2022 Step by step guide: How to start your eCommerce business in Hong Kong

Steps to starting an eCommerce business

As the purpose of this article is to give you enough information on how to start an eCommerce business in Hong Kong, it is crucial we talk about the steps to take in creating a successful business.

1. Decide on a product

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, you must have considered intense competition and the challenge that every profitable thing you could ever sell is already on sale by other people. Truth be told, this worry is well founded, but the good news is there are still plenty of million-dollar opportunities to be taken. Here are some ways to get high value products to sell in your online store.

• Start with what you have
  It is always better to start with ideas that have previously held your interest before thinking of other products and niche ideas to specialize in. It might be a product or idea you’ve considered for years; take a second look at these ideas and give it a shot.
• Identify and provide solutions to pain points
  Providing solutions to customer pain points will always be an effective way to develop a product people readily want. All you need to do is to look for means to address poor or frustrating experiences with the current selection of available products. You should also consider challenges you face yourself as a consumer and think of ways to solve it as a seller. Small, frustrating experiences could be what you need to create a successful eCommerce business.
  
  
• Follow your passion
  While it’s true that choosing a product or niche based on your personal interests and passion can be quite tough , it does not necessarily spell disaster for your online store. In fact, you’ll be better equipped to stay motivated and face challenges in your business since you’re passionate about what you’re selling. If well channeled, your passion can birth a unique business idea that is extremely profitable.
  
  
• Look to capitalize on trends early
  Recognizing a trend to capitalize early can make all the difference for new eCommerce businesses. As a new online store, you will be able to instantly carve out a place in the market and establish yourself as a force. However, while trying to do this, it is important you don’t confuse a fad with a genuine trend.

  A fad is an intense but short lived rise in the interest of a particular thing. Building your eCommerce business around a fad means demand will eventually die down. A trend is much more steady as it marks the general direction something is going. Follow top consumer product trend publications for great ideas of products based on trends.

• Use keywords to find opportunities
  Organic traffic from search engines is an extremely important channel for marketing. By strategically looking for products to sell based on search queries, number of searches per month, and overall competition for those searches, you are already one step ahead of competition.

  To pull this off, you need a basic understanding of keyword research and search engine optimization. However, be careful not to rely too much on search engine traffic as Google’s algorithm is constantly changing. If you want to find products to sell based on popular search terms, here are some tools you can use: Keywords Everywhere, Sonar, Alibaba Hot Keywords and Industries Keywords.

• Capitalize on your professional experience
  Do you have professional experience with a product or service that gives you an edge over the average person? Or maybe your working experience has given you thorough knowledge about a particular industry.

  A great business strategy would be to start an online business with this advantage by turning your expertise into an ecommerce venture. Professional experience and expertise of this nature is difficult to replicate.

• Look for products with higher profit margins
  Before choosing a product for your online store, consider the profit margin. Products that attain higher profit margins are those that cost less. They also give the opportunity of a low-risk start to selling online. Costs like promotion and shipping are all things that should be considered in line with the cost of creating a product.

  Looking for low-cost items that will generate a high return on investment will do your business a whole lot of good.

2. Find your target market

Finding your target audience is crucial to the success of your eCommerce business. By assessing and evaluating the following points, you’ll be able to focus on the part of your target market that is actually interested in your products and services; this will save you from trying to target everyone. Only by focusing on people who are most likely to buy from you will you be able to attract the right people to your eCommerce store. How can you do this?

• Know your current customers
  One of the most effective ways of finding your target market is by looking at your current customers or those of other firms in the same industry. Find out their pain points and what they want from similar products. By doing this you get a definite picture of what type of customers you need, and then you’ll know how to start an eCommerce business that solves these problems.
• Target those your competitors are leaving out
  It’s common for small eCommerce businesses to limit themselves by not considering the competition. While this is a concern, a smart thing to do is to focus on the customers your competitors are not marketing to. By doing this, you can successfully create a monopoly with these potential customers who are overlooked by others.
• Understand demographics and psychographics
  Demographics involve statistical factors like age, gender, and occupation that might affect the decision to buy from your eCommerce store. Psychographics refers to classification of potential customers through their behavior and personal interests. Understanding these things reveals how people make purchase decisions. You can use this knowledge to run a profitable business.

3. Decide on your business model

eCommerce can take on different forms, based on the transactional relationship you want to pursue. Choosing the right e-commerce business model for online stores might be a little tricky. You should know the model that best fits not only your target niche, but also your resources and capabilities.

Examples of eCommerce models:

• Private Label:

  This is especially useful in cases where the eCommerce entrepreneur is not capable of producing their products internally. Instead, they order from manufacturers, then market and sell the products under their private label.

• White Label:

  White label is a business model where the manufacturer is in charge of product specifications and decisions, while the vendors control package design and sales.

• Dropshipping:

  Dropshipping is brilliant for entrepreneurs with little or no capital. Products are sold online by eCommerce businesses without actually having the products on hand. It is only when orders are placed that the items are then purchased from suppliers who are also responsible for delivery of such products to the buyers.

• Print-On-Demand:

  For this business model, different products like shirts, mugs, cases etc. are simply sold with custom designs. How this works is that once a customer places an order, the selected design is sent to a third-party manufacturer who prints it on a product, packages, and delivers directly to the customer.

• Wholesaling:

  In this business model, an eCommerce store offers products in large quantities at lower rates.