subject: Top Myths Preventing Your E-Commerce Venture [print this page] Top Myths Preventing Your E-Commerce Venture
Everybody is afraid of something and that fear can drive us to do some crazy things. Of course, fear can have the opposite affect as well. Plenty of fears paralyze us into inaction.
In business, being fearful can bring your business to an abrupt end. Anyone can understand being hesitant to take risks with a business you have worked hard to build, but sometimes it is just the fear of change that holds you back. This is the case for most businesses and retailers that rely mostly on local consumers as their customer base. If you are an owner with a product or service to sell, and you have yet to create a presence online, then keep reading. We know what your fears are and we know why they are unfounded. Let us shed some light onto them and help bring you into the age of online sales.
Too Expensive
This is definitely the most common excuse among owners, preventing them from moving their operations online. It is also the most lame. There are literally hundreds of shopping cart solutions out there and a lot of them are dirt cheap, such as oscommerce software. Each business has different needs, so some online stores can get away with free or super cheap solutions for their e-commerce store. Others need to spend a bit more to meet the needs of their products or services. Look at it this way, if it's worth spending money on the inventory, then it's worth spending money on the presentation of that inventory. There are plenty of affordable e-commerce developers that will work with you from start to finish and remain within your budget. Spending less than a tenth of your inventory costs to move your product is just good business sense. Especially, when not doing it could spell the end of your business.
People Won't Buy My Product/Service Online
Have you been to eBay lately? People buy EVERYTHING online. It's the convenience factor. Everyone would like to avoid the following:
driving to a store
finding a parking spot
talking to a sales person
and waiting in the check out line
Guess what, an online store allows them to do exactly that. From shoes to shirts, cars to cats, people buy everything online provided it's quick, easy, and convenient. There is a whole world out there just waiting for the product or service that you offer. All you have to do is get online and tell them about it.
My Ideal Customers are all local
What, local customers don't own computers? Many small businesses are still under the impression that the phrase "online shopping" is synonymous with exporting, when this couldn't be further from the truth. Many people would love to order things online from local retailers. Save them the trouble of driving around town all day to find a couple items. Your E-commerce store makes things simple for them, and people like things to be simple. Point, click, order. That sure does beat wasting gas (which is so expensive these days), hours of time (could have done 2 or 3 other tasks with the wasted time) and everything else that goes along with the onerous task of shopping in real life. Also, think about this: sometimes people just want to check to see if your store has an item. Finding out what your store offers online is something a lot of shoppers do now, before they go to the store and make a purchase. The fact that most of your customers are local should not affect your decision to start an online store. The only factor they are concerned about is convenience and that is what an e-commerce website offers.
Stop making excuses and launch your store online. It's about time you got a slice of that online shopping
