Finances & Money

Choosing the Right Sales Channel for Your e-Commerce Business

You’ve already chosen Powercash21 –secure payment gateway merchant service, created a logo for your e-commerce platform, selected a domain name, and taken all the necessary steps towards starting an e-commerce platform, but you’re having trouble deciding on which is the right e-commerce sales channel mix.

This article outlines some of the tips that will help you choose the right sales channels, and also lists down some of the top best online channels available in the industry. However, first and foremost, what’s a sales channel?

Simply defined, a sales channel is a means of selling to clients or customers. Unlike distribution channels where one has to deliver obligations to a client, the sales channel involves closing sales. There are several types of sales channels, including:

• Personal selling
• Retail
• Sales outsourcing
• Direct marketing
• e-Commerce and several others

How to Choose the Right Online Sales Channel

Choosing an online sales channel is basically determined by the goals you’ve set for your business, your audience, your payment processing systems, the position your brand holds in the market, your investment procedure, your competitors in the industry, and several other factors.

1. The goals you’ve set for your business

Deciding on how to scale your business will help you determine what sales channel will work best for your online business.

2. Your business model

This basically entails how you obtain the products you sell.  Do you make or manufacture them on your own or get them from a wholesale dealer?

3. Your audience

The kind of sales channel you use depends on who your audience is, their preferences, and their habits. It’s good to know who your customers are and where they are buying from.

4. Brand position

What position does your brand or product hold in the industry? It could be mass production, luxury, vintage, etc.

5. Payment processing system

This includes systems such as PayPal, Google Wallet, Square, or Apple Pay.

6. Investment procedure

This basically reflects on your ability to incur costs and make investments.

7. Competitors

The method used by your competitors when selling their products is a significant factor that will help you decide on which online channel to use.

Major Online Sales Channels

• Amazon

Amazon is a general marketplace that’s perfect for selling general interest items such as electronics, DVDs, books, video games, furniture, food, toys, jewelry, and so on.  It’s the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace and offers a quite easy-to-use user interface.

• eBay

eBay is the perfect e-commerce marketplace for selling items such as vintage, cars, etc. The platform charges no fees unless a merchant lists 50 items per month. The platform has operations in over 30 countries across the globe.

• Wish

Just like eBay, Wish is among the leading e-commerce platforms that sell goods directly to consumers. It also sells electronics, fashion items, and so much more, with over 100 million users globally.

• Bonanza

This is an online marketplace that offers an excellent platform for retailers. It has no listing fees and only takes commissions depending on transaction size. One can sell all types of items on this platform.

• Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram have stores which one can change into an e-commerce platform. You can sell all kinds of items on these platforms.

• Rakuten

This is a Japan-based online marketplace that sells all kinds of products, including toys, pet food, accessories, fashion, electronics, etc. It’s among the largest e-commerce companies in the world.