Small and medium-sized enterprises that operate online have a reduced cost structure compared to their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Despite this, it can still require a considerable amount of money to hang out a “virtual signboard” and set up shop.
Alycia Wilson, head of marketing at iwoca
Even small merchants planning to sell on an established marketplace such as eBay will need funding in order to prepare a business plan and organise their stock.
Some online sellers may be able to fund these expenses themselves, but many others will find building an online business cost-prohibitive without an infusion of outside funding from firms. Nor should cost considerations end there, since the key to business success is steady growth.
A logical step for an online merchant is to establish their own web presence, but this requires additional funding to pay for programmers and web design specialists. Maintaining a separate website will also involve server or web hosting fees.
A well-designed and slick website can pay large dividends. Recent research into consumer behaviour indicates that one of the most powerful “recapture” tools an online seller can do is to email a buyer who has abandoned an online shopping cart.
To be most effective, the contact should take place within 24 hours of the customer’s visit to the site. Sellers who exist exclusively on eBay or Amazon may not be able to implement such a strategy, but those that establish a separate website can leverage it to help improve sales.
iwoca provides financial services for online sellers trading on eBay, Amazon and other web marketplaces.
