Tips For Running An Online Retail Store From Home

If you’ve been dreaming of quitting your job so you can work from home, it’s important to do some prep work first. The last thing you want to do is walk out after a bad day and fall for the first business scheme or ad you find –  90% of online businesses fail within their first 120 days and creating a successful business is going to take hard work and probably even more hours of your time.

Spend time researching profitable businesses, such as Sparrow Collective, an online boutique based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for an example of those who’ve done it right. These tips can also help ensure you’ll be giving your new venture the best start possible.

Inventory

Before you even start your business, you must have inventory available along with high quality photos of your products. You may need to hire a professional, but it often pays for itself in the long run. Don’t go overboard when it comes to inventory. It costs money to store your product, so you’ll want to have just enough available for purchases you expect within the first couple of weeks. Be sure to calculate how long it takes for new inventory to be made or ordered when deciding your timeline for reproduction as well.

Know and Interact with Your Target Audience

Businesses that focus on their own particular niche will be more successful than those who market to everyone. You must know your target audience. Partner with consumers and brand advocates who will talk and share your product to their own followers. Interact with your audience on a daily basis through blog posts, social media and other avenues to get to know them and learn how to make your product better. Be open to any and all suggestions to help you grow your customer base.

Utilize Social Media Marketing

More than three billion people, or 42% of the population, use social media today. One of the best ways to increase your business is to increase your social media following by adding content that’s relative to your target audience and engaging with those potential customers as often as possible. You’ll need to be creative with your content to get a leg up on the competition as typical television or radio type ads simply don’t work on social media. Instead of focusing on the number of likes a post gets, focus on the leads, referrals, and sales conversion rate.

Quality

If you want to succeed, your product must be worthy of the hype.  If you make t-shirts, use top quality cotton and fabric. If you brand yourself as healthy and natural, make sure you do the research behind this, such as guaranteeing organic as well as BPA- and synthetic-free products, for example. In addition to the quality of the product, be sure your packaging also represents your brand.