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Starting an eCommerce Website

Discussion in 'eCommerce' started by dynamichost, Apr 13, 2013.

  1. #1
    I am looking to start my own online eCommerce website but i need some advice.. I am getting some Wholesale packages of clothings but i dont know if i should buy lots of packages of clothes to start off or a few to see how it start off first.. So i want everyone that have experience in eCommerce before to tell me what is best to start :) thanks.
     
    dynamichost, Apr 13, 2013 IP
  2. SocialShopWave

    SocialShopWave Peon

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    #2
    Most of starters have higher expectations, it even may hurt business. It is recommended to start with small amount of packages of clothes and work on building audience and optimize the work flow.
     
    SocialShopWave, Apr 13, 2013 IP
  3. avantemedia

    avantemedia Active Member

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    #3
    As he said, small amounts, also do your market research. If you are targeting local people to yourself, you need to see what clothes they wear. You don't want to end up with clothing that no one wants to buy because its not fashionable.
     
    avantemedia, Apr 14, 2013 IP
  4. Tomwindser4

    Tomwindser4 Peon

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    #4
    justt a few. selling online is not as easy as you think!
     
    Tomwindser4, Apr 14, 2013 IP
  5. danibee

    danibee Well-Known Member

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    #5
    If you want to start an ecommerce website I recommend you to go with http://www.prestashop.com/
    they are free. Also you can buy a cheap theme if you don't like the default one.
    Prestashop is nice and updated. Many websites are using it and the best thing is that it is FREE.
     
    danibee, Apr 14, 2013 IP
  6. amcg

    amcg Active Member

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    #6
    I would honestly suggest from previous experience, (unless you have a good few thousand for advertising) then don't Sell via your own website as you won't generate enough visitors to get sales. I would utilise Ebay and Amazon.

    As for Stock, try to buy 1 or 2 of everything not just a box of one line, then you can put all the items up for sale and see which line is more popular which you can then reorder.
     
    amcg, Apr 15, 2013 IP
  7. creativewebmaster

    creativewebmaster Active Member

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    #7
    First of all you should have stock of the clothes before you start any ecommerce website. Make internal process ready before you booming to sales products online. First survey the market according that you an create the eCommerce store.
     
    creativewebmaster, Apr 15, 2013 IP
  8. rashida

    rashida Active Member

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    #8
    Hi, if you are looking for open source software to create your online store, I suggest you try zeuscart advanced free open source shopping cart software.
     
    rashida, Apr 15, 2013 IP
  9. tasinmahmud

    tasinmahmud Peon

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    #9
    As a beginner I would suggest you to find some free marketplace shop. Open your shop there, upload your products and sell. By doing that you would have more experience on e-commerce. Later on, it would be very easy to run an e-commerce site. You can open your shop on bizerse.com, it's free.
     
    tasinmahmud, Apr 15, 2013 IP
  10. ArticlesUK

    ArticlesUK Greenhorn

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    #10
    I would make a small order of clothes at first especially if you have not sold them before. Of all the niches to get involved in, fashion is one of the most volatile (more so online !!) and unless you have a solid marketing plan then you will be sunk within 3 months.
     
    ArticlesUK, Apr 17, 2013 IP
  11. SelectivelyDeaf

    SelectivelyDeaf Greenhorn

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    #11
    When you say you are buying pallet loads of clothes - are these catalogue clearances, or returns, etc?

    If the products you intend to sell will be regular, and you have 'set products' to actually stock your ecommerce store with, then you could use a basic ecommerce store, and use ebay/amazon etc to complement and drive buyers.

    If these are just job-lots, and you have no real idea what will be in there each time - then I'd suggest you just list them as you get them onto ebay, etc. Otherwise you'll be creating a lot of products on your own site, and it will become a serious administrative chore.

    Wholesale pallet job-lots were a popular thing a number of years ago, and lots of decent ebay sellers developed from this type of business.....I'm not so sure they're just as good in terms of value, quality, or resaleability nowadays.

    No matter what you intend to do, don't go buying a load of stock of something until you are sure of your market.......trial and error will teach you a lot, and buying smaller sample batches is the way to test the water.
     
    SelectivelyDeaf, Apr 17, 2013 IP
  12. Tyche Infotech

    Tyche Infotech Greenhorn

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    #12
    If you are looking forward to build an e-commerce website visit http://www.tycheinfotech.com
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2013
    Tyche Infotech, Apr 20, 2013 IP
  13. betteb

    betteb Well-Known Member

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    #13
    You don't want to have a ton of one type of product no matter what. If you are just starting out, start with smaller batches of different types and test to see what sells. Also, since clothing tends to be a trendy market, make sure you know who you are targeting with your store and buy clothes that will appeal to them as much as possible, like plus size, seniors, juniors, teens, kids, men, wealthy women, etc.
     
    betteb, Apr 21, 2013 IP
  14. aamir.alvi3

    aamir.alvi3 Member

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    #14
    Take some time in learning various trends in your industry and see what's working and what's not. Besides, its your commitment to your business that also matters. Try to learn and explore various business models of other suppliers and see what opportunities you can exploit and what resources you need. In short, lurk before you leap. Cheers
     
    aamir.alvi3, Apr 22, 2013 IP
  15. ronrule

    ronrule Active Member

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    #15

    What's your marketing budget once the site launches?

    Don't have to tell me - just think about it. I ask because how quickly you'll be able to move through inventory is directly proportionate to how much you'll be able to spend driving traffic. If you're trying to "ease into it" and start up lean, don't buy a lot of inventory until you know what you'll be able to sell through.

    An Amazon or eBay store to compliment your own online store may be of value here as well - even though your long-term intent is to drive traffic to your own site, it can help to push products into an established marketplace if you need to unload excess inventory. Before you order anything, do a search for the items you're considering on those sites - if you see a lot of them on ebay without bids, consider going with different products. You want to find products that there is a market for already, but not heavily saturated.
     
    ronrule, Apr 22, 2013 IP
  16. Twelve

    Twelve Member

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    #16
    i think this is not so much of an e-commerce question but more of an business question since your concern is whether if you should bring in a whole lot or a smaller lot.

    If you're unsure, you should really just start a preorder to see the response of the market.
    You do not have to physically bring in a whole load of shipment in the very first instance.

    Think groupon or beecomnomics, the reason why they are doing well is because they don't hold physical goods. they only proceed when an order quantity is reached to ensure it's worthwhile to bring in a certain something.

    you could advertise what you would be selling, and see how it goes. look at the response.
    of course when the response is good, then you could go with a bigger shipment, if otherwise go with a small shipment. then if there isn't any response at all, you should just ditch the idea of starting this e commerce site.
     
    Twelve, May 10, 2013 IP
  17. Janib Soomro

    Janib Soomro Greenhorn

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    #17
    Get lots of data, dump it and wait a month to see it getting indexed :) worked for me.
     
    Janib Soomro, May 10, 2013 IP
  18. lalaine

    lalaine Greenhorn

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    #18
    hi, i sell my ecommerce site....CHEAP TWO WEBSITES FOR SALE

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    lalaine, May 10, 2013 IP
  19. Twelve

    Twelve Member

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    #19

    I think it's not right to just hijack someone's thread just like that.
    you should earn your way to sell your sites on BST of Digital Point
     
    Twelve, May 10, 2013 IP
  20. Qura-tul-Ain

    Qura-tul-Ain Active Member

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    #20
    I have an ecommerce clothing store and its a lot of efforts before you start getting sales. So you might not even want to procure any items. First setup a blog on your domain and get traffic. Once you have good traffic then launch an ecommerce site.
     
    Qura-tul-Ain, May 11, 2013 IP