The virtual market is growing bigger and bigger everyday. A growing population relies on the internet to shop or get things done. From sending a mail to banking, shopping, purchasing services and packages, everything is done with few clicks. This brings a lot of opportunities for a new entrepreneur but to make the best use of this opportunity you have to follow the right track and for this, all you need to do is keep a few points in mind before starting your online business. These are:

1. Focus on local market: You should not avoid small steps to achieve big goals. Instead of trying to reach the global market and providing everything; study your local market, gather knowledge about demand and customers taste, and offer them something unique or different from your competitors. If you want to capture the market you should have something unique to offer but before picking something check for copyright infringement.

2. Logistics: The product you choose at the initial stage of your online business, matters the most. You should be very cautious about it. The first product should be :

• Non-fragile (This will end up creating damage returns)

• Easy to make (so that it takes minimum time)

• Low making charges (so that you do not end up investing huge amounts)

• Should be easy to ship (should not be heavy or too big, as it will cost more).

It is not easy to manage supply chain and orders in the initial stage of business but as you gain more and more experience you can try your hand at a variety of products. So it is advisable to start small and get adventurous later. Don’t opt for any popular product  because someone has already captured the market or has figured out the best possible way to source and shipment. It is a better idea to specialise in just one specific product and make a place in the market.

3. Understand your customer: Choice of the product as per customer requirement is very important. Always focus on impulse buys and make sure to give satisfactory service to your customer because a happy customer will always return. Better the experience, greater will be chances of a customer coming back again. Your prime focus should be on more happy and satisfied customers rather than on more products. Once you have a good number of repeat customers, then will be the time to add a few more products and diversify your product portfolio.

4. Adding value to your product: Customers always like if they get something extra. If you provide an extra service along with your product, it will not only help you retain your customer but also help you earn more customers. For example, if you are selling a camera, give offers like photography classes; which will be an add-on to your product and will also help in increasing sale. Similarly, if you are selling books on learning a particular language, include language classes as an add-on. This kind of offer attracts the attention of customers and will engender loyalty.

5. Comfortable buying experience: If your online experience is good, it is quite possible that you will visit again. It is very important that your process of making payment is simple and easy. It is advisable to provide a variety of payment options to the customer so that he/she can choose the method with which he/she is comfortable with. If you do not provide payment options according to customer’s choice, you might end up losing customers. It is very important to make the customer comfortable with the purchasing and payment method. For creating a streamlined online shopping experience, it is important to work with a payment partner who provides you with features and services you want and terms and conditions which are comfortable for both the parties.

6. Internet security: For an e-commerce  site, it is important to take extra measures on internet security as there are thousands of prying eyes looking for an opportunity to hack and misuse data or information. Customers are well aware of security threats and are quite cautious about making online purchases. Purchasing products or services online means that you are sharing your sensitive information like credit card numbers, addresses, phone numbers etc.; and if this information falls in the wrong hands, it will hamper the reputation of your business as well and make the customer suffer. So it is important to take special measures to provide internet security and make the website and payment process safe.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.