With the advancement of technology, many companies are turning to the internet to enhance their business. Some are even setting up storefronts on their websites to allow customers to purchase their products online. This is great for customers who do not want to travel to the physical brick and mortar shop to make purchases. We call this the ecommerce business model. However, this business model is not just used by huge companies. Ordinary people like you and me can use it too.
In case you are not aware, you can purchase ecommerce courses online too! Thousands of people out there are already making part time (some even full time) passive income from their online businesses. The trick is to find a suitable course and take action.
What do I mean by suitable? Well did you know that there are various types of business models within the ecommerce business model itself? You could be selling your own products and carrying your own inventory, or you could be promoting other people’s products and getting an affiliate commission. Let me briefly talk about a few of them.
The Lowdown On Ecommerce Passive Income
Selling Your Own Products
This is probably the most challenging and advanced method. You need to source for your own inventory, keep them in a storehouse, and then replenish them when you are running out of stock. In some cases you will also need to take care of the shipping and handling. There are some exceptions such as Amazon. Amazon has a program called Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) where your products are stored in Amazon’s fulfillment centers and the shipping is taken care of by them. Selling your own products Amazon can be very profitable, especially because one can earn a profit margin of 200% or more. You also do not need to set up your own website since you will be listing your product on Amazon. However, the challenge here is to find a trusted product vendor and then ship the products in bulk to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. I won’t say that this is not a suitable ecommerce model for beginners, although if you do not have a lot of capital on hand then this method is not recommended.
Drop-shipping
This method is somewhat easier because you do not need to hold any inventory. Drop-shipping involves you finding a manufacturer (drop-shipper) who takes care of the shipping for you. So all you have to do is sell the products on a storefront (which is basically a website) and when a customer makes a purchase, the drop-shipper gets notified and ships the item out. The main challenge with this method is you are limited to selling products by just that manufacturer. If you want to sell other types of products that this manufacturer of yours does not sell, you will have to find another drop-shipper.
This method is involves you finding another seller. Let’s say he is selling mugs. You’ll set up your own storefront and list the exact same mugs for sale. The difference is, you are listing those mugs on your storefront at a higher price. As soon as you get a confirmed buyer, you are going to the seller’s storefront and purchase whatever your customer bought, and you’ll fill the seller’s shopping cart with your customer’s postal address. This is a win-win situation for both the seller and yourself. You’re helping the seller get sales and you are making a profit on the markup. The main disadvantage is the lack of automation. You need to manually enter your customer’s particulars when you’re buying from the seller. Also, your customers will not know that you are getting the mug from another seller, so you need to answer support queries from them.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has always been the go-to business model for newbies and beginners. You are simply promoting other people’s products and receiving a commission for every sale referred by you. You do not need to keep any inventory, and the shipping as well as support queries are handled by the vendor. Amazon has its own affiliate program known as Amazon Associates. Another affiliate networks you can look at is Commission Junction, where you can find a myriad of brands allowing affiliates to promote their products.
Teespring
In more recent years, there had been a trend where people were selling T-shirts through a platform known as Teespring. This method involves slapping your own T-shirt design on clothes, then leaving it to Teespring print the design on the apparel and shipping them to customers. Some of the best Teespring courses can still be found today. Later, this model evolved and other similar platforms such as Spreadshirt and Gearbubble emerged. Designs were now able to be printed onto caps, mugs, phone covers, pendants, and more.
Pick Your Course
These are just a few of the methods within the online retail business model. If you are looking for courses that teach how to make money with ecommerce, be sure to know which method you want to go for. I hope this article will help you make an informed decision before committing to a course.