E-commerce has gone through the roof the past few years with fashion brands paving the way for new ways of buying online. From larger conglomerates to small businesses, competition has also grown online with many business owners left confused about how to get their brand up and running.

Daniel Knight, the founder of Sidekick, explains how it has become harder over the years below.

Since 2010, Sidekick has been selling kickboxing equipment online. Back then, Facebook was only six years old and all you needed to grow your global empire was a Blackberry phone and a Wifi connection. Utilising a website, Ebay, Amazon and networking on Facebook was the bread and butter of e-commerce, working to launch a successful business online in no time.

However, over the years, online retailers have changed the competition. All businesses have had to up their game from creating SEO optimised content to solid Google campaigns amongst social media presences and keyword optimisation too. Even Amazon and Ebay have taken a backseat when it comes to e-commerce with many companies offering direct delivery at very competitive prices instead.

Nowadays, selling products online can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.

The importance of a good website

Your website is the store front of your business. It is also the first place customers will go to view your products or service, so it is very important to have a very user friendly and attractively designed website. As most people now carry a smart phone, they may regularly browse the web on their device, so it makes it essential your website is optimized for mobile users. This is half the battle with a website as you now want traffic to come and view your products. To get organic traffic it has become much more advanced as Google update their algorithm on a regular basis to stop companies going against their rules to rank #1 on Google. On the flip side as more and more people are searching to shop online it means the search queries are much more. If you find it a bit baffling and you would like to learn more about your potential customers, their are search engine optimization (SEO) experts like Neil Patel who have high tech software to help you.

Selling on Ebay and Amazon

10 years ago, selling on Ebay and Amazon was much more straight forward then it is today. You simply would set up an Ebay or Amazon store and start listing your inventory. The competition wasn’t as great is it is today so your listings would get a good amount of views with little amount of work. Now, with more and more companies setting up to start a new brand, it is made these selling platforms much more saturated and harder to sell. Ebay and Amazon do offer a solution to this by paying for sponsored ads or boosting products in search views. As much as this may help with exposure and sales, all the extra costs adding up can make it tough to keep your sales profitable.

Read our article ‘Celebrating 10 years in business’ here.

Using social media to boost sales

Facebook originally was the must have account for any online business to be seen and grow. Facebook offers a free account and it was very easy for the user to network and get their products out in the market.

Facebook has changed dramastically over the years, even though it is still the best social media platform for companies with business profiles and connected shopping have created fantastic ways of buying online. However, the algorithms change frequently, Keeping updated with these changes will give you the best chances of standing out from your competition and hitting your online sales targets.

For example, new Facebook algorithms limit the amount of views each post receives so page likes are no longer the main goal of social media marketing. A focused campaign based around running ad campaigns and boosted posts has become one of the best ways to gain exposure for your business and it’s products.

As for Instagram, this platform has become a major selling social media network. From connected shops and bio links to memes and user-generated content, Instagram is a constantly evolving platform. Influencer marketing is a large part of marketing on Instagram, aiding not only the reach of your platform, but also aligning your products with celebrities and social media personalities too.

Sponsorship

Sponsoring people in your industry is a great way to not only get exposure but to also get endorsements for your products from reputable people in your industry. It is also a very cost effective way of marketing and to get established in your market. We have sponsored fighters for over 10 years as we always do our best to help the sport grow.

Over the past ten years, e-commerce has evolved dramatically. Expanding from a few major selling platforms, knowing how to market your products online is one of the most effective ways of expanding your brand and growing your business too.

How much money do I need to start a business? 

How much money you will exactly need to start up a business all depends on the industry itself and certain infrastructures of the business. When calculating your costs it is always good practice to over calculate to be sure you would not run out of funds. To get started you will need a brand logo, products, designs, marketing materials, packaging, office stationery, advertising and much more. A budget of £5000 is said to be the bare minimum to start a business, but that still may incur further costs within the first year. Ideally a budget of £20000 + to start up would be more foreseeable.

So, if you’re thinking of starting a new business you need to:

● Choose what product/services you would like to offer.

● Study the market to see where you would fit.

● Create a unique name and logo.

● Get your products made and use high resolution images.

● Build your website and social media platforms.

● Budget a monthly figure for Facebook and Google ads.

● Get cracking!!!

If you need any further help getting your business going, whether that would be some design work, Web development or getting a celebrity to promote your brand on social media, just give us a message to the number below.

SIDEKICKBOXING.CO.UK

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