¿Cómo Vender Productos Tangibles?

E-commerce has become a fundamental tool for entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses. Understanding the right strategies, avoiding common mistakes and taking advantage of current trends can make the difference between success and failure in the digital world. Below, we will explore the key aspects of starting and growing an online sales business, based on the experience of professionals in the B2C sector.

How to start an online sales business correctly?

Before launching into the world of eCommerce, it is essential to perform a proper validation of your product or service. It is not enough that you love your idea; what is crucial is to determine if there is a real demand in the market.

Demand validation

The first recommendation for any entrepreneur is to verify if there is demand for your product:

• Separate personal taste from market reality.
• Understand what specific need your product will satisfy.
• Validate if the public is willing to pay the price you have established.

As the expert mentions: "The important thing, whatever the product is, wherever that idea was taken from, is to understand if there is demand and to understand if there is demand at the price at which you expect to sell it".

Validation strategies

To test whether your product has market potential:

• Reach out to friends and acquaintances to get honest feedback.
• Make a prototype or a small quantity for testing.
• Listen dispassionately to opinions and criticisms.
• Learn from mistakes and make quick iterations.

It is essential to separate the emotional part from the objective analysis. Many entrepreneurs become so enamored with their idea that they fail to see its flaws or limitations in the marketplace.

What are the most common mistakes when selling online?

Knowing the frequent mistakes will allow you to avoid them and increase your chances of success in e-commerce.

Not understanding unit economics

One of the most serious mistakes is not fully understanding the costs associated with the business. Unit economics goes far beyond the simple calculation of how much it costs to manufacture the product and how much you sell it for:

• Storage costs
• Transportation and logistics costs
• Website hosting and maintenance
• Marketing investment
• Cost of customer acquisition
• Value of your time as an entrepreneur

"There's a lot more to it than just how much it costs me and how much I sell it for. And it's understanding how much the platforms are costing me, even the time... because imagine that after paying all the expenses it's zero to zero, but her time that's very important."

Cost of customer acquisition

A fundamental aspect within unit economics is the cost of customer acquisition (CAC):

• You must measure how much you invest in each marketing campaign.
• Calculate how many customers you acquire for each marketing effort.
• Analyze whether the cost of acquiring a customer is profitable in relation to what it generates.

This analysis should be performed for both online and offline campaigns, since any commercial effort represents a cost that must be justified with results.

What are the current trends in eCommerce?

E-commerce is constantly evolving, and keeping up with trends can give you a significant competitive advantage.

Effective sales channels

For entrepreneurs who are just starting out, there are different options:

• Own store: Offers full control but requires strategies to generate traffic.
• Marketplaces: Platforms such as Mercado Libre that already have established traffic.

"If I tell you to go and set up your own store, well, how do you get traffic, because you upload your website and you have to get traffic. So, one of the channels and more in the early stage... it makes a lot of sense the whole issue of marketplaces".

Strategies to stand out in marketplaces

To make your product attractive in a marketplace:

• Work on your reputation as a seller.
• Invest in high-quality photos.
• Create detailed and clear descriptions.
• Implement pricing and discount strategies.
• Consider advertising within the platform.

The initial objective is to generate visibility and build a reputation that will allow you to subsequently build customer loyalty and direct them to your own channels.

Technological innovations in payments

Among the most relevant trends are:

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): Systems that allow the customer to buy now and pay later, facilitated by financial companies.
• Digital wallets: Solutions such as Nequi, Yape or Mercado Pago that facilitate banking and digital payments.

"For me, the first is security, that when you choose a payment gateway, the customer has the peace of mind to give his data.... Secondly, having several options.

Live shopping and omnichannel

Other important trends include:

• Live shopping: Sales through live videos on social networks, with direct interaction with customers.
• Omni-channel: Integration between physical stores, online platforms and social networks to offer a coherent customer experience.

These strategies allow humanizing the digital shopping experience and generate greater trust with potential customers.

The world of eCommerce offers enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs, but it requires careful planning and a customer-centric approach. Listening to the user, understanding the real costs of doing business and adapting to current trends are key elements to building a successful online sales business. Have you implemented any of these strategies in your venture? Share your experience and let's learn together.