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Starting an online cloithing store


BronPreston

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Hi all,

My hubby has started on online gym wear store for men, you can check it out on facebook: [edited by Admin]

It has come to a stand stillfor a while, thought maybe I could get some ideas from South Africans abroad?

What can he do to improve, better, make customers want it!

Any advice would be apreciated. thumbup.gif

Edited by Jordy
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Are you only on facebook? I know it sounds impossible but many people aren't on Facebook - check out wix for free and easy templates for a www website.

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I googled Overpledge to have a look for the website and the only thing that came up was the facebook page in Ballito kzn, yet I see from the facebook page that there is a webpage. I would spend money on a web company getting you some 'search ' words linked so that your website comes up when searching for mens gym clothes, online clothing , even overplege !!!. Have a look at Superbalist, takealot etc, weekly deals , coupons for discounts etc always work.

South Africans are very slow at buying online..........its a trust thing.

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@Jessi, I looked at drop shipping some time ago and even purchased an eCommerce website. As first impressions of professionalism counts when you need to build online trust your website layout and look & feel is critical important. However margins are very small for the amount of online marketing needed. If you have your own product then obviously margins will be bigger. Identifying the correct marketing strategies for the right niche markets with the right size is important. I was looking at the USA and UK markets (need to be aware of tax implications and business registration needs in those countries. A lot of effort went into the planning stage which involved: finding a niche market based on keyword searches and product pricing before attempt to launch. A course I have done stated:

How to price your products
a. most people lose money by using this formula:
i. Retail Price= wholesale price + profit
b. To actually make money, use this formula:
i. Retail Price= Wholesale price + drop ship fee + estimated shipping + credit card processing fee + order processing fee + profit (which may vary depending on if the product is a “loss leader”
ii. you have to offer free shipping, but your price should include shipping built in
iii. credit card processing fees are around 2.5%
iv. sometimes if the initial product is part of a customer acquisition strategy, you might want to sell the product cheap to get the customer (try to break even at worst), and follow up with marketing pieces directed at getting the customer to buy more in the future.

How to Use Drop Shipping the “right way”

a. Use it to quickly test out market
b. Use to gather data on best product lines/ profit potential
c. when you find that “sweet spot” of product line, then look to purchase fast-moving products in small wholesale lots and inventory to increase profit margin
d. If you have 1000 products, probably only about 20% of them will sell. You can hold inventory on those (might want to hold inventory over the 20% of the 20%). This comes out to about 40 products.
e. NEVER use supplier’s product data, keywords or images, exactly as they provide it
f. ALWAYS look for new and better ways to differentiate yourself from the competition
i. offer free reports on the product
ii. offer reviews of the product
g. NEVER compete on price
h. Use the information that you learn through process to build additional sub-niche sites to build a network

Rather go and learn from those who have done it successfully. While expensive it may save you many $$/RR before you spend the real $$/RR. Contact someone like James Schramko or/and Ezra Firestone to take you to the next level getting a financial viable online business.

Lastly I also participated in a 30-day challenge to see how quickly, using the 'correct' processes and methods, you can make a sale. When Ed Dale speaks then listen up: http://www.eddale.co/and the 30-day challenge manifesto here:

http://thenationalwealthcentertruth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TheChallengeManifesto.pdf

Many lessons learned from that and the main one for me is - get your own product(s) that is easy to ship as it is always possible to get your manufacturing outsourced. This is the only way to increase your margins!

However if you look at products from www.Alibaba.com it is better to deal with manufacturers directly and many potholes to watch out for.

Another great learning free source is: Market Samurai ( used the keyword search tools) http://www.noblesamurai.com/dojo/marketsamurai/

Hope it helps!

Edited by ottg
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ottg you are awesome. I've been looking everywhere for The Challenge Manifesto. There is only a sign up site at the moment and it's been difficult to find any further information.

I'm heavily into all this and Udemy offer some amazing courses. A little tip: If you add a course to your Wishlist on Udemy, sooner or later they will send you a discount coupon code to buy it for half price or better. I've done some amazing courses and never pay more than $10 per course (even the $300 ones).

Jessi I've looked at the Facebook page and it's not saying anything other than "buy a shirt! buy a shirt!" People want to hear the benefits / value of buying your product so things like 100% cotton and why that is good, colour fast, won't shrink, comes in extra extra large sizes for the bigger bloke. That sort of thing. Perhaps post pictures of holiday destinations or beach shots wearing the shirts. You need to show some lifestyle stuff too. My first thought was why do I need your shirt as opposed to buying somewhere else? What makes your unique? That sort of thing.

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@RYLC - done this in 2013 Was quite expensive but at $600+ served the purpose.

Not sure if you will need a password to see all this: http://brownboxformula.com/and facebook blog was used for group participation and communications

https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeTalkeCommerce/

Just had a quick look at how many of the original eCommerce stores built were still active and as I thought not many.

However here are an indication of the look and feel of those still active and their ecommerce layout

http://www.discountdogbeds.co.uk/
http://www.choicedarts.com.au/
http://www.theprintedballooncompany.co.uk/
http://www.cupidees.com/

Enjoy!

Edited by ottg
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ottg you are a star! Thanks so much.

Brownbox Formula needs a password so can't see that but the other sites are great to see actual examples. Gotta keep learning :grads:

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