Going beyond the online auction: Selling on your own website

For many high volume online sellers, going from selling their products on online auction sites to selling on their own website is a natural progression. This article provides an overview of information for online retailers who are considering setting up their own website.

There are several benefits of moving to your own website, including eliminating paying fees to auction sites, wider marketing options, and most importantly, your products will be available to buyers 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

There are several ways in which you can go about building a website:

Doing it yourself: It's possible to make your own E-Commerce site and there are some excellent tools on the web to help you. A quick Google search for “ecommerce website builder” will give you a list of options which offer website design software to assist in building your own site. This is by far the most economical option, but not necessarily the easiest, and may not be an ideal option for those who are not particularly experienced in learning new software. When it comes to overall design and layout, this is best left to a professional graphic or web designer, or prebuilt template, unless you are familiar with design principles and software.

Using web-based design firms: There are a number of web-based design firms online which you can contract to build your website. These may be local New Zealand firms or ones from as far away as India and China. Often these tend to be the most affordable option, with the only downfall being the lack of input you can have on the site, particularly when outsourcing to overseas firms.

Doing it locally: For many retailers, it is preferable to use local web designers to make their sites as it gives them greater control over the development of the site as well as one-on-one contact with their designer, giving you a website which is truly your own.

Finding the right designer can be time-consuming, but it is worth taking the time to find the right one who understands your vision and can fulfill your needs. When talking with potential web designers, there are a few important things to keep in mind:

• Will you be working directly with a designer, or with an account manager? It is always preferable to work with the designer who can answer your technical questions and inform you of what's possible.
• What steps can the designer take to make your site searchable, so that when buyers go looking for your product they can easily find your store? • What E-Commerce sites have they made in the past?
• What payment options can they set up or advise you on? For example, credit card payments and PayPal (keep in mind that in terms of ease of use for buyers, most New Zealand online buyers are conditioned to paying via bank deposit or online transfer).
• What hosting options do they offer? Are you obligated to have your site hosted by the web design company? How much is it?
• Will you be the owner of your site, or does it remain the property of the web design company? (Especially important to ask when you are paying rock-bottom prices for your site.)
• How can you update your site? Do they offer a content management system (CMS)? Do they offer lessons on how to use it?

Marketing: Don't even think about building a website until you have outlined a marketing plan. Marketing is arguably the single most important aspect of your online store’s success. Without a carefully planned marketing strategy, you are highly unlikely to get traffic to your site. Start by outlining your budget and researching how best to target your audience, e.g. is it better to use print media (leaflet drops, for example) or web advertisements? Your marketing plan should also consider what your competitors are doing, and how you can create a strong and positive point of difference between your business and theirs.

Keeping your site updated: Keeping your site updated is important for encouraging customers to return, and for showcasing your new products. Most web designers will give you access to a simple-to -use CMS (content management system) which you can use to update your current listings, and add new listings as you expand your product range. You must also keep your site updated technically to ensure that it keeps up with developments in usability and security. This will usually involve revisiting your web designer.

For more information on building, and getting the most out of your website, or anything else covered in this article, please visit SaleHoo Wholesale Directory