The one advantage to electronic commerce, or eCommerce, is that one can enjoy healthy profits and a low overhead. If you have considered an entrepreneurial project that gives you complete control over how business is conducted, setting up shop via the Internet provides a viable option. Retail items, especially women’s clothing and shoes, are popular, especially now that mobile phone users can easily purchase items on the go. Despite competition from brick and mortar shops where customers can try on women shoes online as they shop, offering selections online gives customers a broader inventory base. With the right distributorship, you can build a successful business.
As you plan to set up your website, you will also look into opportunities for wholesale and retail drop-shipping. What this means is you will set up your online store to take orders for products, and another company with whom you contract will handle fulfillment and logistics.
As you create an attractive site for selling women shoes online and allow customers to complete transactions via a shopping cart, your customer’s order information will be sent to the distributor. Depending upon the level of business you have with the wholesaler, outgoing packages will ship with your private label and logo or that of the company with which you have partnered.
Many online stores you find as you search for products either use wholesale drop-ship outfits or operate as “affiliate” sites, meaning they allow you to buy from a major retailer through their links, and they receive a referral fee per sale.
Depending on the relationship with the flagship store, an affiliate can make anywhere from six to fifteen percent per sale, whereas a retailer selling via a drop-ship method could make more. How you choose to operate will depend upon how much time and money you’re willing to invest in building and marketing your store.
Finding the right wholesale business may take some time as well. Research through a global trade portal will yield many leads – there are a number of shoe manufacturers and wholesalers in Asia and Europe that are willing to ship worldwide, or else provide you with an inventory that you can send to a logistics company for warehousing. Research each potential vendor and ask for sample products.
If the workmanship is above average and you can get the product you need at cost in a timely manner, plan accordingly to get what you need before you launch your website. One advantage to dealing with overseas wholesalers is the opportunity for unique product – you can offer customers women shoes online they may not find so easily at home. Don’t forget to assert yourself as you shop for distributors – ask for specific styles and see what is presented.