A quick search online for “how to start an connective e-commerce business” and you’re going to be retargeted with videos and ads about how to sell six figures on Amazon. It seems easy to sell online and become millionaires all the time. It makes you feel like you’re missing out.
Recently, there’s a new buzzword for the latest gimmick: connective e-commerce. Connective e-commerce is a buzzword for “we do everything for you, you do nothing” that works like many other e-commerce scams in the past.
Connective e-commerce believes that you can rely entirely on illustrated websites to create a highly converting online store without any technical experience.
Meanwhile, instead of DIY-ing inventory and self-fulfilment, Connective e-commerce encourages you to source quality suppliers for inventory, fulfilment and shipping.
Connective E-Commerce
Connective e-commerce is an approach that promises to eliminate three areas of “risk” in selling online, hiring a developer to build your online store or website, managing inventory and fulfilment yourself, and Paying instantly for ads.
Finally, it also suggests that instead of paying for ads and “hoping the sales will come,” you should rely entirely on free methods to drive traffic to your store.
The overall premise of Connective e-commerce is that you can start and grow your online business “quickly and efficiently” without paying anything.
In fact, it appeals to those who want to get into e-commerce but aren’t willing to put in the time and effort to win the right way. While we would love to believe that selling online can be de-risked and made super easy, the truth is that like any business, it takes a lot of hard work. It is also difficult.
Spending money on developers can give your website all the functionality, security and maintenance that you really don’t have much time for when you’re running a business. On the other hand, paid advertising is only expensive if you’re not doing it right. PPC involves a lot of skill, data analysis, and strategy.
Getting Rich in E-Commerce is not a Simple Process
It seems that the latest snake oil of the 21st century is the integrated e-commerce platform. While inventory management, website development, and even advertising to a third party sounds great, when you’re “wealth” something you have little control over.
Let’s break down each of the 3 elements Connective e-commerce suggests they handle for you. We’ll give you some ideas on how you can do these things yourself with less risk.
Inventory Management in E- Commerce
Inventory is difficult if you have The secret to inventory is that you can buy it at the right price. If you are new then you will have little advantage. It is also a large capital expenditure. If you can’t or don’t want to risk inventory, look into drop shipping or affiliate marketing instead. Both are low-risk and will give you first-hand training on other aspects of managing an e-commerce store.
Website Development
Setting up an e-commerce storefront can be intimidating if you’re not familiar with website design. It’s not necessary to create an Amazon-style marketplace to get started. Actually the goal should be to start small and learn along the way.
We recommend starting with Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce. Each has pros and cons. Depending on which route you go to find a gig on Fiverr to help design cheaply it’s easy. You can get going for about $100 or less and not depend on anyone else.
E-Commerce Advertising
If there’s one part of the process of setting up and running an e-commerce store that we’d outsource, it’s advertising. It is time consuming and if you have no experience with it, the price results may not be worth it. If you’re new with a tight budget, making a mistake here could sink your fledgling business. In fact, we at Win at Ecommerce outsource our PPC and recommend trusted partners to manage it for our clients.
However, if you want to learn PPC it’s really easy to get started. Google and Facebook now rely heavily on artificial intelligence with automated audience selection with “smart campaigns”. As with website development, if you are very new to it and your budget is tight, it is not necessary to hire someone to do the basic work for you. However, you can do everything on your own. Of course, it takes time and effort. Moreover, you need to be prepared to face the learning curve and all the failures that come with it.
Price Monitoring
If there is any part of the process that we will outsource to a third party, it is price monitoring. In such a competitive and fast-paced environment that e-commerce has become, we cannot overstate how important price monitoring is.
Until a few years ago, small businesses could independently monitor price changes and react quickly. However, today this is almost completely impossible. Prices change at lightning speed due to a number of factors and for some businesses it is necessary to check several times a day. This is something that cannot be done independently. On the other hand, if demand becomes too high, you risk not having enough product to offer.
In addition, price changes are reflected in your marketing activities. You need to know when promotions and discounts are right, how to approach them, and to whom.
Running a Business in E-Commerce
As a legal e-commerce agency, our team at Win has managed dozens of e-commerce websites and launched a few of them.
Everyone at Win at Ecommerce helps people make a living as you build a successful ecommerce store.
Conclusion: Connective E-Commerce
Yes, running a business can often be difficult and stressful. Yet, it is also fun and thrilling. All ups and downs are part of the process and you should not avoid them.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help, but be fully aware that there are many things that cannot happen without your time and effort. Third-party advice can be taken as a guideline, but at the end of the day, you need to understand what makes you stand out from the crowd.
