On Wednesday, June 2 during #StartupChats, we talked about The Must-Knows of Selling Online with Mastercard Canada.
We were joined by three online store savvy experts;
Andrea Knapp, Founder of Lit Scents
Jaymin Luces-Mendes, Founder & Business Director, Toni Marlow Clothing
Colin McGuire, Investor & Entrepreneur
We began the chat by discussing where entrepreneurs can sell online;
A3 There are several options for entrepreneurs to set up their businesses. Understand your customers, know the big trends & develop a strategy that works for you. Depending on where you’re at with the business, there are templated platforms you can customize. #StartupChats
— Mastercard Canada (@MastercardCA) June 2, 2021
A3. There are so many nowadays! Shopify, Squarespace, BigCommerce, Jotform… so many! Additionally, IG & FB are also making it easier to sell. The tools are out there, you just have to understand your needs as a business owner & find the right fit. #StartupChats
— Andrea Knapp (@andiknapp92) June 2, 2021
A3 There are so many. First question I would ask is do you want your own ‘store’ site and have to work to drive traffic to it, or could you sell on one or more of the many of the platforms out there like Amazon, Etsy, or both?#StartupChats
— Matt Elton (@fintech_matt) June 2, 2021
And the ins and outs of setting up shop;
A5 – If you’re building on a platform look at the courses they offer because they’re optimized for success there. Shopify has Compass, Wix and BigCommerce have their own courses. You can even use Udemy and online education for courses tailored to some platforms now#StartupChats https://t.co/lCxwTnnECI
— Colin McGuire (@realColinMac) June 2, 2021
A5 @garyvee & @HubSpotAcademy for social media advice. @Shopify & @amazon have some great resources for the backend of selling online. #StartupChats https://t.co/VtVqf1nJoU
— Atlas Marketing Group (@AtlasMktgGroup) June 2, 2021
A5 – You can learn about the backend of selling online through the platform you choose. There are also many blogs and YouTube channels that help with this. Sign up for the free trials using a junk email so you can play around for free before deciding. #StartupChats
— Toni Marlow Clothing – (@Toni_Marlow_Co) June 2, 2021
And of course, we talked about strategies for selling online;
A6 – Truly build relationships with them by commenting, sharing etc. Of course, also use ads, SEO, influencers, etc. Remember, User-Generated Content is still gold. #StartupChats
— Toni Marlow Clothing – (@Toni_Marlow_Co) June 2, 2021
A6 It is much about market strategy: how do you position your business, how do you create value for the customer? Online you need to put a lot of work into being seen by your target market, so how do you reach the client? How do you convert a lead into a real sale?#StartupChats
— Matt Elton (@fintech_matt) June 2, 2021
A6 A great approach is to know your customers, research the key trends and develop a customized strategy. It’s important to make the experience easy, fun, frictionless and personalized where possible for your customers. #StartupChats
— Mastercard Canada (@MastercardCA) June 2, 2021
A6. It’s a way of overcoming the obstacles customers face in choosing your product and purchasing it via the internet.
It requires a value proposition, a call-to-action and a mechanism for delivering it, as well as a way to deliver the product or service #StartupChats
— LYNDON [THINK DIFFERENTLY] JOHNSON (@THINK_Lyndon) June 2, 2021
If you want to see all of the questions we covered, you can see the whole conversation here.