Ecommerce is on an upward trend and COVID-19 has put on the thrusters. The industry has grown from $2 trillion in worldwide sales in 2017 to $4 trillion in 2020 — doubling in a span of three years, with projections putting it at $6 million in 2023. And with eCommerce steadily taking an increased share of global retail sales, anyone can see that it is an extremely lucrative industry to get into. Even eCommerce web development is on the rise with many web agencies reporting increased growth.
So, if you’re planning to ride the wave and start an ecommerce business in Singapore this year, we’ve got five great hacks for you to get a head start.
Make Use of Grants
Since Circuit Breaker measures were announced the Singapore government has launched a series of grants to help local businesses and new startups stay afloat in these unprecedented times. Businesses can check these services here provided by incorporation agencies like Piloto Asia if they want to register their company in Singapore.
Just take a look at the grant page on Enterprise Singapore. One notable grant you can take advantage of as a startup is:
Startup SG Founder
This scheme encourages first-time entrepreneurs to start their own business by providing mentorship and financial support. The scheme is separated into two tracks: “Train” and “Start”.
The “Train” track pairs you with an appointed partner to find co-founders, develop business ideas and find capital over a 3-month period. You’ll be given a stipend of $1,500 while you train.
The “Start” track helps startups that have incorporated for less than six months attain grants amounting to $50,000 over a year to help with business expenses, as long as they meet the requirements of being a first-time entrepreneur and at least three employees (including co-founders).
Reselling a Product with Potential
These days, you don’t need to develop a product yourself to start selling. In fact, designing, producing and developing your own product can take months of work and capital you might not even have!
Instead, it is much easier and faster to find a profitable, trending product that occupies a niche. Whether it is solving a pain point you might have personally experienced or appealing to a niche hobby that’s not quite taken off in your local area, or even pursuing something you’re personally passionate in — identify a product with potential and search for overseas manufacturers you can work with to buy and resell.
With Drop shipping, you don’t even need to worry about having your own space to store your stock, since the products ship from the factory themselves!
Outsourcing Work
The gig economy is booming. As a new startup without the capacity to hire full-time employees for permanent roles, outsourcing is a great way to help you focus on your strengths while still growing your business without having to worry about day-to-day tasks. Remember, you don’t have to do everything yourself as a small business owner — time you spend getting past a learning curve for minimal gain is time wasted not growing your business.
So, use platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to find help for areas like writing, design, social media management, digital marketing and more. If you prefer someone closer, finding a Facebook group or job board for local freelancers is also a good idea. Outsourcing work to an experienced freelancer nets you the best of both worlds, as you can get higher-quality work at less than the cost of a full-time employee.
Analyzing Web Traffic
Ok, so you’ve done the hard work finding your product and setting up your website. It’s been weeks, maybe months and you’re looking for a way to assess your performance before figuring out how to move forward.
That’s where analyzing web traffic comes in. Google Analytics is a free tool you can use to get detailed statistics about who comes and goes on your website. You’ll be able to find out where your visitors are coming from, what browsers or devices they’re using, what they’re doing on your site, whether they are revisiting your site and much, much more. With the ability to generate detailed reports, there’s no better free tool to make sense of incoming web traffic onto your ecommerce site.
To start using Google Analytics, simply create an account and add the generated tracking code to your website. Visit Google’s setup page for a helpful step-by-step you can follow.
Get a Free Website Audit
Ever visited a website that took too long to load you eventually lost interest and hit the back button on your browser? Well, the same could be happening to your ecommerce store! Don’t let slow loading times and poor SEO practices stop your website from getting as much traffic as it should.
Make sure to run your website through the various free website audit tools out there to get good idea of its technical performance. We recommend Neil Patel’s SEO Analyzer tool, which will give you an overall analysis, check for errors in your website’s SEO, rate your site loading speed, and perform a backlink check.
And there you have it! Starting a new business is never easy, especially in the ecommerce realm with so many variables to consider — however, follow these five tips and your new ecommerce business will enjoy a solid start in 2021. We wish you all the best in your ventures, and hope to buy from you soon!
