The #1 E-commerce Sales “Secret”
TL:DR
Sell stuff that people want!!
The Problem
Consumers are increasingly shopping online first. The pandemic has forced a change of habit for many people. Out of need, people are shopping online first for things they previously used to shop in stores. Many thought that everything would revert back when everything returned to “normal”.
Well… the “normal” as we knew it hasn’t come back. I don’t think it ever will. Many of our behavioral changes are here to stay.
Some people realized that they could make some money selling stuff online. Some other people realized that they could make money selling tools to these schmucks who want to sell stuff online.
Everybody wanted to get in on this gold rush. Some went prospecting for gold, while others sold tools to these prospectors.
As I spend more time answering Reddit questions, I am realizing that people are being seduced into thinking that e-commerce is as easy as clicking a few buttons and spinning up a new site. No… this shit is hard!
To be fair — several legitimate business ideas and business models came out of this rush.
But now, the internet is now filled with sites selling stuff that nobody needs! You can now find sites that sell totally weird crap — from Taxidermy Mouse to Toilet Golf)
Now the prospectors are complaining that they aren’t striking gold with every swing of their e-commerce spade. A quick glance at Reddit forums on e-commerce confirm that people are wondering why nobody is buying from their amazing e-commerce store. A site they spent 2 full weeks to set up.
Just because it is easy for people to sell stuff online doesn’t mean you can sell anything online — successfully.
If you sell stuff that people don’t want, people won’t buy.
The Solution
Stop thinking that online shoppers are ready to give you their money for random crap.
Be a problem solver for your customers. Sell stuff that people need & want. Before launching a site, or worse — a drop-ship site — think if people really want this. Do some research. Ask your friends (not your family — they’ll always, mostly, be supportive). Get a sense of demand for the items you want to sell. Use free tools like Google Trends to figure out if people are actually searching for things you are trying to sell.
Once you get a sense of what people want, figure out a way to get it for yourself first, in a way that allows you to mark up the price and still have it reasonable priced for your customers.
E-commerce is a marathon. The first step in that race is to find out what people want.
Sell stuff that people want!!
