Whether you are a startup or a long-established business, chances are there will come a time when you want to sell your products online. A way of reaching a larger, international audience, it opens up the doors for a potential increase in revenue and will grab the attention of the market you’re operating in.
However, selling your products, whether it be via your own website or through an eCommerce platform such as Etsy, eBay or Amazon isn’t easy. It requires skill, time and effort. But that’s not the only difficulty that will come with selling your products online. You will also want to protect your business from any potential cyber threats, to ensure that both yours and your customer’s data is protected.
It is therefore important that you’re fully aware of both the pros and cons of operating online before you take the leap – as well as how you will be able to successfully manage and grow your business. The difference between business success and business failure might hang on how effectively you do this.
But what are some of the other key risks that you should consider?
Competition
When you enter the online marketplace, you could find that you’re constantly facing competition from other businesses – especially if the market is overcrowded. Which is why it’s worth carrying out extensive market research before you start selling online.
Through this research, you’ll be able to uncover exactly what your competitors are selling and will be able to develop a marketing strategy that showcases how your products are unique.
Without doing so, you could find your products being ignored, in favour of the more renowned players in the market. Of course, this isn’t an easy feat. But that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. If you have the motivation to succeed within your industry, there’s no reason why you can’t do so.
Counterfeit Products
Unfortunately, there are millions of counterfeit products on the market – especially on certain eCommerce platforms such as eBay and Aliexpress. If you notice this, you should immediately report counterfeits on Aliexpress, eBay or whatever site you’re selling on as it can lead to serious implications for your business.
Not only can it directly diminish the value of the authentic products that you’re selling, but it can result in costly implications. For example, if an eCommerce platform sold the counterfeit version of your product to your customers instead of the real one, you’ll be the one that loses out financially and could face negative reviews.
Your Brand’s Reliability
Following on from the above, it’s clear that many customers still opt for retailers that sell products physically as well as online. If you’re considering operating solely online, you’ll have to determine whether new customers will trust what you have to offer.
Every business needs a face, and because of this, you’ll have to build your credibility to ensure that each customer has trust in you. To do so, you’ll have to have team members that offer exceptional customer service that has a humanistic approach.
You don’t want to exclude a large market by operating online, so it’s worth looking at who your target market is and assessing how successful you could be by entering the online world.