Remote business has long ceased to be an unusual occurrence. The proof of this is the numerous online stores in which anyone can make a purchase without directly leaving home. Saving time and money is certainly an advantage of online shopping. From this article you will learn how to independently organize a business selling clothes via the Internet, find potential buyers and successfully develop your business.
How to sell clothes online
Anyone can start their own trading business on the Web. Often this does not even require large investments. It is enough to have free time, constant access to the Internet and the desire to earn.
For example, many housewives on maternity leave are attracted to the sale of children's clothing over the Internet. Potential buyers are the same familiar mothers who are looking for unusual and inexpensive things for their children. Having organized their business online, women are in no hurry to return to their usual routine work and continue to develop their profitable business even after maternity leave.
In order to start your online business, it is completely optional to make bulk purchases and be afraid that the goods will not be in demand. Selling clothes over the Internet allows you to act as an organizer of joint purchases. In other words, people will order the goods they are interested in from you, make an advance payment, and you will buy it from the supplier and charge your interest for the work done. Many individual entrepreneurs work under this scheme today, who are much more comfortable working at home with a computer than trade on the market.
We determine the assortment
Suppose you decide to sell your clothes over the Internet. First of all, you need to decide on the assortment. The main criterion for a successful online sale is the relevance and relevance of things in the region where you live. Perhaps in your city there are no beautiful evening and cocktail dresses or it is absolutely impossible to find high-quality children's shoes. It is important to conduct a comparative analysis of existing retail clothing stores, read forums and get the opinion of friends about what they would buy from you with great pleasure.
An important factor is the average per capita income in the region where you are going to organize your online trading. Inflated prices can repel potential buyers, and too cheap clothes can raise doubts about its quality. Try to focus on those products, the sale of which you will have the lowest possible competition.
How to find a clothing supplier?
A wide variety of apparel suppliers are embarrassing for the newcomer to online trading. Today you can order clothes both in the CIS countries and far beyond the borders of the Commonwealth. The most profitable suppliers are, of course, Chinese clothing manufacturers. The leaders among the resources offering online sales are AliExpress and TaoBao. However, if the latter site is focused on native Chinese speakers, then users from all over the world can make purchases on AliExpress.
The advantage of Chinese suppliers is quality inexpensive clothing. Through the Internet, you can order quite exclusive items from China that cannot be found in any retail store in Russia.
The main rule of wholesale purchases on such a site is the rating of the selected seller. Make a deal only making sure of its integrity and quality of the goods. You can verify this by the reviews of customers who have already placed orders with this supplier.
The AliExpress resource protects the rights of both parties, as evidenced by a well-thought-out payment system. After choosing the right product, the customer pays the full amount of its value, after which the seller sends the goods by mail. Money deposited in the system will be transferred to the seller’s account only after the customer receives their goods and confirms their quality and safety during shipment. Otherwise, the buyer has the right to ask for a discount or a full refund of his funds. The system ensures that any package, including purchased clothing through the store, will be safe. The Internet in this case greatly simplifies the transaction process.
How to find potential buyers?
After you have decided on a clothing supplier, you need to search for potential buyers who will be interested in and profitable for your product. You can try to open your own online store, but this will require financial investments (website development, design development, promotion in search engines, search for a hired administrator, etc.) Therefore, the most rational way to find buyers for a newbie is a group or community on social networks.
You can create such a group absolutely free of charge by advertising your services and laying out an assortment of clothes to order. At first, friends and acquaintances can act as potential buyers. Gradually, people will begin to find out about your clothing apparel online community and will share it with their friends. The principle of so-called word-of-mouth marketing still works to this day.
However, if financial means allow, then you can entrust the promotion of the community to professionals who will invite potential buyers by the principle of targeting. In other words, there will be people in your group who will really start making orders. Remember that buying clothes over the Internet should be as comfortable as possible for your potential buyers.
Payment Methods
For the convenience of transactions, you need to offer customers various ways to pay for orders:
- Transfer to a bank card or money transfer to a bank account.
- Payment by electronic currency (WebMoney, Qiwi, YandexMoney).
- Postal transfer or cash on delivery.
- Payment in cash upon receipt of the goods.
In addition, in order to insure yourself against the buyer's refusal of the order, you can introduce a prepayment system, which can be from 30 to 50% of the total cost of the goods. This item may even include inexpensive clothes. It is much easier and more convenient to conduct payment transactions via the Internet , which significantly saves customers time and money.
Delivery of the order to the buyer
Proper organization of order delivery to the buyer will not only have a good effect on the reputation of the online store, but also significantly reduce the time it takes to complete a transaction. You can arrange delivery in the following ways:
- Take the order to the buyer at home on your own.
- Return the goods in a predetermined place on neutral territory.
- Ask buyers to pick up the goods directly at the seller’s home.
- Hire a courier who for a nominal fee will deliver the goods to the right place and time.
- Send goods by cash on delivery.
The advantage of online shopping is that you can buy this or that thing without leaving your home. That is why it is better to give preference to home delivery. It will be convenient if the delivery is positioned as free, and you include its real cost in the total purchase price.
Contract between seller and buyer
A correctly drawn up agreement on the provision of services will be able to protect the seller and the buyer from possible misunderstandings during the transaction. Moreover, it does not matter whether it is a legal document or a formal agreement in words. The main thing is that both parties fulfill their obligations.
For example, an obligatory clause of such an agreement may be an advance payment of 50% of the purchase price or a refund if the product is defective or does not fit in size. The buyer must be sure that he will not lose his money and receive a quality order that will meet his expectations.
Taxes - pay or not pay?
Any entrepreneurial activity in the territory of the Russian Federation must be legally registered and registered with the tax authority. Payments to the state treasury will not only save you from possible problems, but also help create a confident future. After all, having registered as an individual entrepreneur, you will make monthly social and pension payments, from which your pension will be formed in the future.
However, if you are still not convinced of the success of an online business, you can try to make several test orders for friends or relatives. If you see that selling clothes over the Internet brings positive results, then it makes sense to continue to develop your business, formalizing it according to the law. In the past few years, it has become possible to register online businesses in accordance with the tax code of the Russian Federation.
What else can I sell through the Web?
Selling clothes over the Internet is not the only way to organize online trading. You can sell anything you want. The main thing is that the product is in demand and relevant among the residents of your city or region. So, unusual women's jewelry and accessories, various devices for the kitchen and home, car accessories and replica watches of famous brands are very popular. People will always look for unusual things that can be easily purchased without going abroad.
Online business is a responsible and hard work. Selling clothes over the Internet or any accessories requires a certain amount of time in the early stages. However, with a properly planned business project, the result in the form of a stable income will not be long in coming.