15 replies to this topic

[forest1]

I am nearly finished setting up the store
I really like the software and adons all is going great

Just wondering how many people are earning money from there store or stores
Earthier full or part time

[DunWeb]

Keith,


Yes, many store owners are making money online.  Some more, some less but most every client I have generates income.  I say most, because there are some that.......quite honestly, will never make serious money with the products they sell.  Knitted hats, for example are just not a real big money maker, however my client who sells them, sells hundreds more each year because of her online store.  So, it's not just the fact that you have an online store that counts, it's also the product you sell.

So, successful stores are measured only by how satisfied the store owner is about the sales he/she generates.



Chris

[multimixer]

DunWeb, on 05 May 2011 - 02:05 AM, said:

[...]successful stores are measured only by how satisfied the store owner is about the sales he/she generates.

Chris, is there any copyright on this sentence, or could I use it

[14steve14]

My store mainly sells downloadable goods, the average cost of an item is about £2.99.  I need to sell alot of items to break even.  using cheap hosting, i broke even after the 4th month.  Everything now is pure profit.  Not bad eh.

[lexadmn]

forest1, on 05 May 2011 - 12:18 AM, said:

I am nearly finished setting up the store
I really like the software and adons all is going great

Just wondering how many people are earning money from there store or stores
Earthier full or part time

We have been online for about 10 months now and our online store has generated earnings. However, not very impressively.
Within the 10 months of being online, we've only had 17 sales (totaling < $1000).
With that beings said, I personally take the fault of the low sales as I am not a web developer/programmer and know nearly nothing of maintaining websites or SEO nor can we afford to hire these services.
One developer told me "how can you not afford to do this?" This is a good question. I could only answer with "I spent all of my funds getting the site where it is, there is nothing left."
I really do not wish for this to sound as a complaint, as this is not the intent. I do think we have a decent site and OSC fits very well. I guess I just had no idea that I would have to become a developer or have very deep pockets for our site to compete and become profitable.

KC

[DunWeb]

multimixer, on 05 May 2011 - 05:23 AM, said:

Chris, is there any copyright on this sentence, or could I use it

George I released that line under GPL............



Chris

[DunWeb]

lexadmn, on 24 July 2011 - 04:02 PM, said:

.....I am not a web developer/programmer and know nearly nothing of maintaining websites or SEO nor can we afford to hire these services.    KC

There are things you can do, that don't require you to be a developer.

1) create a sitemap (if your site doesn't have one) FREE at XML- Sitemaps

2) Submit your sitemap FREE to Google using Google Webmaster Tools.  You can also validate your ownership and rate your content here to ensure the site is receiving optimal crawling.

3) Read 99 ways to improve your website FREE.  ( I am not endorsing this website but it has many ideas and suggestions how to improve your website that are free or low cost.)


Chris

Edited by DunWeb, 24 July 2011 - 07:17 PM.

[lexadmn]

DunWeb, on 24 July 2011 - 07:16 PM, said:

There are things you can do, that don't require you to be a developer.

1) create a sitemap (if your site doesn't have one) FREE at XML- Sitemaps

2) Submit your sitemap FREE to Google using Google Webmaster Tools.  You can also validate your ownership and rate your content here to ensure the site is receiving optimal crawling.

3) Read 99 ways to improve your website FREE.  ( I am not endorsing this website but it has many ideas and suggestions how to improve your website that are free or low cost.)


Chris

Thanks much Chris.  I have started going through the steps.

[lexadmn]

DunWeb, on 24 July 2011 - 07:16 PM, said:

2) Submit your sitemap FREE to Google using Google Webmaster Tools.  You can also validate your ownership and rate your content here to ensure the site is receiving optimal crawling.



Chris

I now have Google Webmaster Tools and Analytics and have taken other steps recommended. Thank you for the advice.
As far as validating ownership and ask for rating here, I am suspecting I need to have the comment "Powered by OSCommerce" in a visible location on my index page?
I would like to insert this near the copyright at the bottom, but I cannot even find where this is located to add.  
Any suggestions?

Again, Thank you for the recommendations.
KC

[DunWeb]

Kevin,


Validation and rating are set through your Webmaster Tools and also require a small snippet of code be added to your index.php file.






Chris

Edited by DunWeb, 26 July 2011 - 01:38 PM.

[victoriamichael]

Many online stores are making money through their sales. We have also online shopping stores that provide coupon offers, discount offers & deals to their customers and these stores are earning from their sales.

[chilidogtags.com]

I was just browsing the forum.  I say you have to find a niche.  Don't expect to get rich and keep your cost of doing business as low as possible.  I personally don't want to have any large inventory of goods and/or more than one or two employees.

When you find your niche... such as your invention for dog flea treatment, or dog treats, or vacuum cleaner, etc.  I suggest doing things the old fashioned way and burn some shoe leather.  Go out to festivals, shows, trade centers and set up a booth.  Get in front of people and make sales the hard way.  You will find out a lot about your level of commitment when you do it this way.  A lot of people don't have the motivation to set up in a hot summer festival all day.

    You will learn what attracts peoples attention when you set up your products and merchandise.  You network with other vendors, and tell them about your website.  I did this for years and years going to dog shows, flea markets, church sales, town festivals, etc.  Sometimes I made a good sum of money at the event, and other times I didn't.  I built my customer base up like a house...foundation, bricks, and mortar.

Lastly, be honest and sincere with people.  If you promise to do something, then do it.  People will always remember the one time you didn't do something you said you were going to do.

[devoidofodors]

I do not own a store, but several of my clients are making quite a bit of money.
Each of them sells a different product (t-shirts, electronics, niche interest accessories).
I credit osCommerce and its SEO-friendliness to be a major boost in how these businesses generate sales.

I do notice that a lot of people think that an online store is easy money.
Unless you've set up a website that generates income with minimal input (software and ebooks come to mind), there still needs to be a system in place and daily work to be done.  Some of that work requires programming expertise.  Luckily, PHP programmers are abundant and osCommerce is fairly easy to work with.  Paying someone $500 to make sure that your business generates $5000 a month is a no-brainer business decision.  

If you're thinking about opening an online store selling physical products should try eBay first to get the gist of online sales.

[jaysh4922]

I think there is a disadvantage that you have to pay rent for a store, and you have to invest a lot of money in your stock. Online only stores avoid this in many cases, because they don't have to pay rent or for a large stock...

[bruyndoncx]

jaysh4922, on 14 January 2013 - 09:09 AM, said:

I think there is a disadvantage that you have to pay rent for a store, and you have to invest a lot of money in your stock. Online only stores avoid this in many cases, because they don't have to pay rent or for a large stock...

but people don't want to wait for stuff anymore, so someone needs to hold stock fairly close to the customer to get the product delivered in time ...
I always wonder what the USP (unique selling point) is when you have a dropship catalog , but then again, I might be biased because of the physical store and the investment in inventory (though trying to be smart about the required inventory levels and purchase prices )

[Atwoodz-eCommerce]

I tend to see a lack of long-term planning from clients that tend to not make money on their websites. Sometimes clients think that having a live website, means they will be successful, but there are far too many other websites out there doing more than them. Online marketing is as much about what your competition is doing, as it is about what Google is doing. Search Engine and online marketing is a mix between art and science, but the rules are the same for everyone, so there is a level playing field with level budgets. The lack of planning and understanding that goes into having a successful website, is one of the main cause of failure that I see.

There are steps like doing "buyer persona" research that are needed to identify your exact market and the best way to deliver a message to that demographic. If you don't know who your potential customers are, how can you efficiently market to them? I recommend taking classes and working with professionals, and truly trying to understand what they are teaching you.

Customer service and improving the user-experience are also rarely given the time and expertise needed to be successful. If a business isn't planned and funded for 18 months or more, then is will struggle to launch and it will fall to the two most common reasons for failure: 1) Lack of Planning 2) Lack of Budget

Use the available planning resources and templates from the government and other small business resources to create a proper business plan. Join the Tech Start-Up groups for free information and amazing networking for new businesses and start-ups. One of the speeches I heard from Brad Feld, recommended planing for 20-30 years, which is a bit long, but it creates the proper mind-set for success.

I love watching new businesses start and launch, it is always an exciting time if done correctly.

Matt