If you’ve spent any amount of time online then you’ve probably heard of people making money using platforms like Shopify and Amazon. While you might be tempted to dismiss this as just another get rich quick scheme, it actually isn’t. This business model is 100% legit, and it’s called eCommerce. Not only do people make money on the Internet with eCommerce, some are able to earn a very comfortable living with it.
What is eCommerce
To put it simply, eCommerce is selling things online. Usually this means actual physical products, but in some cases digital products can be considered eCommerce as well. eCommerce has been around for as long as the Internet itself, and is one of the easiest ways to make money from home.
The best thing about eCommerce is the fact that literally anyone can do it. In the early days of the Internet things were a lot harder since there was no infrastructure. People would to do everything themselves such as creating their own eCommerce website, keeping an inventory, and shipping the products. These days there are services like Shopify and Amazon that will handle most this for you, making eCommerce easier to get into than ever.
That said, there are a few key elements of eCommerce that you need to know about such as sourcing products, drop shipping, and customer service. Let’s take a look at these elements and how to tackle them in today’s digital world.
Sourcing
Sourcing is acquiring the products that you’re going to sell, and there are several ways to do this. One option is going to real life stores, purchasing products, then selling them online for profit. People who are into Amazon FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) tend to do this, and there are apps that can help you if this is the rout you want to go.
Another method of sourcing is dropshipping, which, as its name implies, handles the shipping for you as well. Many companies online have dropshipping programs. Once you sign up for them, you can then advertise their products in your online store at a marked up price. Once a sale is made you forward the order to the dropshipper, pay their fee, and they ship it for you.
The last method of sourcing that we’re going to discuss is buying in bulk, also sometimes called buying wholesale. Using this method you basically buy large order of items and drastically reduced prices. You have to keep the inventory and do the shipping yourself in most cases, but you can then sell the products at a marked up price for a very nice profit.
Customer Service
If you decide to sign up with Shopify you’re going to have to handle the customer service side of things yourself, or pay someone else to do it for you. This includes things like handling complaints, and dealing with returns/refunds. As you can imagine this is kind of a pain. The good news is that you can outsource this using the profits you make from your business. In fact, outsourcing customer service should probably be one of the first things you do once you start making a profit. Shopify also has an online guide to help you provide the best customer service possible that you can take a look at as well.
You may be thinking to yourself that customer service can’t be that important, but your would be wrong. A person’s customer service experience will greatly influence whether or not they do business with you again, and spread the word about your businesses. If you get a bad reputation then not only will you miss out on what is essentially free advertising, you’ll also lose a certain percentage of sales since some people will actively avoid your business.
Making Money with Shopify
Shopify is one of the largest online platforms for eCommerce. The general idea is that you pay a monthly fee and Shopify basically gives you all the tools you need to create an eCommerce website. It’s super simple, and you could likely get your site set up and ready to go in a few hours as long as you’ve already sourced products.
While Shopify isn’t quite as easy to get into for beginners as Amazon is, it’s still a very solid choice even if you have no experience with eCommerce. It has many benefits that will help you to sell your products, and keep you safe. Here are some of the benefits of Shopify.
Secure and Reliable Payment
Transactions with Shopify is fast, easy, and secure for both you and your customers. Not only does it give your customers many different payment options, it’s also safe and secure, increasing customer confidence in your business.
Fast Loading Speeds
A slow site can kill your business because it will bore customers and cause them to click off to go find the product somewhere else. Thanks to the fact that Shopify is a globally hosted platform, it has super fast loading speeds no matter where you or your customer are from. This helps to give your customers a positive experience so that they stick around and buy your stuff.
Mobile Friendly
Nearly half of all Internet shoppers are doing it from their mobile devices. This means that neglecting to make a mobile friendly eCommerce store can cause a nearly 50% loss in sales. Shopify offers solid mobile friendly options for your store, allowing it to be browsed just as easily on a mobile devices as on a desktop computer.
Proven-to-Work Website Templates
On the Shopify platform you’re not expected to make your store from scratch. Not only does Shopify provide you with templates, they make sure that their templates actually convert. This means that you’re already one step ahead when it comes to optimizing your site for sales.
The Power of SEO
Search engine optimization is a big factor in determining how potential customers find your eCommerce store. Shopify stores are built for SEO and can make it easier for you to draw in traffic that’s actively searching for what you have to sell. This can give you a noticeable boost in conversions.
Making Money with Amazon
On the other side of the coin is Amazon, probably the most well known retailer online. Setting up shop on Amazon offers a lot of advantages, but also some limitations as well. How does it compare to Shopify? We’ll get to that in a moment, but for now, let’s focus on what Amazon has to offer.
Probably the biggest thing you get when you do eCommerce on Amazon is the Amazon name itself. Everyone knows and trusts Amazon, and as a result that credibility will apply to you as well. This is because Amazon allows for very little branding of your own. While you could view this as a negative, and it can be, it’s also a positive since Amazon’s branding is very strong and has been proven to make sales.
The Amazon name is just one benefit of doing eCommerce on their platform though. Here are some other benefits that you’ll get when you sign up with Amazon.
Internal Traffic
In addition to getting traffic from SEO, you’ll also have the benefit of getting traffic from Amazon itself as well. This is because Amazon loves cross promoting its products. For example, recommendations for your products can appear on other pages on the site. It also means that people browsing around on Amazon for related products may just stumble across your page and make a purchase.
Shipping and Packaging
Amazon handles the shipping and packaging of your items for you with their FBA program. All you really need to do is send the items to them and they’ll take care of the rest. Just keep in mind that there are inventory fees so you want to make sure that what you’re sending them is actually going to sell.
Infrastructure
On Amazon everything is already set up for you, there’s no need to build anything. All you’re going to be doing is listing your products in the store, writing the sales copy for them, and adding images. The web pages, payment stuff, and customer service infrastructure is already done for you. This makes getting started with Amazon extremely easy, especially for beginners.
Simple Fee Structure
Instead of charging a monthly fee for using their platform, most of Amazon’s fees are only charged when you actually make a sale. This makes Amazon a very low risk venture when compared to other eCommerce platforms. Just keep in mind that there are inventory storage fees. These fees are very reasonable though, and you can always choose to have the items that aren’t selling disposed of.
Easy to Use for Customers
Everyone knows how to use Amazon. This means there is very little chance of anyone getting confused on your pages, and you losing sales because of that. Shopping on Amazon is simple, which means that making sales is equally as simple.
Shopify vs Amazon: Which is Better
Both Shopify and Amazon have their own unique strengths, making it hard to say that one is better than the other. Instead, you should be looking for the platform that best suits your own personal needs.
When it comes to flexibility and creating your own brand, Shopify is the clear winner. With Shopify you literally get to create your own store, and your own brand. If you’re familiar with how branding works, and want something truly unique that you have 100% control over, then Shopify is going to be your platform of choice.
On the other hand, if you’re a relative new comer to things like branding and online marketing in general, Amazon might be your best bet since it does all of that for you. While it has less flexibility, Amazon is a bit easier to use and you basically get to piggy back on their strong brand recognition.
Think of it this way, Shopify would be like renting a building and opening your own store under your own brand. Amazon would be like renting space at a famous mall. This means that Shopify would allow you to grow your business yourself, but with Amazon you’re basically reliant on them for much of your business.
Overall Amazon is the better choice for beginners. If you’ve never done any kind of online business before, have no idea how marketing and branding works, Amazon is the one you want. Just remember that along with all of Amazon’s strengths comes competition. Amazon is a crowed market place and no matter what you’re selling there will be tons of other people selling similar products.
Shopify on the other hand is great for people who understand the fundamentals of online marketing, branding, and how to grow a business. You also have more control over how much competition you have since you have more control over your USP (unique selling proposition) which can give you a stronger position in your niche.
Another category that Shopify outshines Amazon in is flexibility. With Shopify you can build whatever kind of store you want, and sell whatever you want as long as it’s legal in your area. If you have a very specific vision for your eCommerce store, then Shopify can help you make it a reality.
Regardless of which platform you choose, you’re going to want to know the basics of branding, copywriting, demographics, and stuff like that. Let’s wrap things up by taking a quick look at these concepts so that you can become more familiar with them, and how they can impact your sales.
Copywriting
To be successful in eCommerce you’re going to need a basic understanding of copywriting. Copywriting is basically the art of using the written word to sell stuff. You can think of it as applied psychology used for marketing. Being good at copywriting means understanding your target audience, their needs, their wants, and their fears.
Whether you’re going with Shopify or Amazon, you’re going to either have to either do the copywriting yourself, or hire someone to do it for you. Keep in mind that any copywriter worth their salt isn’t cheap. This is because their services are an investment, and if the investment pays off, you’ll make a lot more money in the long run off of their work than you paid them.
The most fundamental key to copywriting is explaining your products in terms of the benefits they provide. This trips up a lot of people, especially on Amazon where you see product descriptions just focusing on the features. Don’t do this. Explain the features in terms of how they benefit the customer. Who cares if an umbrella is extra large, how does this translate into a benefit for the customer? Don’t make them connect the dots, clearly explaining it to them.
Demographics
To write effective sales copy you need to know your target audience. Your product is either going to do one of two things: solve a problem, or increase pleasure. Knowing who you’re marketing your production to is the first step in writing effective copy, and getting them to click that buy button.
In fact, knowing your demographic will also influence your graphics design if you’re on Shopify. For example, if you’re trying to sell video games to an 18 to 38 demographic you’re probably not going to want to design your site with images of unicorns and butterflies. Know what your demo likes, the language they use, and what they respond to. If you can do this, you’ll see an increase in sales.
Branding
When you create an eCommerce store you’re creating an entity with its own look, feel, and personality. On Shopify your branding is 100% up to you, which can be a blessing or a curse depending on how well you understand branding and how to implement it. Before you even list your first product you should have an idea of what your brand is all about, and how to get that across to your customers as soon as they land on your site.
Branding on Amazon is a bit harder since you’re using their brand for the most part. However, you can build up your own brand in small ways to take advantage of brand loyalty. There are several ways to do this such as using the EBC (enhanced branded content) premium feature which allows you to post images in your listing instead of the basic text based description. By using a similar image format across all your listings you can build a sense of familiarity among your customers.
Having a memorable seller name is also a great way to brand yourself on Amazon, as is your pricing. For example, you could price high and brand yourself as the “premium” choice, or you could price low and be the “bargain” choice. Both choices will attract a different demographic and help build your brand’s reputation.
Can Your Really Make a Living with Shopify and Amazon e-Commerce?
Like any business venture, what you get out is what you put in. Yes, you can earn a comfortable living using Shopify or Amazon to run an e-Commerce business online. However, you must treat it like a serious business. This isn’t a get rich quick scheme, and you will have to put in the work, especially when you first start out.
That said, there are tons of people making a living on these platforms. If they can do it, so can you. Once you get things up and running, you’ll be making money while you sleep, and that’s no exaggeration. If you’re prepared to take this seriously, then don’t wait. Take action today and make your dreams a reality.