The pandemic has accelerated the development of e-commerce around the world and Portugal has been no exception.
According to the INE (National Statistics Institute), in 2021, 40.4% of Portuguese between the ages of 16 and 74 shopped online between August and October, which reflects an increase of 5.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2020. If we look at last year's total, the percentage is even more significant, at around 51.6%.
This transfer of consumption from the physical to the online channel turns out to be an excellent business opportunity, but if that's what you want, you should know that in order to start selling online, it's important to fulfil certain requirements in the process, such as choosing the platform where you're going to sell (Marketplace, website, social networks, etc.) and the payment methods that best suit the habits of e-shoppers.
If you don't know how to start selling online, follow this guide we've prepared for you.
How to start selling online: requirements
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Define your target audience
In addition to the product or service you're going to offer online, it's important to define who your target audience will be. Doing so will not only enable you to create much more effective digital marketing strategies, but will also help you choose the online sales platform that best suits your service.
For example, if you've decided that your audience will be women between the ages of 18 and 35, selling online using Instagram could be the best way to start your online business.
This choice will also be decisive in defining the online payment methods which you will make available to your customers, since, as we will see later, there are different options depending on the type of platform you adopt for your business.
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Determine your online sales channels
The world of e-commerce is vast and allows sales to be made using online shops, marketplaces and even social networks.
You can choose one or more of these sales solutions, but remember that your online sales channels must be in line with your target audience and the structure of your business.
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Analyse the competition
Analysing the competition is an essential point in any guide on how to start an online sales business.
So start by identifying your competitors and realising what prices they offer, what sales channels adopted and how they position themselves on the market (quality products or good discounts, for example)
As well as allowing you to realise the possible flaws in your business, you can use this information to create more attractive offers for the public you hope to win over.
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Choose the e-commerce payment methods best suited to your target audience
We've come to one of the most important points in this guide: the online payment methods. In addition to being the means through which your customers will pay for their purchases, the means of online payment play a fundamental role in generating sales, since if they are not adapted to the consumption habits of e-shoppers, they can cause the customer to abandon your shopping basket before check-out (finalising the purchase process).
To ensure that checkout is not a problem and that your online business offers the most innovative online payment methods to its customers, REDUNIQ offers two online payment solutions: the REDUNIQ E-Commerce and REDUNIQ@Payments.
In this comparison of online payment methods REDUNIQ, we start with REDUNIQ E-Commerce.
REDUNIQ E-commerce - Sell online through e-commerce solutions
As well as allowing the site to receive online payments from customers all over the world using Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards, the REDUNIQ E-Commerce solution has no membership costs or monthly fees and also makes it possible to pay by ATM or MB WAY references.
If your idea is to sell online without a website via social networks or marketplaces, the REDUNIQ@Payments is the solution you're looking for.
REDUNIQ Payments - Accept online payments even without a website
Aimed, as we mentioned, at online businesses selling with or without a website, REDUNIQ@Payments is a solution that doesn't require integration and will allow you to receive online payments by e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp, by Multibanco and MB WAY reference or via Visa and Mastercard.
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Organise the logistics
An essential part of online sales is having a delivery system that favours customers and ensures that products arrive as quickly as possible at the lowest cost. For this to be possible, the logistics part of your online business must be properly structured and organised.
At this stage, you should take into account:
- Organising stock to speed up order picking;
- Define the shipping methods that will be most cost-effective for your business and your customers;
- Define a simple, agile and, if possible, free returns and exchanges policy.
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Marketing and customer service
With your online business properly structured, it's important to get your message across, i.e. your products and services, to potential customers.
The internet offers countless options for you to develop a digital marketing strategy, but it's important that you always choose the ones where your target audience is located.
In addition, in order to attract visitors, you will need to work with organic strategies (either on your website or on social networks) and paid adverts.
Once all this work has been completed, it's still important to pay special attention to customer service. As the consumer can't see the products in person or ask questions of a shop assistant, your online business must be prepared to help them if the need arises.
Don't wait until a customer has a question or problem to define what your support will be like. Define service times and channels beforehand and consider introducing chatbots (software based on artificial intelligence capable of holding a conversation with a human user in natural language) to help customers along their purchasing journey if you are creating a website from scratch.
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