Learn about the types of e-commerce projects
Electronic commerce (e-commerce), or Internet commerce, refers to buying and selling goods or services using the Internet and transferring money and data to carry out these transactions. Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online, but it can also describe any type of business transaction that is facilitated online. (Definition by Shopify Encyclopedia), so the best Mississauga SEO company will work on this topic.
All e-commerce patterns are highly prosperous. It is also expected that electronic store sales will increase by 78% in 2020. It is easy to be convinced and proceed to one of the popular e-commerce patterns, but if you are not familiar with the basics of e-commerce, you will collide with a wall of profitability without feeling it. Any prosperous e-commerce venture requires you to have intuitive knowledge, a labor market knowledge, a strong business plan, and careful research on products and business models. One of the biggest obstacles for new entrants to the world of e-commerce is knowing the types of e-commerce available to them and knowing where to start.
Before we get to the heart of our topic, I remind you that success will not be easy. You will need to familiarize yourself with each e-commerce template before starting your own business:
Main categories of e-commerce projects:
- Business e-commerce project for business.
- A business e-commerce project for a consumer.
- A consumer e-commerce project for a consumer.
- An e-commerce project consumed for business.
- Government e-commerce project / public administration.
Practical models for achieving e-commerce projects
- Dropshipping (without storage).
- Wholesale and storage.
- Manufacturing and private label (manufacturing products in your brand).
- White mark.
- Subscription.
Which model is right for you?
You will also need to decide which e-commerce platform suits the needs of your most appropriate business model.
The most prominent categories of e-commerce projects:
E-commerce projects include all online stores that link buyers and sellers. The Internet is the medium through which all the transactions necessary to complete the sales and purchases are completed.
The first thing that you should think about is the type of business transaction you will make. When you think about the business you want to run, who do you see yourself selling? And in what style do you see your project? Is it a business for a business, a business for a consumer, or a consumer for a consumer … etc.? Let’s take a look at the most common forms of working online.
First: Business e-commerce project for B2B:
This B2B model focuses on providing products from one company to another. Although many companies in this field specialize in providing services, you will find software companies, office furniture, supply companies, document hosting companies, and many other e-commerce business models under this heading. Examples of B2B e-commerce that you might be familiar with include ExxonMobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation, Boeing, and Archer Daniel Midlands. These companies have dedicated e-commerce platforms for companies that work directly with other companies in a closed environment. B2B e-commerce typically requires more seed capital.
Second, the B2C electronic business e-commerce project:
The B2C model is what most people think of when they imagine e-commerce business. This is the deepest market, and many of the names you see in this field are found as traditional on the ground as well. B2C sales are the traditional retail model, whereby the company sells to individuals, but business is done online instead of in a physical store. Examples of B2C companies everywhere. Online retailers exclusively include n11.com, Overstock.com, Wish, and ModCloth, but there are other major B2C bricks and mortar companies such as Mavi, Wal-Mart, Target, REI, and lcwaikiki.com.
Third, the Consumer to Consumer (C2C) e-commerce project:
B2B and B2C are fairly intuitive concepts for most of us, but the idea of C2C is different. What does e-commerce look like between a consumer and a consumer?
These websites, created with the rise of the e-commerce sector and the growing consumer confidence in online business, allow customers to trade, buy, and sell items for a small commission paid to the site. Opening a C2C site requires careful planning. Despite the apparent success of platforms such as eBay and Craigslist, many auction sites and classifieds sites (C2C’s main squares) were opened and closed quickly due to an unclear and well-thought-out strategy.
Fourthly, Consumer Business Project (C2B):
C2B is another paradigm that doesn’t easily come to mind entrepreneurs, but this pattern is spreading. This online business is when a consumer sells goods or services to companies, and roughly equals individual ownership serving a larger company. Reverse auctions and service delivery sites like UpWork, freelancers, and many high-profile blogging strategies such as marketing by placing special links on blogs or placing space for Google AdSense within the blog are also located under this title.
Fifthly, a government e-commerce project / public administration:
The above models are the e-commerce infrastructure, but they are not the only ones. And in addition to other types, including government / public administration, conducting transactions with companies or consumers. B2G (also called B2A), for companies whose clients are solely from government or some form of public administration. One example is Synergetics Inc. In some states of America that provide contractors and services to government agencies (especially electronic services).
Practical models for achieving e-commerce projects:
The next most important thing that entrepreneurs should think about before starting an e-commerce project is how you will deal with inventory management and product sources (suppliers). Some like the idea of making their products, others hate the idea of managing inventory and seeing product boxes in front of them.
1- Dropshipping Form (without storage):
The simplest form of e-commerce, Dropshipping allows you to create your store and receive customer money with credit cards or PayPal. The rest of the effort is up to your supplier. This frees you from managing inventory, stockpile, or handling packaging, but there are significant caveats. If your suppliers are slow, product quality is lower than expected, or there are problems with ordering, they’ll be on your head (and in your reviews). Wacky Hippo, This is an example of a site that uses this template.
And there is another saying: “If you are dead, rely on the shipping way.” Print on demand is the way to go.
What are shipping tools for shiping?
Many who use this form of work rely on Shopify and Oberlo. This is a popular model and through it you will quickly set up your store and attract consumers with Facebook ads. Profit margins are often weak, but if you can earn profits through this model it is a strength for you, most experts currently do not recommend relying on this model.
2- Wholesale and storage:
Wholesale and warehousing in e-commerce require a lot of investment in the beginning – you need to manage inventory and warehouses, track customer orders and shipping information, and invest in the warehouse space itself.
DollarDays, for example, is an online wholesale store that has a huge product catalog with over 260,000 products. They follow a major strategy with retailers in this area – by offering wholesale prices (group or dozen price) and retail prices, they can sell to the general public and retailers. This gives them higher profit margins than the pure wholesale model.
Technical solutions for wholesalers:
Starting from the biggest issues in wholesale trade is product size and storage management. You can push products to Ebay, Amazon, etc. BigCommerce includes all of this in its 29-month master plan. If you have web development skills, you can use X-Cart, and Shopify in some of its plans offers mechanisms for dealing with wholesale business.
3- Manufacturing and private label (manufacturing products with your brand).
If you have an idea of an ideal product, but you don’t have the money or the desire to build your factory, then this may be the right business model for you. Foreign companies that manufacture products send blueprints or prototypes to the contracted manufacturing company that produces the product to meet customer specifications and can ship directly to the consumer, to a third party such as Amazon, or to the company that sells the final product. Customization allows you to quickly change suppliers if you have problems with product quality. Start-up costs are also minimal, and if you are interested in opening your production facilities later, this is a good way to test a new product or concept. If you have a product idea and are looking for a factory, try this Sourcify tool.
4- The white mark:
White labeling is similar to the manufacturing model. Choose a product that has already been sold successfully by another company, but provides white-label options (no brand and name), branding and name selection, and product sale. This is common in the cosmetic and health industries and is less likely to be found in other types of products.
One problem with white labels is the volume of market demand. You have to spend all the amount produced, and most of these companies set the minimum amount of production. If you can’t sell it, you’ll have to live with it. Consider this type of project when you are ready to work full time in your project and spend all of your energy on managing your products and when you know your product is desirable.
Solutions for the owners of this model (brands):
If you have your line of branded products and need to get them drained, BigCommerce is a good option to start. Be aware that their BigCommerce pricing model can become costly when you start making big sales ($ 150,000 a year).
5- Subscribe
One of the most popular and successful e-commerce brands is Dollar Shave Club. Other examples of subscription services include Stitch Fix, Blue Apron, and Nature Box. At the local level, community-supported agricultural funds are popular. These companies rely on a subscription model that provides customers with a range of products at regularly scheduled times. Subscription companies have a relatively steady regular income and can easily motivate customers to purchase additional subscriptions or encourage their contacts to subscribe. Choosing the right products and fields of work can be difficult. Successful subscription boxes tend to have a few product categories: health and care, beauty, fashion, and food. Outside these areas, a small number of subscription companies are spreading and succeeding.
Software tools for periodic invoices online:
Shopify and BigCommerce both need additional paid subscription-based e-commerce apps. So you’ll need something like WooCommerce (WordPress) or X-Cart subscriptions to deal with this.
After reading this article: Which model is right for you?
Now that you know what e-commerce activities, product options, platforms, and business ratings are, you’re ready to get started. You can now prepare your business plan.
