Looking at the active daily user (ADU) data of some of the biggest e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and Amazon might have you wondering if it’s not perhaps worth at least a punt getting into e-commerce yourself. You’re absolutely right; it could turn out to be extremely lucrative for you, but it’s not as easy as it looks to get into e-commerce.

There’s a lot more to starting up your own e-commerce platform and even more to running one, especially if it’s to break even, let alone start turning a profit. You need to be sure that you are connecting with the right assistance and software required to get everything started up. This includes looking into the various services you will offer to customers such as secure payment solutions with platforms like https://merchantalternatives.com/reviews/vanco-payment-solutions/, so you can be seen as trustworthy.

What about turn-key e-commerce solutions?

This is often the first trap people fall into after they’ve been licking their lips for a bit at the prospect of starting up their own e-commerce sites. It’s perhaps a necessary learning curve to have to endure and for the most part it’s not too expensive in any case. However, purchasing a turn-key e-commerce solution isn’t the beginning and the end of the journey to mega-profits. In fact, it probably isn’t even the beginning proper, but more like that phase during which you get your education and a good dose of reality.

I hate to come across as a skeptic, but think of it this way; why aren’t there any billionaire e-commerce moguls who simply bought a WordPress e-commerce template (fully equipped with CMS functionalities, mind you) and went live with their newly-minted e-commerce storefronts? It’s because it’s simply not that easy.

Getting into e-commerce

At the risk of sounding like I’m contradicting myself, I’m going to go ahead and say that that is indeed where you should probably start. Get yourself a web hosting plan – one which goes for around $10 per month should do, a good domain name, e.g. www.yoursite.com (this will cost you around $9-13), and one of the higher-end CMS e-commerce solutions (one which runs on WordPress will do just fine). You can also consider getting product matching software to provide optimized prices for your offerings. Enterprise solutions such as those designed by Price (https://price.com/enterprise) can help match your products across the marketplace thereby giving you timely pricing information, among other personalization elements such as visual search and custom search extensions.

Naturally this would be done with a range of products or/and services you want to sell and it’s absolutely fine to aim very broadly like the likes of Amazon do. You should be looking to spend in the region of $100 max for the turn-key CMS e-commerce solution, but some can go for around $50-$75. The important thing is that it offers you full functionality, i.e. you should be in control of every aspect of the site’s operation. You shouldn’t have to rely on some administrator somewhere halfway across the world to help you with basic tasks like adding and tracking inventory, etc. Instead, find inventory management software that can help you to avoid the extra charges you would incur from outsourcing tasks like this. As this forms part of the core functionality of your business, it’s important that you learn to manage your inventory correctly.

You would also have to include the likes of functions such as accounting. Should you have an associate who is able to take care of the function, it would enable you to focus on other aspects of the business. However, outsourcing ecommerce accountants from a reliable firm could also optimize your business and save you money in the process by keeping a tab on all money movements. With professional help, a possible reduction in expenditure and an increase in income could facilitate the further sales of other products and services.

Also, immerse yourself in the day-to-day running of your e-commerce platforms and then start isolating those products and services which not only sell but leave you cash-positive – products and services that bring in a profit.

The final step is to create another e-commerce site, this time focusing solely on those products and services which you’ve had a success in selling at a profit.