How to Become a Seller: 5 Steps to Sell on Ecommerce Platforms

A lot of people have become either part-time or full-time online ecommerce sellers in the past years. And people do so because being a seller nowadays isn’t as hard as it traditionally was. If you’re wondering how you can be one yourself, just for the fun of it or to get some extra financial security for yourself, then we’ve got you! We’re here to give you the basics on how to become a seller online.

What is selling?

The internet is not only a place to connect with people, but also make money possibly through those connections and selling people items as you would in the traditional sense. Convincing people and your potential customers of what, how and why they should buy what you’re selling is an important skill to get yourself going as a seller in ecommerce.

Why is selling important?

Knowing the skills and the art of selling to people is very important to the success of your online business venture. It doesn’t matter all that much on the ecommerce platform you choose to sell through as it is how you get people interested in your products and brand.

What are such selling skills?

To be good at selling anything takes several skills:

• Charm: Customers react well to positive and professional first impressions

• Patience: It can take time to close a sale and you could be spending a lot of time with a client 

• Initiative: Have ambition and the enthusiasm to pursue a sale

• Empathy: You can predict what customers want and sell a product more effectively if you’re able to understand them

• Listening: Always listen carefully to what customers say to meet their needs 

• Confidence: Believe in your products and be passionate about them

• Networking: Interact with people and develop professional relationships to help grow existing customer relationships and form new ones

• Enthusiasm: Motivation about a product can lead you to finding new ways to make sales and your customers also feed off that excitement.

• Multitasking: You’d be working on many deals simultaneously, responding to calls and emails throughout the day so you have to keep yourself organized

• Communication: Be able to explain a product or service in a convincing way and in easy-to-understand terms

• Competitiveness: Work towards meeting goals, comparing your success to others and pursuing the best ways to improve

• Attention to detail: Show that you care for your customers by recognizing and remembering info on them and trying your best to offer more personalized experiences

How do I become a seller?

Setting up to be a seller online is way easier than it would be the traditional way. It’s fast and simple. Here’s how:

1. Find a product to sell and a niche

Often what’s most challenging about starting a new online business is deciding on what to sell. But nonetheless, you’d have to evaluate your ideas and choose one item that’s worth selling and is attractive enough to draw in people to buy them. After all, you do need to believe in the product(s) you’re selling.

If you’re thinking of selling multiple things, maybe decide on a particular niche. A category that provides similarity among all the things you’re selling. Then, it’s to find where to source the necessary materials to make your product or if you’re going to sell something already manufactured, a supplier to supply you with as much inventory as you need. 

2. Research your potential competitors and write up a business plan

Now that you have your product(s), happy with its potential to sell and secured a supplier, it’s also important for you to know that there’s most probably someone out there that’s doing what you’re doing and selling what you’re selling. This is where you have o do some research on the competition and plan out what you can do to set yourself apart from the rest.

You should also get to writing a business plan. A business plan acts like a roadmap to get your ideas and thoughts together and organized. It’s vital to determine your priorities and to highlight the core values of your brand to any investors and employees.

3. Choose your logo, your name and an ecommerce platform

You’re going to need a name for your business. This is straightforward enough. Something catchy and memorable that reflects your business’ and brand’s values and identity. Speaking of, logos are also there to reflect, and especially so, your identity and brand recognition. 

With everything up until now all set, now it’s time to decide where you want to set up shop. Of course, this being the internet, there are a multitude of ecommerce platforms you can choose, even multiple. Each platform has its own benefits and downsides, but regardless, any platform you think works for you, can work for you. 

4. Set your sales, marketing goals and shipping

Shipping is one aspect of online selling you need fulfilled and prepare for. It’s also a good idea to define your success parameters and performance indicators to measure how successful you are at any given point. This comes in the form of your goals and the number of sales you aim to make.

5. Launch!

And here, you’re finally ready to launch your business, market your brand and acquire your first customer(s). Here is where those skills we talked about earlier come into play. And also part of your business where you’ll fork more of your budget to get it going, especially marketing and advertising.

Tips and tricks to become a top seller

We’ve got some additional tips for you so you can be the best seller you can be:

• Stay motivated by knowing what motivates you and what drives you to keep going and grow better.

• Know what you’re selling so that your authority over the product and info on it gives off a sense of confidence to your customers.

• Follow up with customers by asking them for feedback on their experience shopping with you and what their suggestions are so you can improve in the future.

• Sharpen your people skills to communicate with customers effectively and to be charming enough to sell.

• Be honest and stay positive because you earn customers’ trust and loyalty through honesty and positivity. 

• Follow consistent processes that have proven to work and generate success as well as positive results.

• Understand your buyers’ personas to provide more personalized shopping experiences for them and to retain them as customers. 

So there you have it! You’re ready to be a great seller online and to set yourself on the road to commercial success! When choosing an ecommerce platform to set up your shop and business, why not come and join us at Yezza? Let us help you grow as a business. Upload unlimited products and generate sales as you get some well-earned shut-eye!