  Dear Online Seller, SELLinALL's experienced executives give you a 24 x7 customer support,
take care of your hard work and give you a pleasant Online Selling experience.

- Magic Inian -
(MagicInian@magicinian.com)

Popular Posts

Influencer Marketing in E-commerce Strategy

  Influencer marketing is not a new concept in advertising. Before the rise of the internet, celebrities and sportspersons endorsed brands through traditional advertising mediums (TV, news, magazines). Social media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, on the internet now allow influencers to directly connect with the core audience. Additionally, the platforms have given opportunities to other people, also known as micro-influencers. Today, 9 out of 10 brands utilize influencer marketing to reach their target consumers and the ROI on using influencer marketing has proven to be more effective, generating $18 for $1 spent. With 7.9 million retailers vying for online consumers, influencer marketing has become a core part of digital marketing strategy. Who or what are Influencers? It’s not possible for upcoming brands to partner with A-list celebrity influencers such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Kim Kardashian, o...

Buy Online, Pickup in Store

A National Retail Federation study on Consumer Views in late October 2019 revealed that70% of the survey participants would pay for a Buy-online, pick-up-in-store service (BOPIS). BOPIS has emerged as a convenient option not only for consumers but retailers that invested in brick-and-mortar stores. Growth in online retail sales was overtaking traditional brick-and-mortar retail before the pandemic and BOPIS was being adopted by top retailers. With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, a Digital Commerce 360 survey in late 2020 showed results that 43.7% of the top 500 retailers with physical stores were offering BOPIS — up from 6.9% before the pandemic started. BOPIS, also known as click-and-collect or curbside- pickup provides a safe, contact-free way to shop online and pick up the ordered items. In order to implement BOPIS, a retailer needs to implement the following tools: 1) A website or app where customers can shop and place orders for the products online 2) A brick-and-mortar locatio...

Loyalty Program : Buy Now, Pay Later

  A new season has come and you are raring to shop for a new line of clothes launched. Or you want to experience a new cycling adventure outdoors and you are eyeing that expensive but amazing new bicycle that costs $1600+. But you don’t want to break the bank.  Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is a loyalty program that has become very popular in recent times. BNPL is a form of installment plan where customers pay in installments for a product that they have purchased. The installments are structured and paid over a period of predetermined months. Typically installments are free of interest and fees so long as customers pay the installments on time. Interest may be for larger amounts and/or when installments are spread over a long period of time.  Paying in installments has existed since the 1840s when manufacturers of furniture, pianos, or farm equipment tried to make their products attractive and attainable. It is still relevant today and BNPL is another form of financing. The...

Search This Blog