think about it. You are planning to do “e-commerce” to bring your business to the internet. Therefore, you need to learn a new set of business rules, a new way of doing things, because online commerce is “different”, right?
Well, actually, no, not really. You still have a product or service to sell. You still have a store (website) with a store “window” and you still need customers to visit your store to buy everything you sell.
The only big difference is (continuing the analogy) that your local storefront can only be seen by a small group of people, whereas your online business can be seen by the entire world. You can make your business “global” by joining e-commerce.
For many businesses, this is truly an advantage and represents a great opportunity.
But that doesn't apply to everyone, especially companies that sell a physical, tangible product. Therefore, when planning to go online, you should take some time to consider your product and exactly who your target market is, as this will be a crucial factor in determining whether your venture is successful or unsuccessful.
What are you planning to market on your eCommerce featured website and who will want to buy it? Some products, by their very nature, will not be entirely suitable for a worldwide market. For example, pork-based food products will not be popular in Muslim countries, nor will wine, whiskey or beer. Open-toed sandal sales may be disappointing in Iceland, Greenland and the frozen Arctic.
Second, think very carefully about how you will deliver your product to the customer. For example, if you were to make laser toner cartridges in Asia (as one of my customers did), it makes absolutely no sense because of the cost of trying to sell one or two cartridges to a US customer at once. delivery.
Therefore, if your product is bulky or heavy, selling outside of your location may not be practical.
Also, while most countries use the same Standard International Trade Classification (S.I.T.C) codes to decide how much import duty to apply to a particular product, you should consider that the actual tax payable varies from country to country, and such taxes vary from country to country. variations can (and will) cause conflicts. Again, following my client's example, they sold a customer in Finland a shipment of toner cartridges that had been held at Customs for several weeks upon arrival in Helsinki due to a dispute over Import Duty to pay.
While this wasn't my client's fault or his client's fault, the result was an unhappy client and frankly, he didn't become a regular client.
Likewise, if you are planning to sell a service online, can it be offered outside of your local area in a way that will still allow you to earn money? Do you really need one of your own staff to work with the client (in which case you have to stay local) or can the work be easily outsourced on a global basis? Is it easy to find a local subcontractor who can provide the service you advertise in a way that satisfies both you and the customer? How much would such a subcontractor cost?
As long as you don't get positive answers to all these questions, keeping your services local instead of going overboard to become a global player can still pay off.
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