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We've noticed a pretty strong trend of 'inaction' in the e-commerce business space. It's not across the board, a lot of people are rocking it.

But there is a significantly high percentage of people who have good ideas, they get excited about them, but never take the first step.

If you want to build an e-commerce store, but haven't done it yet, what's stopping you?

Is it sourcing/creating the products?
Building the website?
Fear of failure?

Let me know!
#e-commerce #ecommerce #stopping
  • Profile picture of the author SEOChemist
    Product sourcing is the part I worry about, I took a look in to it a long time ago, but it seemed pretty high risk.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Campbell
      I agree that product sourcing is a real problem area. It's easy to write five rules of making money with drop shipping, but the reality is that you need to be very sure about your product source - both the quality of the products and the reliability of the supplier before exposing your customers/site visitors/email list to them. It takes a long time to build a reputation which can be shot to pieces in no time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lokahi
    Building the website is no problem. Fear of failure is not an option. What worries me most (about drop ship products) is finding a reliable drop shipper that will actually deliver on time. On some places like eBay, if your drop shipper flakes, you can get in trouble (even though it's your drop shipper's fault). Anyway, that's not really a problem if you have your own website. As you can directly contact the customer and explain the delay or provide a refund with little consequences.
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  • Profile picture of the author afgwarrior
    When I was trying to enter in this niche and doing my initial research , I asked the same question to lot of people in some internal groups and gathering ... The answers varied from one thing to another but the one which popped out of everything was -


    Technology is never a problem, The real pain is to figure out "how to sell the damn thing"!
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  • Profile picture of the author chg
    For most people, the true problem is an underlying fear of failure...which causes their inaction.
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  • Profile picture of the author ronrule
    There are a few problems I've observed here:

    1. Failure to understand the right way to utilize dropshippers. You can't just do a bulk import and launch a site and expect search engines will magically deliver buyers to your door. It doesn't work that way.

    2. Not knowing the difference between getting a SALE and getting a CUSTOMER. Everyone I come across here focuses so much on price competitiveness that they forget everything else that leads to a sale. Price isn't the only factor. How do you think sites like ThinkGeek make millions selling the same crap you can find cheaper on Amazon? Because they built a brand. If you want to get some nerdy gadget for your friend's birthday, the first place you go is ThinkGeek ... it's just what you do. But no one will remember to go to fun-nerdy-little-gadgets.com.

    3. Not knowing how to re-engage customers. If you take an MER (media expense ratio) or "autopilot" approach to eCommerce, all you'll ever get is the one-time sale. It's a million times easier to sell a second product to someone who's purchased from you in the past than it is to get a new customer. And the marketing cost is zero. But you have to know how to sort through your purchase data to do this effectively, or use a shopping cart that automates it.

    4. Using "cheap" or free shopping carts. A Wordpress plugin for eCommerce? Are you kidding me? You gotta have the right platform ... and it isn't Wordpress, or any other free script. Most big companies are using hosted solutions. Some are using Magento, but only the ones that have a dedicated web team, and they are using the Enterprise version not the free one. As a solo entrepreneur, you need to be focused on marketing your site, not thinking about the technology that runs it. Do you want to be customizing databases or selling products? A hosted solution is the only way to go. Plus, being on the hook for a monthly fee will help you focus. It's easy to put things off and get lazy/complacent when your life doesn't change any. But when there's an out of pocket cost - even if it's only $50 a month - you have a reason to do what needs to be done and stop throwing your money away.

    5. You have to treat it like a real business. If you try to run it on autopilot, it won't work. My clients who actually take eCommerce seriously are doing $5K - 25k a week with their stores ... the ones who aren't will be lucky to make that in a year.

    6. You have to be able to think like your customer. Disconnect your knowledge of your niche and talk to them the way they do. They are looking for a solution to a problem. Identify with them that you understand the problem, then sell them the solution.
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    Ron Rule
    http://ronrule.com

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    • Profile picture of the author OliverTrent
      @ron - I agree with nearly everything you are saying.

      The only thing I would question is the platform. Most of them look pretty similar on the front end, are easy to install, and use.

      Using a free and quick platform to validate an idea sounds like the best way to go to me, implementing a stronger platform when scaling the cheap option becomes an issue.
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      • Profile picture of the author ronrule
        Originally Posted by OliverTrent View Post

        @ron - I agree with nearly everything you are saying.

        The only thing I would question is the platform. Most of them look pretty similar on the front end, are easy to install, and use.

        Using a free and quick platform to validate an idea sounds like the best way to go to me, implementing a stronger platform when scaling the cheap option becomes an issue.
        You would think that makes sense, but its only a good idea if you plan on failing. Your platform is more important than what you are selling. What the front end looks like has nothing to do with it, it's what's going on behind the scenes that matters. Believe me, its a lot easier to pay $50 per month and never have to worry about whether your site is up, down, or needs a security update, and never have to migrate away because you outgrew your free cart. Especially when it comes to re-engagement. Ever try to migrate all of your customer data and sales histories between platforms? There's more to it than products and URLs. Better to do it right the first time.

        Also, if you can't cough up $50 a month, you certainly don't have a sustainable marketing budget so how would you differentiate yourself from everyone else in your niche? ecommerce is a real business, and where the real money is online. Treat it as such and you'll win.
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        Ron Rule
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        • Profile picture of the author andrewc5
          Getting traffic to my sites is what stopped me from expanding. I am now focusing on the marketplaces. Amazon, Rakuten, Ebay, etc...
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