The year 2021 is a year that opens up many new opportunities for many people to start their own business. One of the businesses that is on the rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires restrictions on activities outside the home, is the business of selling in the marketplace.
Online Shopping Habits Increase
The habit of shopping online has become a routine for many people, especially in recent years. According to the databoks website (https://databoks.katadata.co.id/tags/e-commerce), Indonesia was ranked first as the 10 countries with the highest percentage of E-commerce usage in the world in April 2021, followed by the UK and the Philippines in the second position. 2nd and 3rd.
In addition, according to the Bisnis.com website, a survey conducted by Snapcart showed 59% of the 3,763 respondents were shopping online during the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) period.
This online shopping phenomenon is also supported by the convenience of online transactions such as e-wallet, joint accounts, mobile banking, and credit cards.
E-commerce or marketplace has become the most frequently used platform for shopping online. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a positive impact on digital transactions in e-commerce, which has increased to 548 million transactions with a nominal value of 88 trillion Rupiah, reported by the kontan.co.id site.
The number of regulations regarding restrictions on activities outside the home is currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is not surprising that currently many businesses are starting to switch from offline to online.
In addition, the amount of time spent at home today makes some people think of generating additional income through selling online.
5 Tips for Successful Selling on the Marketplace
Opening an online store in various marketplaces is also very easy and free. However, just like other businesses in general, online businesses also need good planning so they don't suffer losses. Here are 6 tips that you must do when you start selling on the marketplace.
1. Determining Sales Products
Before deciding to start a business, determining the product or service to be sold is the very first step you must take.
All businesses must have products that can help people who buy them, so the decision to determine a product is the most important key so that our business can have buyers.
How do you get product ideas to sell on the marketplace? You can look for references or product ideas that are trending or are sought after by many people through the marketplace that you will use to sell online.
Here's how to determine which products to sell on the marketplace:
- Searching for Bestsellers Produk
Popular products will usually be displayed on the first page of the marketplace, now you can start observing what products are being searched for by many people, and also to determine whether the product has a lot of fans, and can check the number of products sold.
If the number of products sold is large, then the product has many enthusiasts and has the potential for you to use it as a product reference for your business.
For example, from a popular search for women's clothing on one of the marketplace platforms. So from these results you can determine what products you will sell based on your search and the highest number of products sold.
- Searching for Products by Interest
In addition to this method, there are also other ways to determine product ideas to be sold, namely based on interest. You can also sell a product because you have an interest in that product.
This can be an added value because as a seller you already have a sufficient level of knowledge about your product so that later you can provide a good and convincing explanation to potential buyers.
Buyers will be confident when the seller can provide a good explanation of the products they sell before finally deciding to buy them, so it is very important that business owners have good knowledge about the products they sell in order to provide the best service for potential buyers.
Examples of based products can start by selling hobby items, sports, guitar musical instruments, keeping ornamental betta fish and others.
- Looking for Frequently Needed Products
You can also determine the product by observing the circumstances or environment around you, such as what are the problems of the people around you such as family or friends. Like any entrepreneur in general, you must have the ability to find problems and find solutions.
To find out what is the problem around you, you can do your own observations or through a questionnaire. You can do your own observations by seeing directly the events or problems that occur around you and looking for products that can be a solution to these problems.
While the questionnaire you can do online by creating a questionnaire and distributing it through social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google Form, and others to get answers from more people.
Well, after you have done a survey and obtained the data you need, then next you need to sort out what product ideas you have the potential to sell.
Examples of products based on demand due to conditions are sanitizers, masks, medicines, vitamins and many more.
2. Determining the Target Market
Actually, you can define this target market first before determining a product or even at the same time as when you determine the product to be sold.
The target market itself is a potential buyer or person you target to buy the product you are selling or those who need it. You can find the target market from the survey results in the previous product determination step.
Determining the target market further is also useful for determining the selling price and concept of the product you offer, whether the product is aimed at people with lower-middle, middle, or upper-middle income and whether the product will be suitable for all genders or not, and etc.
You can also research your product's target market by looking at the characteristics of competitors' buyers and using the Observe, Imitate, and Modify (ATM) method of your competitors.
The target market is also a measure of the size of your business sales. When you research the target market, then make sure that you also know their habits or needs for the products you offer to estimate whether there will be repeat orders or not.
For example, the product you are selling is a shirt because it has the highest level of sales in the marketplace, then you need to know who is the right buyer for your clothes.
By knowing the character of your buyer, you will also know what kind of product development is suitable for your buyer. In addition, you can determine the type of clothes for the target market, for example young people, glamorous men, trendy women and the like.
3. Beating Competitors
The business world is a world full of competition where business owners compete with each other to win the hearts of potential buyers. Including in the business of selling on the marketplace. After you determine what products you will sell, then it is important to see whether there are many competitors in that field or not.
The number of competitors will determine the level of sales of a business. When a product has been sold by many parties, it will be difficult for buyers to determine who will buy the product. In this position, the sellers will continue to compete fiercely. Either honest or cheating.
For example, selling pulses. There are now many pulse sellers. Of course, a lot of slashing prices by taking very little profit. In this way, buyers will be confused about choosing the same seller, because the average selling price is the same.
Plus, if the products we sell do not have their own uniqueness or are the same as other competitors, it will tighten the level of competition with competitors because the quality and specifications offered are the same, only differ in price or even the price is the same.
Before selling on the marketplace, you also need to know how many competitors there are. You can do this competitor survey by typing in the keywords for the product you are going to sell and then see who is selling the product.
How to Compete With Competitors
If the number of competitors who sell these products is already very large, then you should look for other product ideas if it is no longer possible to sell these products, or you can also look for ideas to provide unique value for the product you are going to sell.
- Unique value is a plus point that can distinguish your product from competitors and will attract potential buyers. This strategy is also often applied to avoid price wars when selling on the marketplace. Examples of unique values that can be applied include product innovation, good service, attractive offers, guarantees, etc.
- The strategy to deal with other competitors is also to do branding. Brand or brand is the identity of a business that will make it recognized by potential buyers and distinguish it from competitors.
By doing branding, we will be more flexible in determining a product's selling price because in general products that already have a brand or brand also have their own quality standards that cannot be equated with competitors' products.
You can apply these methods when selling in a marketplace full of competitors who are waging a price war and selling more or less the same product.
4. Dropshipper or Reseller?
Just like selling in general, you also have to determine how to sell the product you are going to sell, whether by dropshipping or by reselling.
Dropshippers and resellers are also your right as a business owner to determine in what way you will sell products. Of course, each method has its own pluses and minuses.
The definition of a dropshipper itself is a business model where we become an intermediary between suppliers and buyers. This dropshipper business model does not require initial capital because we do not need to stock up on goods because the goods are stored and sent directly to the buyer by the supplier.
Reseller is the opposite of dropshipper, if the dropshipper does not stock goods then a reseller does stock goods and then sells them to buyers. A reseller needs capital to stock goods and this is different from a dropshipper who does not need to stock goods.
Currently, there are many online platforms on the internet that provide information about dropshippers and resellers for a product, so if you are interested in becoming a dropshipper or reseller, you can find sources of information about a product more easily.
Well, of course the decision whether your business model is a reseller or a dropshipper is in your own hands as the owner of capital. It is better to adjust it with the capital and knowledge you have so you know which one is more suitable, whether to be a dropshipper or a reseller.
- Choosing the Right Marketplace
Determine the appropriate marketplace platform After you determine what products you will sell, conduct a competitor survey, and determine dropship or resell then you need to know what marketplace platform you will use to sell these products.
When you sell on the marketplace, then you must understand how to operate the marketplace to facilitate transactions with buyers.
In addition, you also need to understand the policies and regulations that exist in each marketplace because each marketplace has its own rules and policies.
Then it is also important to know the characteristics of the products sold in each marketplace, where each marketplace has its own characteristics of popular products sold. You can do this by conducting surveys on the internet, social media, and also asking directly to friends or people who usually shop online in the marketplace.
You can also determine what type of marketplace to use from looking at competitors. If the competitor doesn't have a store in the marketplace you're after, then this is an opportunity for you to use the marketplace as your online selling platform.
Marketing is always needed in all lines of business, both offline and online businesses. When selling online, digital marketing is the most efficient means of marketing.
Digital marketing is the same as marketing in general, which is an effort to reach potential buyers to have an interest and eventually buy the products we sell.
However, the difference is that digital marketing is marketing that is done digitally using various digital tools or devices to obtain data on prospective buyers so that they can market products to potential buyers in a targeted manner.
Of course, to do digital marketing requires sufficient knowledge so as not to experience losses. When selling on the marketplace, there are lots of tools provided to do digital marketing.
For example, some digital marketing tools provided by the marketplace include advertisements, product keyword searches, and live features to advertise your products directly to potential buyers.
According to the sirclo site, before starting marketing on the marketplace, you should first determine your marketing goals. Marketing goals can be in the form of increasing sales to increasing brand awareness.
Another form of digital marketing is copywriting which is the art of promoting a brand using words. You can use this strategy to attract potential buyers without having to look like selling directly, aka soft selling, considering that many people don't like being offered open sales.
The price game strategy is also a digital marketing strategy that is often applied in almost all marketplaces. Almost everyone will be happy when they see the strike price or a discounted price from the original price.
Well, this is something that is often found when you shop at the marketplace. Of course, this is also an ability that must be applied when you are selling online in the marketplace so that your products can compete with competitors.
- Determining Product Margin
Determining the margin of the product to be sold The name is in business, so what is expected is definitely profit or profit. A business that does not make a profit can be called a waste, so it is very important to know the amount of profit you get from a sale.
The amount of profit you take is also free, but it should be noted that the profit you take still results in a competitive selling price.
Marketplace is an online shopping place that makes it easy for users to compare prices between one store and another before buying a product. When the price of a product they find is cheaper than other products, they will buy the product at a lower price.
After knowing what the profit margin is from the products you sell, then you can do the bookkeeping for your business to find out the flow of funds and also the profits you get so you will have a clear sales record.
Also make sure your profit has been reduced by other expenses such as production capital, transportation costs, employee salaries, business premises rental, marketing, taxes set by the marketplace, and so on.
5. Creating Database
Have a complete database When you do business online, then all the products sold and also the transactions that occur will be recorded online.
Data recorded online will have a risk of being hacked or lost when problems occur such as system downs or hackers stealing our data, so it is important for us to have records or backups of our business data.
Make sure to record data on online stores in your marketplace so that all transactions that occur can be recorded in real time, so that if there is an irregularity in your business, it can be tracked quickly and easily too.
Usually online business owners will also have a website which is a means to store databases of online stores in the marketplace. The website helps us to store backup data other than those in the marketplace, so that it can be accessed when the marketplace is down.
A complete database will also help us to manage the stock availability of a product, so that it will improve performance in service to buyers. In addition, the database that we have will also protect us from fraud committed by outside parties such as account hacking and so on.
Conclusion
Well, those are the tips that you can apply when starting a business selling on the marketplace. Both offline and online businesses both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The most important of all is a strong will to keep learning and developing yourself to be a better person. When you can become a better person, the results will also have an impact on the business you run. Source >>>
Tips Sukses Berjualan Di Marketplace.
