7 Questions to Answer Before Opening a New E-commerce Store‏

  More and more customers are finding e-commerce stores more fitting for their already demanding lives and are going electronic on everything – food, medicine, clothes, furniture. Nowadays in Nigeria, there is hardly anything that cannot be bought from the comfort of one’s home and office and delivered in a day or two. Therefore, we see businesses moving towards having more online presence or attaining an e-commerce store so that their products and services can serve a wider range of customers. To open an e-commerce store, there are some questions you need to answer. Here are 7; 1. How will you instil trust? For any new e-commerce store, the first challenge they may experience will be customers who are uncomfortable with transactions made online. This is why the first task that needs to be completed is building trust with your customers. You will need to ensure that customers can contact your business directly. For Konga, there is a FAQ section on the website and if there are any more questions, you can call. 2. How will you handle returns? Some physical stores do not allow returns at all but for an e-commerce store, allowing returns is a part of instilling trust. For Jumia, if for any reason you are dissatisfied with your order, you may return it as long as you meet some of their criteria. One of the criteria is that the item must be returned within 14 days after the delivery date. 3. How will you promote your products online? Take for instance that you just stocked up your physical store; no customer will come to buy from you if you do not open your doors to them. In this case, you want to make sure that as soon as you open your e-commerce store, you go to where customers hang out online to promote your products and there is no better place to do that than on social media networks. You can either hire an expert or become a social media expert yourself. Konga, Jumia and Dealdey have their online presence on social media networks where they let people know about the different deals they have. 4. How will you ship your products? You will need to decide what shipping options to offer your customers. How much will you charge for shipping? Will you offer free shipping for purchases made over a specific amount? Will you offer customers a way of tracking the products they buy through your website? For Konga, you can track the product you have paid for through a Tracking ID number that will be given to you. 5. What payment method will you offer? Since the transaction will be carried out online, having at least two to three options for payment would help ease the stress that comes with just having one option for payment. Konga has three payment options for customers. Customers can use Konga Escrow which allows for secure and easy payment online without exposing your ATM/Debit Card details or customers can decide to pay on delivery. Giving customers options can provide customers with the sense of security they need to use your store. 6. Who will take the pictures? Because your products are top quality, you need to present them as such on your e-commerce website. This will require you to either brush up your photography skills or develop a relationship with a skilled photographer. 7. How will you meet the demand for your product? E-commerce stores will always have demands therefore they need to determine how they will handle the supply and delivery of their products. Managing inventory for a physical store is different from managing an online business inventory. An online store will need to find suppliers that are willing to provide quality products at competitive prices and also willing to attend to large orders quickly. The ability to deliver quality goods at affordable prices at an expected time is what keeps customers coming back. These are some questions you need to answer. There are other questions that might come up as you open up your store and you start trading. With some more research, a financial safety net, quality products and some marketing prowess, you will have a successful e-commerce store.