Category: Ecommerce

The web can be a dangerous place if you don’t know how to protect yourself. 

Perhaps more than in any other online industry, ecommerce store owners are continuously forced to reckon with the fact their sites are hot targets for cyberattacks, and find new ways of combating them. 

Ecommerce sites are treasure troves of sensitive personal and financial data. With thieves eager to root out any potential weaknesses they can, businesses across the sector need to understand that the threat lies not just in the loss of this information, but the significant reputational damage that comes with it. 

Fortunately, many businesses have recognised this threat and begun to invest in new security systems to protect their stores, perhaps spurred on by the evolving nature of cybercrime throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the on-mass adoption of remote working. Nevertheless, these systems are no substitute for solid training that prepares your team. 

Cybersecurity is a constant game of cat and mouse, with criminals honing their skills to penetrate new systems. The best way to stay one step ahead is to be aware of emerging challenges and dedicate time to training yourself and your employees. This might seem highly intimidating, but the modern internet’s rich array of great Online Course Platforms makes it surprisingly affordable to access and afford informative resources at a corporate level.

If you’re not already investing in cybersecurity training, then, you should take the plunge. Let’s explore why. 

New threats appear every day

2020 was a year of significant evolution for cybercrime. 

Mass adoption of remote working across a number of different office-based sectors was one of the leading business stories of the pandemic. Naturally, this left the door open to a wave of criminals looking to target vulnerable businesses still reeling from this massive change to how they operate. 

While the physical nature of ecommerce meant that many businesses continued to remain open in the traditional sense, some staff members (such as customer service, market, etc) moved to their spare bedroom setups and settled into this new workplace attitude with little preparation time. 

The combination of an awkward transition period and the crash course training with now essential software such as Zoom meant many companies were more vulnerable to what would have previously been quite rudimentary phishing and ransomware attacks. Fake email invites and dark, trojan horse-like malware were common occurrences across many sectors throughout the pandemic, and ecommerce, with its high profile boom, was no different. 

Remote working also presented the additional threats of teams being separated from one another. Rather than having cybersecurity experts of sites, less tech-savvy employees were forced to communicate issues through messaging systems or struggle for solutions by themselves. Without the safety blanket of in-office security systems, detailed company data was often at the mercy of a staff member’s ability to remember to turn on a VPN. 

While businesses have been able to steady the ship, this should act as a warning that new online threats are emerging every day, and the simplistic, potentially outdated, sites that ecommerce stores use to run their business and internal security measures may not by up to the task of blocking this crime. 

Ecommerce is a vulnerable sector 

Ecommerce was one of the few success stories of the pandemic, with both established giants such as Amazon and newly launched ventures to offset lost income seeing massive success. 

In a world where no one can go to the shops, ecommerce was suddenly the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

But while we were all ordering new entertainment, household essentials and food online, cybercriminals were lurking in the shadows eying up their new target. 

It becomes apparent pretty quickly how the new boom in ecommerce customers made ecommerce a vulnerable sector. The amount of money swirling around and the less savvy user base of first time shoppers adding perhaps too much information to online accounts lead to many stores having to fight off continued attacks. 

While bricks and mortar stores can just add a new security alarm and refine closing processes to keep their store safe, ecommerce businesses were forced to find new ways to combat inventive attacks while adapting to a massive user base boom. If your average customer is new to the idea of online shopping, it can make it harder to keep them safe. 

Whether it’s a scare of full-blown identity theft, the sheer volume of customers who have experienced some level of cybercrime during this period is a sign of how vulnerable the ecommerce sector is at large. 

Breaches can disrupt key periods

If you’ve been in the ecommerce game for any length of time, you know how important certain key periods are to your business. 

Christmas is probably a big one. Mother’s Day could lead to a healthy profit spike. Black Friday may push the limits of your website. 

Getting your website ready for these key periods is crucial for maximising them and ensuring you’re getting as many orders through the door as possible. 

Unfortunately, cybercriminals know this all too well and will target stores that might have their eye off the ball while ramping up to these weeks and months. This might leave their security systems temporarily less robust, and give hackers the opportunity to infiltrate with disruptive ransomware. 

The aim of this scheme is to restrict access of an owner to their website until they pay a ransom. During peak periods criminals know these websites become even more valuable and owners will have less time to work on solutions other than paying up, so they’re more likely to relent. This makes them a very attractive proposition that generally yields good results. This is why securing your store in the lead up to these key periods is more crucial than ever. 

4 Topics to cover in your ecommerce cybersecurity training 

Now you understand the importance of cybersecurity training for your ecommerce business, let’s get you started and cover a few essential topics to cover.

Phishing and malware attacks: Two of the most common forms of cybercrime. Phishing and malware attacks both target the user’s machine through downloaded software, breaching the PC through an email download or another typical everyday function. If you know how to stop them, they can be pretty easy to swerve, but one mistake can be quite devastating for the security of your data and the health of your equipment. 

Passwords and authentication: Even the most basic of cybersecurity measures should be covered in your training, as they’re often unsuspecting great ways to tighten up your business. The science of a strong password should be employed across your business, while password managers and two-step authentication processes can add another strong layer of security to your log-in process and immediately alert you to possible breaches. 

Physical security: Cybersecurity isn’t just a matter of keeping your 1s and 0s in check, the physical side of keeping customer and company data is just as important. If your employees are lax about the physical whereabouts and accessibility of their tools, imagine how they’re going to act when it comes to digital material? Ensure you cover proper conduct with company property storing and containing access to private information, especially in a world where working from home has never been more prominent. You’d do the same for any other sensitive part of your business. 

Mobile security: With the majority of the user now doing their shopping on mobile devices, it makes sense to build a significant portion of your online safety and security training around those little machines in our pocket. Much like building a great ecommerce store, optimising your training for mobile makes it easier to understand and highlights pain points you might not have otherwise noticed. 

Consider trying… Mock cybersecurity attacks! Seeing how your employees react to real-world situations (either prompted or put upon them without warning) gives you a brilliant idea of how well your training programs are working and highlights potential weak spots. 

Cybersecurity is no joke. Every company worth their salt has taken stock of the last year and learned their lesson, implementing significant cybercrime preventions and robust training exercises. Whether you’re a freshly launched ecommerce business learning the ropes or an established enterprise behind the times, you need to catch up and start training your staff.

Online payment is a vital part of modern life. 

Just about everyone buys things online, with many of us relying almost entirely on ecommerce (only paying for things like groceries in person). It’s become supremely convenient over the years, too, going from horribly clunky during the dial-up era to slick and mobile-optimized today. Due to this, most people barely give it any thought.

Is it smart to be so accepting, though? When you buy something at a brick-and-mortar store, you’re directly interacting with a real person, giving you contextual clues about the safety of the transaction. When you buy something online, you’re sending money into the digital realm and trusting that everything will work. What matters, then, is how that transaction is handled.

This is where digital wallet services enter the picture. 

They allow their users to do various things: transfer money (regular bank transfers or international money transfers), withdraw money, deposit money, receive money, set up recurring payments, etc. You’ve surely heard of PayPal, which is the most commonly-used digital wallet service. But what about Skrill?

In this Skrill review, we’ll cover the things you need to know about Skrill. What it is, how you open an account, how it works, and — most importantly — whether it’s safe. Let’s begin.

What is Skrill?

Skrill is a general digital wallet system that provides a typical range of transfer and payment functions, though it has some features that set it apart from its competitors.

Originally known as Moneybookers, Skrill was launched in 2001 (for comparison, the first version of PayPal was launched in 1999), and has grown significantly over the years. In 2015, it became a subsidiary brand of a multinational company now known as Paysafe. 

Most notably, it offers a platform with some convenient advantages for those who habitually use multiple currencies and spend a lot of money. Think of high-level online gamblers, traders, or miscellaneous international operators. It currently supports 42 currencies (with PayPal only supporting 25), allows each user to store money in four currencies (PayPal doesn’t do this at all), and rewards big spenders through a VIP treatment program which grants them lower fees, higher caps, better support, and even tickets to special events.

While PayPal still has plenty of advantages (it processes transactions much faster, doesn’t charge for moving money between accounts, and is supported by essentially everyone), there’s clearly a market for Skrill as an alternative — assuming it’s comparably safe, of course.

How do you open a Skrill account?

The process of opening a Skrill account is straightforward. You first need to register a basic user account using your full name, home country, and primary currency. When you log in, you’ll need to choose a six-digit PIN for security purposes: make a note of this so you don’t lose it.

You then need to go through the account verification process. This will require you to deposit funds (just a couple of dollars from a suitable debit card or credit card will do) and upload some form of ID (a photo of your passport, for example). You’ll also need to upload a photo of yourself with a piece of paper showing SKRILL and the date, and verify your address through uploading a relevant document or enabling geolocation.

Once you’ve completed these steps and all your data and documents have been reviewed and approved, your Skrill account will be fully active and ready to use. 

You can start using your Skrill wallet to make online payments, accept payments, send money to personal and business accounts, and generally manage your financial activity.

How does a Skrill account compare to a regular bank account?

If you haven’t used a digital wallet system before, you might wonder what exactly Skrill users get from their participation. How are Skrill accounts different? Why can’t you simply use a standard bank account? 

Look at it this way: when you’re planning to go to a store, you can withdraw cash to use in the event that card payments won’t be accepted. The underlying source of your money is the same (your bank account), but the path of delivery is different.

In that vein, you can think of Skrill payments as routing services. When you’re trying to buy something online, making a typical bank transfer isn’t necessarily an option: it depends on what the website supports, and many sites — particularly overseas — won’t support a direct payment from a credit card or debit card. And even when you can pay directly from your bank, you can run into problems with payments being disallowed because your bank suspects fraud.

Transferring money from your bank account to your Skrill account, then, gives you more freedom to send money whenever and however you want. 

Alternatively, you can simply leave your debit card details attached to your Skrill account and use it as a proxy whenever useful without ever making a money transfer to your Skrill wallet.

Using a service like Skrill also provides you with various protections in case you need to cancel a transaction or take action against fraud (Skrill customer support is very responsive).

What is the Skrill Money Transfer service?

Making a payment to an international bank account can be tricky because the financial services might not be compatible — and then there’s the matter of foreign exchange rates. 

Skrill money transfers, though, are fast, easy, and economical. There are no Skrill fees for transfers between accounts, and you can sign up to forex alerts to notify you of the best times to convert.

Accordingly, whenever you have an international money transfer to arrange (you might want to send money overseas to support a family member, for instance), Skrill is there to cover you. Choose the right time to take advantage of the aforementioned exchange rate alerts and you can save a reasonable amount of money in the process, too.

Can you trust Skrill?

Now that we’ve been through the core details about Skrill, we can get to the titular question: is Skrill a service that you can rely on? 

The simple answer is yes, it is. It’s been in operation for a long time, is owned by a huge company, and gets extensive use from many people who guard their money very carefully. If there were anything to be worried about, they’d go elsewhere.

If you’re an ecommerce customer and you’re often interested in buying things from overseas, using Skrill will allow you to use exchange rates more efficiently. You can buy other currencies at optimal times and store them within your wallet to be used whenever you want. You can also take advantage of the large range of supported currencies to really go global with your search.

And if you’re an ecommerce merchant, then you should absolutely make an effort to support Skrill transfers among your payment methods. If someone wants to use Skrill to pay you, that’s no reason to be concerned. It falls in line with all electronic money regulations, and works in a very similar way to other digital wallet systems you likely already support. 

Wrapping up, the answer to the core question is clear: yes, you can trust Skrill. It’s a legitimate tried-and-tested solution to online payment problems, and fully deserves its niche within the digital wallet marketplace.

We are no strangers to the fact that consumers are willing to pay more for products that provide top-notch customer services. Think of yourself. You are a consumer of a bevy of products and services, and if you don’t get a timely response for a specific need, you might end up looking for alternatives. 

The global pandemic has not only changed the purchasing needs of consumers — it has also been impacted by the culture of remote working in many businesses. Whether you’re working from the office or home, you might want to unlearn and relearn the best possible practices and channels to achieve your core business goals. 

Most importantly, your priority must be to make use of the best possible techniques and technologies that are cost-effective, easy to measure and help you cut through the clutter to get noticed. 

Before I dive in, let’s skim through some of the legit facts and figures about the need for effective customer service in ecommerce: 

• According to a study, 81% of consumers would run through online research before purchasing anything online 
• Research by Deloitte asserts, over 88% of businesses give precedence to customer service over everything else to amp up their customer retention rate  
• A study of SuperOffice implies, SaaS companies are expected to get an increase in their revenue generation by $1 billion 
• Adobe recently affirmed businesses with the strongest omnichannel customer support experience a 10% growth annually and a 25% increase in sales closures 
• Human interaction is paramount for about 75% of consumers, according to a study conducted by PWC  
• Healthcare, ecommerce, retail, finance, and banking services are the top customer-centric industries that should prioritize buyer-support over everything else, insists Forbes 

I can keep adding more, but presume these facts and data are enough to validate the necessity for a better customer experience across all your ecommerce platforms. Now, let’s push through the haze and check out some of the most potent channels that can do wonders for your customer service efforts. 

1. Phone calls: “How can we help you?”

Don’t you find it reassuring when someone from a concerned support team picks up your call just to get your issue resolved? Providing customer support over a phone call is a traditional yet effective way to connect with your customers. 

Customer care call support is a must-have channel to add to your growth strategy because it not only helps you gather first-hand feedback or grievances from your customers but also ensures a well-trained customer support team. 

Now how can a telecommunication strategy supercharge your customer call support team? Cloud telephony is the key. If you are already aware of this, it’s high time you integrate it into your existing customer communication setup. For the uninitiated, it is a cutting-edge yet cost-effective system that enables business communication on the cloud or the internet. 

Besides minimizing your costs with an IVR business number, you can have complete control of your call center construct. You will be able to monitor your team’s performance by keeping a close eye (and ears) on all the recordings of incoming calls and outgoing calls to get a fair understanding of what’s going on. 

Besides tracking your call center operations, this will also aid your sales managers in the training and development process of their team.

Concerned about data security? Look out for cloud telephony providers that come with an assurance of protecting your team’s credentials. 

It can also save a lot of your business hours as it captures and controls operational data including bulk call traffic, call timings and durations, inbound and outbound calls, and a lot more. Your live agents will also thank you for reducing their work hours as cloud telephony systems can be easily integrated with ERP/CRM and they could make or receive a phone call with just the click of a button. 

2. Push notifications: “We have an amazing deal just for you!” 

Gone (mostly) are the days when you are hit up with a pesky notification right in the middle of your phone screen. Now, you can make use of mobile/desktop push notifications which often come with an eye-catching image or an apropos messaging to update your customers on the same. 

Whether you are a startup or an established setup, your ecommerce business would be inconsequential without your presence on the Google Play Store or App Store. And what are the prime benefits to having an app? I’ve listed them below:

• It is a tried and tested method to amp up customer retention 
• If accomplished accurately with a well-thought-out plan, your customer retention rate could increase by 2-3x
• Multiply your conversion rate with timely offer updates by creating a sense of urgency. You can trigger immediate action as the user will be able to take action with just a tap of a button
• Your audience is already defined. That’s because the people you will be sending these notifications to have already shown interest in your product by downloading your app or subscribing to your updates, or they may have taken some action or the other in your app or website. This will help you devise your push content strategy accordingly
• It’s not always about selling. You can also educate your audience by sharing relevant information to engage more with your dedicated subscribers, in the form of a blog or a landing page that speaks volumes about your intent  
• You can easily track your campaign’s performance by monitoring the open rates, click-through rates, etc
• You can target your audience specific to their demographics and share your content accordingly relevant to their interests

In other words, there are plenty of benefits to creating your own app and push notifications.

3. WhatsApp: “How was your experience with us?”

In this mobile-first world, you should put your A-game into curating the best possible modes of communication to stay in touch with your customers and potential prospects. Communicating with your customers on WhatsApp is a great way to break the ice and make an indelible impression. 

I’ll share my own experience here. 

Recently, I purchased a product from Amazon but it arrived damaged. I immediately requested a replacement. Later that day, I received a message from the seller on my WhatsApp where they enquired about my concern and how my honest feedback is important for them to improve. I was about to give a poor rating on Amazon but that conversation stopped me. This is just one instance but I can vouch for the nuances of customer psychology here. 

It is important to enable real-time conversations and enhance the shopping experience of your customers.  Like push notifications, you can also share updates on offers and deals to grab attention more quickly. 

Now there are two ways of doing this. You can either make use of WhatsApp business API, or you can ask your team to initiate a conversation where the customer has already granted you permission to do so. 

4. LiveChat: “Hey, are you looking for something?”

Have a quick question on a specific product? Or maybe you simply want to know the status of your order but don’t have all the time to make a phone call? This is where LiveChat comes to play. With the dwindling attention span of the majority of your customers, it’s important to put up with their immediate needs to learn more about a product. 

Integrating a live chat pop-up in your website and social media channels can take you miles. 

Flesh out an engaging chatbot script or make use of a live agent who would be able to address your prospects in real-time. This is a great way to save both your team’s and your customer’s time. You can also make use of a chatbot where you can automate and align the most frequently asked questions with apropos responses. Let’s run through the most commonly asked concerns: 

• Where is my order?
• I received a wrong item
• I want to request a refund/replacement 
• Is this item true to size? 

There are many more you can add to this list and most often the issue gets resolved even without the intervention of a live agent. 

Bonus channels

While you sink your teeth in mapping out a foolproof strategy to provide the best customer service, you should not leave aside two more important channels in your roadmap. 

Social media

This is a no-brainer. Most of your customers are spending their time on social media and you should be well prepared to answer in a jiffy. Whether it’s responding to their comments or attending to their concern in your inbox, you need to make use of this well-oiled marketing channel to stay relevant. 

Emails

This is another essential channel, especially if it’s a B2B undertaking. Most business decision-makers prefer email communication over anything else, so you would want to leverage the best email communication practices to keep your ecommerce business out of the wood. For B2C, it’s an essential channel to help your customers focus on specific products or deals where you can redirect them to relevant landing pages. This is an indispensable practice since your website must be inundated with tons of CTAs and that might baffle a lot of users. 

So, that’s it for now. I hope that the channels I discussed here can help you provide better customer service and experience for your ecommerce business.

Author bio: Dipannita Das is a journalist turned content marketer, currently working as a content lead at MyOperator. An OTT content fanatic, she mostly juggles between professional writing and occasional graphic designing. 

 

 

 

In 2021, protecting customer data must be one of the top priorities of all ecommerce stores. 

As the industry continues to grow, customer data plays an important role in developing marketing strategies and informing design decisions. However, it is most useful as a symbol of trust between the customer and the store. If a customer trusts a brand with their sensitive personal and financial data, they’ll have no problem becoming advocates for the brand. This makes protecting this data a fundamental part of running a successful store. 

But how do you protect customer data while also ensuring the safety and prosperity of your wider business, employees and reputation? Let’s take a look at five ways you can protect customer data as an ecommerce store. 

How does the data protection landscape look right now? 

The widespread adoption of remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic threw up a number of new challenges for businesses eager to stay on top of cybersecurity and expand into the growing reliance of ecommerce. 

While many ecommerce businesses have continued to operate warehouses with employees on-site, much of their administrative, marketing and customer service staff have been working in makeshift home offices. While this was a necessary step, it has also opened up private company and customer data to a slew of new security issues. 

Without the watchful eye of senior staff or integrated office security systems, customer data is perhaps more accessible to thieves than ever before. Creative scams such as fake Zoom emails have looked to target perhaps less tech-savvy workers using new tools for the first time. With more scrutiny needed, businesses have been forced to give up time for training and security software integration. 

On top of this, existing scams have continued to see a rise in frequency, such as:

• Phishing
• Malware
• Ransomware
• Denial of Service

From Spotify to local travel institutions, 2020 and 2021 have seen more high profile data breaches, in some cases caused as a result of this less-observant working environment. 

How to protect customer data

Now that we have some necessary context, let’s look at five ways ecommerce store owners can protect their customers and business. 

Only collect valuable and useful data

While it might seem like all customer data is valuable, the key to operating a safe, secure and trustworthy ecommerce store is to focus on only retaining the data you’ll actually use. 

After all, if you lose that data, it could very well become a huge liability. 

When almost every landing page on your store is optimized with creative CTAs and pop-ups just waiting to collect customer details to inform your marketing, you can quickly find yourself with more data than you know what to do with. In most cases, the most valuable data is about the customer journey, rather than their personal traits and information. 

Ask yourself next time you’re trawling through your findings, “how much of this do I actually need?” The chances are, very little, and savvy hackers are aware of this. The most sensitive information is often left better uncollected, as it means much more in the hands of these cyber criminals. Next time, think before you collect. 

Avoid storing card information

Card information, in particular, should be handled with care and only stored if absolutely necessary. 

Fortunately, all ecommerce stores can operate without the need to retain this data. In fact, doing so would be a significant violation of PCI standards. 

Were your business to lose this sensitive information, it would lead to legal penalties for damages and losses caused to customers along with a significant reputation hit. As a rule of thumb, avoid this practice, or use offline storage to keep them away from the prying eyes of hackers. Using trusted payment facilitators such as PayPal further secures your payment processes. 

Use SSL protection

That little padlock icon next to the URL is more than decoration. SSL certificates are an essential investment for any ecommerce business looking to not just attract customers, but retain them long-term. 

This certificate will prevent attacks with access to your site from analysing customer web traffic, stopping them before they can steal card info, passwords and other sensitive info.  

Ideally, you should look to integrate SSL protection into your:

• Checkout pages
• Sign-up pages
• Customer login pages
• Any pages where customers are asked to input information or passwords

Having this protection on your site immediately builds trust with the majority of shoppers and ensures browsers aren’t highlighting your site as potentially dangerous. 

Keep all software up to date 

I know the constant notifications are annoying, but it pays to take the time to update your software.

Applications and software still running on old versions are prone to hackers. They can be easily penetrated by those exploiting existing vulnerabilities that developers have looked to fix. These updates aren’t meaningless — they’re designed to keep the service safe and secure to use. Just like you, these developers are looking out for their customers. 

To avoid any potential losses or damage to your machines, ensure you’re updating all your software (particularly security patches) as frequently as possible. 

Improve training and awareness in-house

Finally, incorporating cybersecurity training and scam awareness into your employee training is an important step towards developing a more safe and secure business. 

Times have changed, and improving your team through robust training programs on company time is an important part of accelerating your business. As an ecommerce store, how to handle and store customer data should be an integral part of your development strategies. 

Run your employees through the changing nature of cybersecurity, incorporating tests and scenarios into the program to give them real-world experience accessing potential threats and warding off hackers. If they regularly use particular tools, systems and software, ensure they’re fully up to date on their developments and provide reading materials around their roles to complement their training. 

It’s important not to let your business organically develop a culture of fear around cybersecurity. Yes, customer data and the protection of your business is important, but this can and should be taught as the responsibility of business leaders. Empowering your staff to feel confident in their own skills and comfortable asking questions is vital. 

Building a safe and secure online store is easier than it sounds. Sure, the constant updates and developing scams sound intimidating, but they’re part and parcel of running a modern online business. 

Take the time to implement these measures and you won’t just feel less stressed, but immediately see a better relationship between yourself and your customers. 

Want to learn how to sell online? Well, you’ve come to the right place. 

When starting an online business, you enter a competitive playground broader in scope than any brick-and-mortar store. Selling online has never been more accessible, but with that comes competition that challenges even the savviest of business owners. 

With that said, however, the hassle of establishing an online presence is offset by reaping the rewards such a platform offers your business. 

Ecommerce allows your business to grow beyond borders and reach brand new audiences. In this article, we define online selling, outline the best ecommerce ideas, and help you establish an efficient selling platform. Read on as we explain how to sell online.

Online selling definition— and why should your business care? 

Ecommerce, otherwise known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, is the process of buying and selling goods or services over the internet. In the UK alone, online retail sales grew 74% year-on-year, and accounts for 35.2% of all retail — a record that beats any sales peak in recent memory. 

Nowadays, it’s nigh-on impossible to imagine life without the internet, which is why online selling is enjoying a purple patch as the logical evolution of commerce around the world.

Here are the incentives to sell your products online: 

✅ Facilitate business growth

✅ Requires a relatively small investment

✅ Sell products online 24/7

✅ Reach a global audience

✅ Flexible business management 

When selling products online, you can control your business, manage growth around the world, and never need to close shop — all with a relatively small investment (as long as you have access to a reliable internet connection).

With that said, ecommerce isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme that will guarantee you a windfall of sales, nor a wave of new customers without first putting in the hard work. 

Here are some inevitable ecommerce risks you should watch out for: 

❌ Online security and privacy issues 

❌ Platform or system reliability 

❌ Lack of traffic to convert

❌ Warehouse and shipping logistics

Want to sell your products on the web? Learning how to sell online is about maximizing the benefits by mediating the risks. Below we explore the best ecommerce ideas that can help you establish a manageable and efficient online presence.

Best ecommerce ideas for selling online

Establishing an online store is about finding a profitable idea to launch your operation, whether this is a desirable business model or a must-have product.

For many aspiring entrepreneurs and savvy business owners, discovering an idea to take advantage of is easier said than done, but sometimes the simple ideas are best. 

In this section, we discuss a few ideas that can have you start selling online with confidence in 2021. 

Dropshipping 

Dropshipping is an ecommerce fulfilment model that doesn’t require you to store a large amount of inventory. Instead, when users make a purchase on your online store, you source the product from a third-party distributor like Oberlo who holds the inventory and ships the product to your customers. 

The dropshipping model is a great way to start selling online because it suits nearly any size business, from dabbling in merchandise to running a multinational enterprise. 

For smaller businesses and startups, operating a dropshipping store means you can mediate around some of the inherent risks that come with ecommerce. Here’s why: 

• It’s cost-effective: less capital required and low overheads to maintain growth 
• It’s easier to test: gauge customer appetite without buying lots of stock
• It’s more manageable to scale: most of the heavy lifting is done by suppliers
• It’s flexible: manage your store from anywhere at anytime

These benefits make dropshipping an attractive online business idea for 2021, but flexibility and convenience come at a price. For example, being so reliant on third-party suppliers, you might discover quality and delivery issues of your control — this can reflect badly on your brand, so make sure you wholeheartedly trust your supplier and their service. 

Print on demand

Print on demand (or POD) is an easy way to get into selling online. 

It’s very similar to dropshipping, with one big difference — when someone orders an item via your website, it goes to a third party supplier who will print the specified design onto the product before it is shipped to the customer.

This means that you can easily personalize your products with your own branding and unique designs. 

You can read more about print on demand and the best POD apps you can use here.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is an ecommerce model that allows you to make money anytime, anywhere — and all without selling a product. Instead, you supply a valuable service for another, much larger business. 

Affiliate marketing is the process by which you earn commission by delivering traffic to another businesses website. Businesses regularly work with affiliate marketers because the process spreads marketing responsibilities across several parties and websites rather than relying on an in-house operation. 

What do you get in return? When another business leverages your talents to market its brand, you’ll be rewarded with a share of the profit. As an affiliate (or creator) the business provides you with a link so they can track who is responsible for a sale, thereby allowing you to earn commission on a per click, per lead, or per-sale basis. 

With affiliate marketing, you can enjoy the flexibility of running an ecommerce website and have the potential to achieve high ROI, but only if you have strong marketing knowledge and possess the expertise to rank effectively in search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Stay on top of trends to find opportunities for your online store

Every aspiring entrepreneur or seasoned business mind dreams of predicting the next big thing, but sadly there is no way of knowing for certain what trends will gain traction in the following years and months. 

However, you can maximise your chances by keeping your finger on the pulse and staying on top of what is selling in the here and now. 

Google Trends, for example, is a great platform to explore what the world is searching for, and identify products and services currently rising in popularity by extracting online search results. 

You can also conduct keyword research using a paid tool like Ahrefs or go online for free using Google Keyword Planner. This allows you to see what customers are searching for in your chosen niche and use it to find ideas that can make you money. 

Failing that, however, you can always stick to selling what you love. While this might sound sentimental (and it is), if you’re passionate about something it’ll show up on your ecommerce platform through product descriptions, marketing campaigns, and social media content. Do the research first, but if there is demand for something you love, you’ve got the best of both worlds. 

Choose how to sell online: best ecommerce selling platforms

Image: Pixabay

Selling products online is a daunting process when you’re unsure how to get the process rolling. In this section, we explore the best selling platforms available to you. 

Use an ecommerce store builder

Creating your own online shop using builders like Shopify or BigCommerce is a great way to secure a domain name and get your store up and running quickly in return for a monthly fee. 

Read our ecommerce reviews as we compare the best online store builders for 2021 to help find a platform that works for your goals and online selling needs. 

Use a WooCommerce plugin for WordPress

Turn your WordPress site into a lucrative sales channel using the WooCommerce plugin. 

Installing the app is free, but you’ll have to pay for other elements like hosting, website maintenance, and theme design. Plus you’ll likely need some knowledge on coding given WooCommerce is open-source software. 

Use online marketplaces

Selling using an online marketplace like eBay, Amazon or Etsy is among the quickest and easiest ways to sell and shop products. 

These marketplaces have built authority and trust with their user base — plus you’re virtually guaranteed round-the-clock site functionality and trading. 

The downside of using an online marketplace is they tend to charge a fee or commission to sell your product. For example, to sell on eBay your listing is subject to charges like a final value fee. 

Summary: how to sell online and establish your store 

Selling online is easier than ever before, but the best ecommerce platforms know competing in such a market is a challenge. Use this guide to help navigate around the world of online selling and establish a fruitful ecommerce presence in 2021. 

When you’re setting up an ecommerce store, one of the business models you might be considering is print on demand. 

It’s a fairly easy way to get started in ecommerce, with fewer upfront costs than other models. Plus, if you’re thinking of using Shopify, there are plenty of print on demand apps that can streamline the whole process from ordering to fulfilment. 

In this article, we take a look at the best print on demand apps to use with Shopify and weigh up their pros and cons so that you can find the right fit for your business. 

What is print on demand?

Print on demand (or POD) is a business model that allows an ecommerce store to sell products on a per-order basis, so you don’t have to buy stock in advance of making a sale. You use a third-party supplier who offers white-label products such as t-shirts, hats, and phone cases, and then customises them with your own design. 

Print on demand is similar to dropshipping — when someone purchases an item, you place an order with your supplier, who will print the design on the product and ship the order directly to your customer. 

What are the benefits of print on demand?

Print on demand offers a number of benefits that make it the perfect business model for new stores and entrepreneurs. 

No upfront investment

To set up a print on demand business you don’t need to invest a lot of money into buying your stock upfront. You pay for the products as and when someone places an order.

Easy to set up

With print on demand, you don’t need to have the space to store the stock and you also don’t have to deal with the packaging and shipping of products to customers. All of the logistics of fulfilling orders are handled by the printing business.

Flexibility

You can offer a wide range of products using print on demands apps and it’s easy to try out new products and react to customer demand. 

How do you start a print on demand business?

It’s really simple to get started with a print on demand business. These are the key steps: 

• Decide what products you want to sell
• Create the designs you want to be printed
• Come up with a name and brand for your store
• Set up an online store using an ecommerce platform like Shopify
• Find a print on demand Shopify app that can create your designs
• Start marketing your store and products

If you want to kickstart an ecommerce business without too much hassle, then starting a print on demand business is a quick and easy option.

Best print on demand Shopify apps 

If you’re looking to run a print on demand business using Shopify, these apps will make it straightforward and cost-effective. A number of these print on demand apps will also integrate with other platforms.

Printify

Printify is one of the most popular print on demand apps to use with Shopify. It offers a wide range of products at affordable prices and will connect you to printing partners around the world. Using Printify you can create your own designs, which means it’s good if you have your own unique designs to sell or you want to create personalised designs. The app also has a mock-up generator so that you can preview the design before you order.

It’s easy to set up and start using Printify for print on demand and it also integrates with other ecommerce platforms such as Etsy and WooCommerce.

Key features

• Automated ordering, printing, and shopping
• Products are shipped with your store’s branding
• Generate mockups before ordering 

Pricing 

There are two Printify plans:

• Free: You can connect the app to three stores and create an unlimited number of designs. The free plan also includes 24/7 customer service access.
• Premium: Connect the app to ten stores and you get up to a 20% discount on all products ordered.

Printful

Image: Printful

Printful is a print on demand company that specialises in offering custom embroidered products, alongside printed and engraved designs. There are no set up costs and it’s free to use Printful. You just need to list the products on your Shopify store — then when someone places an order for an item on your Shopify store, it is automatically sent through to Printful for fulfilment. They’ll then print, pack and ship the order using your store’s branding on the packaging.

It has the option to create product mockups to see what a design will look like and you can order samples of products at a discounted rate. If you don’t have your own design that you want to be printed, then Printful offers a number of templates that you can edit and customise with your customer’s request.

They operate and ship to a number of countries around the world including Europe and the USA. 

Key features

• Automatic fulfilment when an order is placed
• Add your own branding to your products
• Professional photos of your products to use on your site

Pricing

Printful is free to use with no set up costs — you just pay for the products you order and shipping. 

Pixels

Pixel is a well-established print on demand Shopify app that offers a huge range of products and works with a number of large brands. You can use them to sell anything from canvas prints to coffee mugs or tote bags.

The app offers an automatic ordering, inventory, and tracking system that can save you a lot of time as a retailer if you’ve got a large online store.

Key features

• Fast shipping options — 2-3 business days to be dispatched
• Multiple manufacturing locations around the world

Pricing

It’s free to set up Pixels and you only pay for the products and shipping costs. 

TeeLaunch

TeeLaunch is another popular print on demand app that sells a varied range of products. It’s free to set up and use, and you only pay when you order the products. The ordering process is completely automated so that it goes through to fulfilment as soon as your customer makes a purchase.

However, the app doesn’t offer a mockup generator or any templates, so you can’t preview what the product will look like. This also means you’ll have to create your own mockups for designs to use as product photos on your store.

TeeLaunch is a fairly basic option, but it has all the functionality that a small ecommerce business would need.

Key features

• Automated fulfilment when an order is placed
• Straightforward to set up and free to use

Pricing

TeeLaunch is free to set up and use, you just have to pay for the products and shipping.

CustomCat

Image: CustomCat

CustomCat offers one of the largest catalogues of print on demand products. This means if you’re looking to sell slightly different products that other apps don’t offer, then this might be the best choice for you.

It also offers all the key features that other print on demand Shopify apps have such as automatic ordering, a fairly short 2-3 day fulfilment time scale, and white label shipping. While some retailers have experienced issues with the quality, delivery time, and customer support, it’s a good choice if you want a wider product range.

Key features

• Over 350 different products to choose from
• Automatic ordering system
• Add your branding to the packaging

Pricing

CustomCat is free to install and offers a completely free plan with no monthly fees. However, it does have a paid plan for $30 per month, which offers you savings on each product. If you’re expecting to sell a lot, it might be worthwhile choosing this paid plan so that you pay the discounted price for the products you order.

Printy6

Image: Printy6

Printy6 is a really simple print on demand app that’s easy to get set up through Shopify. It allows you to customize different types of products and then add them to your online store.

Printy6 offers free shipping worldwide, however, it can take up to seven days for the orders to be printed and then another 5-17 days for products to be delivered. Once an order has been shopped, Printy6 will send you a notification with tracking details so that you can keep your customers up to date.

Key features

• Good catalogue of products
• Free worldwide shipping
• Integrates well with Shopify

Pricing

There’s no set up cost for Printy6 and it’s free to use — the only thing you have to pay for is the products.

JetPrint 

JetPrint is another great print on demand Shopify app that’s popular because of its wide product range and easy to use interface. Their products are all extremely high quality and they promise a quick turnaround to get products printed and dispatched within four days.

Key features

• High-quality products
• Free worldwide shipping

Pricing

JetPrint offers worldwide shipping, free of charge, and there’s no setup costs or monthly fee. The only part you pay for is the product that you’ve ordered. 

Our opinion: which is the best print on demand Shopify app?

The best print on demand Shopify app for your business will depend on your business’s requirements and priorities. 

If you’re looking to offer a wide range of products in your store or you want to sell something different from other print on demand businesses, then CustomCat is probably the best option. 

Overall though, the two best all-round print on demand apps are Printful and Printify. They’re both free and easy to use, with a mockup generator so you can preview designs, and the order and fulfilment process is automated. 

Printful is known for high-quality products, with accurate production and shipping times — which means for larger businesses it’s often the more reliable choice. However, Printify specialises in embroidered products and can often handle more complex designs. If you’re deciding between Printful or Printify, then it will probably come down to the type of products and designs you want to sell, the cost and shipping times. 

Print on demand is a good business model if you’re starting a new ecommerce store, and there’s a huge number of apps that can help with producing and fulfilling your orders. The key things to consider are the product range they offer, their prices, and the delivery time scale. 

Starting an online business? First, you need a killer idea followed by partnering with a trustworthy supplier.

By numbers, Alibaba is the largest ecommerce company in the world, making up 80% of China’s online shopping market — but is it a safe space to source products with confidence? 

Marketplaces like Alibaba and AliExpress make it easy for your business to find a manufacturing partner or wholesale supplier all around the world, yet selling remains a daunting process for many entrepreneurs, not least because of the potential security risks it poses to your operation.  

In this article, we explore all there is to know about sourcing products from Alibaba and outline how to stay safe using a platform so broad in scope.

What is Alibaba — and is it safe? 

Alibaba is a comprehensive B2B marketplace and ecommerce directory that connects suppliers with buyers all over the world. 

While most of the platform’s clientele are from Asia, the Alibaba group has a strong presence on the global stage, owning three Chinese marketplaces: Taobao, Tmall and Alibaba.com.  

Image: Alibaba.com

There isn’t much you won’t be able to find when sourcing products on Alibaba, which is why, alongside the Amazons of the world, this marketplace is one of the most popular online shopping destinations on the web. 

But one question remains: is Alibaba safe? 

Since launching in 1999, Alibaba has become an attractive platform for buying and selling — and for the most part trading companies, merchants, and suppliers on Alibaba are reputable and trustworthy. The company also offers a robust trade assurance policy, which protects your payments amongst verified suppliers through its bespoke payment platform.

Trade assurance protects you and your business from getting scammed or receiving poor quality products through Alibaba. But as with any online marketplace where many moving parts are involved, making a purchase does not guarantee a seamless user experience. 

To avoid scams on Alibaba, you must do your due diligence and avoid something that feels too good to be true. Read on as we explore how to improve your safety and spot a red flag when finding products on such a gigantic marketplace. 

Avoiding scams and choosing trustworthy suppliers on Alibaba 

Sourcing products on Alibaba is generally a safe process, but it’s even more secure for those who know what they’re looking for. In this section, we explain how not to get scammed on Alibaba and help you source quality products for your customers. 

Have a safe buying experience with Alibaba trade assurance

The aforementioned trade assurance offered by Alibaba is a great way to keep your money safe from bad suppliers. Trade assurance protects against scams or receiving otherwise poor quality products from a supplier you thought you could trust. 

When payment is made through Alibaba.com, the trade assurance protects your online order to provide greater peace of mind. It works alongside extended customer service to give you a refund if its verified suppliers let you down. 

Here are some of the benefits of using Alibaba’s trade assurance solution: 

• Payment security: track money and recoup payments stored safely before product delivery
• Better support: easier to get a refund if you’re not happy with product quality

Relying on this service is a great way to source products you can sell with confidence, but not every supplier is signed up to the scheme, so there are some extra measures you should know about before making your order…

Use a Gold Supplier

Gold Supplier is a visual trust indicator for buyers looking for serious, professional suppliers. 

Image: Alibaba.com

This is a premium service where suppliers pay a membership fee for gold status on the Alibaba platform. 

Members are subject to safety checks via a third party supplier assessment in return for a more comprehensive way to promote products and maximise exposure — this makes Gold Suppliers among the most reliable operations on Alibaba. 

As a buyer, you can spot a Gold Supplier status by looking out for an icon like this: 

Safeguard by checking a supplier’s verification status

Gold Supplier isn’t the only verification process on Alibaba. Often it’s advised to check a supplier’s verification status across a number of levels. 

Alibaba has its own verification system, which works as a safeguard for buyers by ensuring its suppliers are a legally registered business. 

Not sure what you’re looking for? Alibaba’s levels of verification look like this: 

Image: Alibaba.com

These evaluations and supplier audits are carried out both by Alibaba and a third party inspection/auditor — meaning the checks are a solid, unbiased solution for finding trustworthy suppliers.

Use a secure payment method during checkout

Protect your bank account on Alibaba using a safe payment method that guarantees you a refund. Here are a few payment methods available and how safe we think they are: 

• Secure Payment: Alibaba uses Alipay to hold payment until orders are delivered
• Paypal: not an official Alibaba partner, but provides a safe payment gateway
• Letter of Credit: great for high-value transfers, but quite complex
• Direct transfer (credit card): only use if you completely trust the supplier
• Western Union: don’t use, there is no way of recovering your money

Choosing a safe payment method is important because not all suppliers support trade assurance, which makes it a little more tricky to get a refund and recoup shipping costs. 

Communicate with your Alibaba supplier 

Found a trustworthy supplier on Alibaba and settled on a safe payment method? Now you should build a professional understanding and ask any questions needed to clarify things. 

Here are some examples of what you should ask your Alibaba supplier: 

• Minimum order quantities (or MOQ): most overseas suppliers are open to negotiating a lower order quantity despite what is listed on the product page if a buyer is genuinely interested. 
• Production pricing: asking how much each item costs to manufacture is important for understanding profit margins because Alibaba only supplies a broad guide per unit. 
• Production time: getting exact dates in place is important so you know when an item can be delivered to your customer — this is especially important for those operating a dropshipping model. 

Getting to know Alibaba suppliers plays a vital role in building professional trust. Remember to ask lots of relevant questions, acquire information, and establish your quality standards. 

Get samples from your potential supplier

Need some extra reassurance before committing to a supplier? Check the quality of your purchase by asking for a sample product. Samples are an important part of the quality check process, especially as you cannot touch what you see on the screen. 

Some suppliers charge for samples because they receive lots of requests; others supply them at a discount or for free — it depends from supplier to supplier, but don’t commit to a large order before doing your due diligence and inspecting the product for yourself. 

Ecommerce marketplaces don’t get much bigger than Alibaba, which makes it all the more important you know how to stay safe, secure your brand, and source quality products for your customers. 

Use this guide to help navigate the ecommerce giant and build a fruitful partnership with trusted, professional suppliers.