What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you have to sell online? How do I do it? By now, you’ve probably figured online sales take more than listing your products . The presence of competition makes it harder for you. Whether it’s your first sale or one hundredth, a sale is something an etailer cannot do without. The more sales you make the more confident you become and the easier it is to expand your online retail.
Online marketplaces in India have thousands of sellers listing their wares. Competing with them requires imagination and creativity. You need to ask yourself, when does the show stop and jaws drop? It’s usually when something extra ordinary comes along. Awareness combined with uniqueness intrigues and pushes people to investigate. To help you with this we have put together the top 5 creative means of selling online.
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Network through Forums
Forums are discussion platforms where you can make your presence known. You can join the discussion and promote your goods too. Use Google to identify which active forums apply to your products. Make sure you read the rules of the forum about promoting brands and products. You want to stick around not be pushed out after your very first comment. Use our brand name and logo to create your online avatar. Join online question and answer websites like Quora. Answer questions relevant to what you’re selling and throw in a link to your products and the platforms where readers can find your goods online. It’s almost like using social media. You need to come up with diversified comments to fit in subtle promotions. Never spam people it will force them to ignore you.
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Think Multilingual
In India people speak in numerous languages. It’s like living in a tiny world of our own. Online marketplace Snapdeal went multilingual last year. Allowing buyers to browse, purchase and track orders in the local language of their choice. The Snapdeal app allows shoppers to switch between English to Hindi. Amazon too dabbled a little into the Indian lingo. It allowed them to connect with their buyers on a personal level. How about taking a page out of the pros playbook? Let people understand what you are selling. Speak to them in a language they understand. Describe your products in simple English and other languages too. Promote your products in multiple languages too. This will get you more attention. Plus shoppers will see it as seller consideration for consumers, which could score you more buyer points.
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Make an Impact with Twitter Tweets
In 2013, Twitter conducted a study on what your followers can do for your business. From the study it was discovered that small-medium businesses have a 72% chance of getting their followers to purchase from them. Why? It is because the followers feel connected to the business. As a result they are willing to show their support. People follow retailers on Twitter to know more about their products and their personality. With regular updates of new categories, product designs, sales and discounts people will know firsthand about your products and sales.
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Make a Statement
It can be difficult to get attention let alone make a statement that everyone fancies. But if you can you will have more traffic coming your way. More than you know what to do with. Stunning pictures even videos can grab attention. Imagine these as your very own virtual promotions and you can upload them on social media for free. When people in your social circle find them interesting they will share and promote your brand for you. All you need to do is come up with interesting content. Take Flipkart for example, they tweet informative videos regularly with #FlipkartHomeIdeas. These are interesting, witty and helpful to consumers. So people enjoy watching them and checking out the attached link. You can use Pintrest, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other medium to popularize your products.
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Target Different Consumers
You may have a set of consumers you want on getting through to. What do you do if they don’t bite the bait? You cast a wider net. Fishing metaphors too confusing? Here’s the simple version. If the end customer is not showing interest in your products, get a hold of retailers who’d like to buy your goods. No one said a consumer couldn’t be a retailer. So if your products allow you to moonlight as a wholesaler, why should you hold back? Wholesale quantities are larger and the pricing varies. If you have no experience in this area, get inputs from other wholesalers. Business to Business transactions involve more preparation and formalities. You don’t want to go in blind.
If you’d like to know about ecommerce or how you can get started as an online seller, get in touch with us at Browntape! We are India’s leading ecommerce solutions experts and we are always happy to help online sellers.
