I wrote this blog whilst in the background
"Inner-City Big Fun 1988" playing, I suggest you read it whilst enjoy some 25 year old dance hit and follow up with some nice
"90's hip hop":.
My first lessons learned, now it is time to start organizing my thoughts on things I discovered. I can tell you that in my head things are chaotic, unorganized, not structured, basically the same as the Mayor Of London, Mr
Boris Johnson's hair style.
First things first; I have to start somewhere and most likely with the basics:
- establish my own company whether I want to start as a Sole Trader or Ltd. is something I have to discuss with a Tax Attorney or somebody who is experienced and is willing to provide guidance
- become not only familiar but really understand the working of Data Statistics (Google Keyword, Adsense, SEO etc etc), traffic generation and use it to my advantage
- find a niche product
Once I have a clear understanding of those I can start applying it too my own business
I have started to go over
"The Beginners Guide to SOE" if you are interested download it at no cost at all.
After having spend quite a bit of time on really getting to obtain a sense of direction I can say that slowly but surely I am starting to grasp some of the before mystifying, last but not least due to
ecommercefuel.com whose website has provided me with a sense of direction, which a lot of beginners like my self obviously lack. Please
download the free guide if you want to know what I am talking about!
Having spend a bit of time reading it I have a theory or maybe even a philosophy on the creating, building and expanding any ecommerce store (front). I am a buyer on some of these sites, since my wife got pregnant we discovered that buying online was much cheaper then the conventional store, so we placed a few orders:
- Baby pram
- Baby room
- tons of other stuff.
I will share you our customer experience:
- Tons of other stuff: Delivered on time and in full within
lead time
- Baby Pram: after having placed the order (and paid $1000) on October 29th we received the order confirmation, followed by 3 weeks radio silence. We contacted the store who informed us that the color we ordered was not in stock we could choose some other color. We didn't agree to that and inquired about the lead time for that pram. Well it was only 8 weeks.. So we demanded a refund. Two weeks later, after threatening to fail a complaint for fraud, we finally received our money back. No excuses, nothing from the Seller..
- Baby Room: Ordered on December 28th (holiday season we realized). We place the order and paid in full. We immediately received a phone call that the order would be delayed for one week, if that was ok, if not refund. We agreed to the week notice as it is makes sense. We are still waiting for it to arrive and my patience is running low. Credit to the store, they do inform us, however the expected delivery date is expected (not confirmed) the first week of February... problem, our child is due then. Refund is an option but who tells me other stores can deliver in before the 24th of January...
Conclusion:
- Apparently both sides are
drop shippers and the kind that does not have an interface to the suppliers inventory.
- "Keeping your customer happy" is not in their interest, not fulfilling your delivery promise is one thing, but not reimbursing, whilst customers have to threaten with Police intervention is next to Criminal!
Now my little theory comes to light:
If I run an internet store (or drop shipper) what would I at all cost need to retain:
a. Spotless reputation
b. 100% Customer Orientated
c. Provide Quality Products in my store
d. Keep my "inventory" up-to-date
e. Create a 100% delivery promise (On Time in Full), if not see point b, see point c, see point d
f. 100% Happy RETURNING Customer
*The above does not include the relationship you have to build with your various suppliers in order to commit to the above
If I take into account the developing Mobile Technologies, Social Networking, Global Mass (product) Sourcing, Fast changing global Trends; I have come to the belief that in the current ecommerce landscape everything is about offering competitive pricing combined with an INDIVIDUAL customer approach. Additionally as a business you need to retain the flexibility to adapt too dynamic trends in consumer trends.
Since you normally are not limited by geographical location (the conventional store is) the possibilities and opportunities are endless, but it is not just coming your way, as a business it is my belief you need to keep up to date with the latest technological developments and apply those to keep your customers happy.
A good example is how to generate a customer base is
Andrew Youderian;s free Ecommerce book. Today I received an email from him where he offers to take things to the next level, offering a 4 month course to make sure you realize and establish a working and successful ecommerce store at a modest cost of
$49,99 and it comes with a 30 day money back "no questions asked"...
Do I mind paying that? No absolutely not! Why not? Well he provided the introduction for free (c.Quality Product) and it was extremely useful to me (b. 100% Customer Orientation). So I am a happy customer and eager to learn more (f. 100% Happy RETURNING CUSTOMER) and if I am not satisfied I get my money back without questions asked (e Create a 100% delivery promise). I take his business serious and it has delivered (a. Spotless Reputation)
Is the above rocket science?? No not really! A lot of sites offer these types of services, but charge a fee (although nominal) which stops people like me from even trying it, since I only was orientating myself. That makes me realize that if you want to lure your customers you need to provide something that keeps them coming
This was it for today, I hope you enjoyed the music provided in the hyperlinks :)
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Till next time
