An Online Seller’s Guide for Online Businesses
Patricia Aira Sales in EntrePINOY
Jun 17, 2020 • 4 min Read
PM sent. It’s what we normally see when we come across items for sale on Facebook or IG. People adapt to the constantly changing and evolving world of the online market scenes.
According to Digital Business Law Group (DBLG), online business is any business on the internet that sells products, services, or advertising, online. It means that products or services are marketed, viewed, and purchased through the internet. Communication between the seller and the buyer also takes place online, detailing the product or service as well as the arrangement for the delivery.
If you plan on starting your online business or if you already have one, these tips from online sellers Ms. Allex Gatmaitan and Ms. Jhaisy Jen Jundante will help you to be on-track in online selling.
- CHOOSE YOUR PRODUCT.
There are certain ways to choose the product or service that you will sell. Basic considerations are your familiarity with the product, product that the market would be interested in, and ‘value for money’.
For Ms. Gatmaitan, she started her online selling business almost seven years ago with different items such as whitening soaps, scarves, cellphone accessories, and beauty products. According to her, she was not familiar with the products at first, so she tried it herself to answer customers’ queries about her items. Now, Ms. Gatmaitan sells hair dying products, apparels, locally made sandals, and many more.
Ms. Jundante, on the other hand, started selling lip tint products just March of this year. She says, she ensures that the products are of quality before selling it so that her customers will be satisfied. She is now reselling chili garlic, cheese sauce, cheese sticks, desserts, salmon, and face masks.
- MARKET YOUR PRODUCT.
Large online businesses utilize different marketing platforms to sell their products. There are websites, socmed marketing, emails, search engine optimization (SEO), and video marketing. However, the most famous and easy-to-use platform is your social media.
Ms. Gatmaitan and Ms. Jundante both use their personal Facebook accounts to sell their items. Ms. Jundante also has her friends and siblings to help market her products by posting it on their Facebook accounts and buy and sell Facebook groups. Using your personal Facebook account to market your product has an up and down sides. It may help gain your potential customer’s trust because your identity can be verified. However, it might also come out as unprofessional to combine your business and personal life. Sometimes, a separate Facebook page or a Facebook group with your customers in it can be an alternative way to market your products.
- CUSTOMER RETENTION.
If you have successfully marketed your products and had customers, their feedback will make or break your business. Good customer feedback will help you gain more customers and indicate trust by your previous buyers.
For Ms. Gatmaitan, her customer retention is through some discounts after purchases. She also builds strong relationships with her customers by maintaining an open communication channel with them. Ms. Jundante maintains her customers by ensuring that they are satisfied with their purchases. She regularly requests feedbacks. This also makes customers feel valued.
It is challenging to keep up with the online marketplace as it is continuously evolving. Ms. Gatmaitan and Ms. Jundante echo the same challenge in online selling – the growing competition. With the current lockdown in place, more people are resorting to online selling.
Similar to any other business, you’ll never know whether it’ll succeed if you won’t try.
Moreover, expect challenges but consistent success factors in most businesses are hard work, a keen eye on the market needs, developing and maintaining networks of satisfied customers, and the determination to attain your goals. These ladies tell us that yes, we too can.
