Module 1 - What is E-Commerce?
Any product that is sold online falls under the definition of “e-commerce.” In this course we will focus specifically on products that are created by artists such as art reproductions, images on home and lifestyle goods and so on.
The three main types of e-commerce stores are:
Stores that sell physical goods such as Macy’s, Zappo’s and Walmart.
Service based e-tailers such as Fiverr, Zoom or Travelocity.
Stores that sell digital goods such as Shutterstock, Amazon Kindle, and Zapier.
In this course we will focus specifically on products that are created by artists such as art reproductions, images on home and lifestyle goods and so on.
Your store platform is the place where you will conduct your online business. It helps to think of your online store as a real brick-and-mortar store. This helps to make you aware of what your customers see and how they behave when they enter your store. What does it look like? Is it inviting? Are the products laid out in a clean and orderly fashion? Is it easy to understand your pricing structure? Shipping methods?
Remember, there is no “live” sales person for your customer to ask questions. Your products and your store need to be easy to navigate and understand. Otherwise your customer will leave without purchasing anything.
Store Platforms
There are a number of store platforms available. Here are just a few; Etsy, Society 6, Woo Commerce, Shopify, Saatchi, and many more. You can check out an in-depth comparison of the top 10 store platforms here. After it’s all said and done though, the author of that article agrees with me; Shopify is the best overall platform for an online e-commerce store. We will focus on Shopify throughout this course.
Type of Store
There are primarily two types of store: a dropship store and a physical inventory store. Each has it’s pros ancd cons.
Dropship - In the dropship method you carry no physical inventory. Your products are created and shipped from your vendor. You have no costs related to carrying physical inventory such as storage, prepaid purchase of inventory and so on.
Physical Inventory - in this method you must have your product physically available to ship to the customer. You are responsible for packing and shipping the product. You are also responsible for carrying enough inventory so product is available for your customer to purchase online.
Hybrid - In this model you combine the two methods above. Perhaps like me, you sell a physical item such as a book that you keep in physical inventory, and combine that with dropship products that are produced by your vendor.
All of these types of stores have their pros and cons.
Dropship - Physical Inventory Comparison
Initial Investment - This is a biggie and dropship wins hands down. There is no initial investment in the dropship method. You “pay as you go.” When a customer orders the item, the order is placed and you pay the vendor.
Ease of use - Dropship wins here. Your vendor does all the work. Once the integration is set up properly, the dropship method works behinds the scenes.
Cost of inventory - Dropship wins here again. You carry no physical inventory, so no there is no cost upfront.
Shipping cost - This is a tie. Dropship and physical inventory both require shipping costs.
Damaged goods - Dropship is the winner here again. Most vendors will replace goods that are damaged in shipping at no cost to you. If your physical inventory is damaged in shipping, you must replace that for the customer at your cost.
So it looks like the dropship method wins, right? It does for me!
Watch the video below for a brief overview of the Shopify dashboard.
HOMEWORK MODULE 1
Decide what kind of store you will have.
Next, decide what kind of product you will sell.
Now, who will you sell it to?
Your homework this week:
Define your product and
Define your customer
Setup your Shopify trial account
Class recording from Feb. 5, 2020