Gifting season is around the corner. If you have products that you want to sell, now is the time for you to set up an online store so that your customers who are stuck at home can buy your stuff. Here are some options to help you get started.
Some things to consider when selling online
1. What model do you want to use? Do you want to make your own products to sell, buy wholesale to resell or use the dropship model?
The dropship model frees you from having to purchase and manage inventory, as you forward your orders to a supplier or dropship partner, who then ships the product out to your customer on behalf of your company. Some say this is the cheapest option to get started.
Some service providers such as Shopify have apps that allow you to search for products by dropshippers and add it to your online store.
2. Figure out how to drive traffic to your website or your store by using search engine optimisation. Analyse insights from your website and adjust your keywords or categories to take advantage of the ranking algorithms of e-commerce websites.
3. What payment gateway are you using? This service connects an online store to a bank or payment processor. Some of the big players in Malaysia are iPay88, eGHL, Razer Pay and Billplz.
You will have to choose between these services based on fees charged by the providers, security and how many kinds of payment methods — such as debit cards, credit cards, FPX and e-wallets — they can accept.
