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I spend a lot of time talking to people, both Shopfitter customers and those I meet at ecommerce events or who just ring up for a bit of information. They all want to know pretty much the same thing; how to create a successful ecommerce website.

I think it's fair to say that there's no secret formula, no magic bullet and no one right way to do it. However, there are a number of things that are common to all successful businesses whether they trade online or only in the 'real' world.

As a seasoned conference speaker I've become reasonably adept at distilling much of these critical business activities into succinct 'Rules of Business' and then talking about how these apply to an online enterprise: this is the first.

Simon's First Rule of Business - Know your market

OK, I know it may seem obvious but there's a lot more to selling online than just sticking a load of products on a website.

Marketing is not selling or advertising (although they do come into it) it is about understanding your marketplace and doing things to fulfill it, here's a bullet list of what you need to know to know your own market:

• What do people want to buy?
  
• How much will they pay?
  
• How do they find those goods or services?
• What drives the marketplace, is it segmented?
• What competition is there (and what are they doing)?
  

So taking those into account it show us that marketing affects what our products are just as much as the way we advertise or sell our products. Marketing shapes our products and services to suit what our potential customers want to buy.

What do people want to buy? To find this out you need to talk to people, ask friends neighbours, existing customers, anyone, what it is (in your line of business, obviously) that makes them want to part with their cash. This information is extremely valuable because it gives you details about what customers' needs are.

For example; if I retail T-shirts and have black and white I need to know if people want other colours, I may be missing lots of sales because I don't have red, blue, yellow or orange T-shirts, in fact, it could be that the market for black or white is only a fraction of the total. I won't know unless I ask people.

How much will they pay? Price is (almost) always a factor, especially on the web because it's so easy for customers to compare your prices with other people. However, price isn't the only factor, speed of delivery, better quality, gift delivery to an alternative address and nicely packaged with a message are examples of why someone may pay more. Trust is a big factor too, if your website is low quality and unprofessional looking it could be perceived that your whole business is the same, so an item bought from a higher priced competitor will be chosen.

How do they find goods or services? This is where website sales differs most from 'real world' sales channels. Something like 80% of visitors arrive via a Search Engine, which one varies from country to country. In the UK Google holds around 70% of the search market whereas it's lead is much smaller in the US (nearer 50%).

This is where there's a sub First Rule - Know your search terms. This applies only to selling on the internet. People type words into search engines, if these terms don't appear on your website then there's no way a search engine will display a link to your site in its search return.

For example, if someone types "red tshirt buy online" into Google and it exactly matches what is on my site I'll get a search listing, if the words don't appear on my site at all I have no listing.
So you must find out what sort things people type into search engines to find the sort of products or services you sell, again, talk to people, guess and test and use the tools that Google et al provide to find how much each term (and their variants) are used.

In addition, this also means that creating a website that follows search engine guidelines is a critical factor in your marketing. But more of that in other posts and pages on the Shopfitter site.

What drives the marketplace, is it segmented? You need to know something about what the most important factors are in people making their buying decision, it may be price, rarity, customisation. Whatever it is there's a good chance that there will be segmentation to understand too.

For example, there may be a market for a higher quality variation of your product for which you can charge a premium price. This will, of course, only be attractive to a segment of the buying public, so you need to know what makes them want premium goods and also how to attract them to your website.

What competition is there (and what are they doing)? Your competitors are doing you a favour by existing because they act both as a barometer of your marketplace but also give you the chance to create some differentiation. In a price sensitive market this would be lower prices, or it could be free delivery, or providing unusual sizing, for example.

You can also look at how and where they advertise and compare your own activities with theirs and come up with something different and better. Never be afraid of competition, they force you to improve what you do.

I hope thats been of use, much of it goes without saying - but it's definitely better to state the obvious than overlook it when there are so many other things going on when you're trying to improve your online selling.

Good luck and don't hesitate to get in touch if there's any way Shopfitter.com or I can help.

Simon :)