4 October 2021

Training of Women Entrepreneurs on Expanding Online Business through E-commerce Platform and Digital Marketing

Session 2: Introduction on e-commerce and digital marketing and linking to social media platforms

Ms. Deepali Gotadke

Presentation structure

• E-commerce

• Digital Marketing

• Creating Facebook account

• Creating Instagram account

• Q & A

What is E-commerce?

• E-commerce is a shortened version of the

phrase “Electronic commerce”

• E-commerce involves buying and selling of

products or services on online platforms

• It includes the selecting the product to buy

and making the payment using merchant

banking or payment gateways

• It also includes transactions such as the

transfer of money, funds, and data

How can women entrepreneurs benefit from e-commerce?

• Huge opportunities for women entrepreneurs to

grow and scale up their businesses

• Flexibility to work from any place. Women can

choose to stay at home and still aim at starting and

growing a business that is close to their hearts

• Women can be a part of wider supply chain and

take the business across geographical destinations

• Women can showcase their niche businesses with

ease and make a mark of their own in the business

world

Major types of e-commerce

• Business-to-Business (B2B)• Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

Other types of e-commerce

• Business-to-Government (B2G)• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)• Mobile Commerce (m-commerce)

How to get started?

• Planning e-commerce

• Selecting platform : website or selling on marketplaces

• The strategy for online users

• Choosing the online channels

• Online marketing in general

• The presentation and promotion of products

• The legal aspect

• How to handle shipping and payments

• Customer care

What are the essentials to start e-commerce business?

• One must hold the bank account

• Have a business name

• Prepare the business plan

• Get the necessary permits for business

• Define the product/service and pricing

• Prepare the product and price catalogue

• Do basic promotion

• Maintain proper stock / Inventory

Marketplace vrs. own website

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Market Place Your own Website

A marketplace includes numerous retailers andsuppliers. The marketing is done by the adminof the marketplace.

You can launch an online shop for your businessor brand. It also gives you an opportunity toconduct marketing campaigns and buildcustomer loyalty.

Individual brand building is not possible. Your own website is a better option topersonalize and build your own brand.

Selling on the marketplace does not requiredesigning and development charges. But mayinvolve fee or transaction commission of themarketplace.

Building your online shop requires web portaldevelopment and digital marketing. This callsfor significant investment.

Due to the increased number of sellers on oneplatform, strong competition exists. Also, itdoes not provide the same opportunities forbranding and personalization as own e-commerce websites do.

Getting customers to your own e-commerceportal is difficult as it requires a lot ofinvestment in online marketing. Getting ordersimmediately is a challenge as customers do nottrust individual websites like how they trust themarketplace.

Challenges of e-commerce

• Security of financial information

• Privacy of consumer data

• Some consumers may prefer to personally touch and feel the product before purchasing

• A lot of information from several online resources may create

confusion in buyers’ minds

• Building trust with consumers may take longer

• Unpredictable technical glitches may withhold the business transactions

• Frequent software /web app updates

Comparison

Traditional Commerce E-commerce

Retailing E-tailing

Retail store or Brand showroom E-commerce website

Product sourcing / Manufacturing Product sourcing / Manufacturing

Merchandising Cataloguing and Listing

Inventory Management Inventory Management

Traditional marketing methods-TV or Print Ads and Billboards

etc

Digital Marketing: Google Ads, Email-marketing and Social media Ads

Order processing at the shop counter Order packaging & processing at the warehouse

Customer service Customer Service

Basic requirements to become a seller on e-commerce

The right products: good quality readily available, non-fragile & easily transportable

A computer or laptop

A printer for printing shipping labels and invoices etc

A good internet connection

Documentation: PAN+GST+Bank Account Details

Packaging materials

• It is not possible to sell all kinds of products from any shop.

e.g. We cannot sell books at a saree store.

• So it is important to know the right

e-commerce store or websites for our products.

• If we choose a website that doesn’t match our product type

• It might result in No sale, unsold stock and wasted inventory investment.

Why is it important to choose the right e-commerceportal?

How to identify the right website for one’s products?

A. You should choose the products you would like to sell.

B. Then search for an e-commerce website that sells similar products or deals with same product type.

C. Check the price range of the products sold on the chosen website.

D. Finally find out the target market of the e-commerce website. Ensure that the product matches their market's requirements.

Introduction to thee-commerce business processes

➢ Now that we know how to identify a suitable website, the next step is to understand how we can sell on the e-commerce website.➢ Let us see the step by step process for sale of our products on an e-

commerce website.

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

Sourcing- Select if the product is sourced from

outside or manufactured by own. If sourced include the

required license details.

Once the customers see our products live on the website, they can place orders. We receive the

orders and fulfill them -pack and ship- as per the

standards provided by the e-commerce company.

Take pictures of the product and upload them on the website, along with the

product description. This process is called product

cataloguing. Once, the product catalogue is displayed on the

website, it is known as Listing.

➢ Upload product images with excellent

resolution /quality.

➢ Ensure that you have sufficient light in the

background to take quality product images.

➢ Make sure that you set your product in front of

the background which is flat and stable. In case

of a 3D product, the paper can be folded

against a wall, so that the white background

covers both the back and base of the product.

Product Photography & Tips

Basic Photography Tips - Examples

• Take pictures from 4-5 different angles,

• Match the colours of the picture to the actual product

• Textiles such as saris need to be shot flat to show the complete products.

• You may use software tools like MS Paint, Adobe Photoshop, to edit/crop/style/resize/enhance the images.

• The standard product image size recommended is 201 pixels (width) and 318 pixels (height).

Product Description

• Product Title

• Product Price

• Product Specifications

• Size of the product : L x W x H for 3-dimensionalproducts and L x W for 2-dimensional products and alsospecify the unit of measurement

• Material used and Manufacturing Details craft andtechnique

• Care Instructions

Product Code or SKU Number

• Product Code or SKU stands for ‘Stock Keeping Unit’.

• Usually the website will assign a unique code to the product.

• For example: A green sari can be given a code, such as: Sari001-G and so on etc.

Online Precautions

• Card Payments

• Cash Transfer

• Payment/Cash On Delivery

• Frauds(Banking/Cards/OTP), Awareness

• Choose a secure ecommerce platform

• Use a secure connection for checkout (SSL)

• Don't store sensitive user data

• Request strong passwords from your users

• Always backup your system and database

Shopping Cart

The shopping cart page contains the following information:

• Product list

• Price

• Total price can include taxes, fees or shipping costs

• Discount code

• Mode of payment

Payment Gateway

• E-commerce can accept payment via various modes like credit cards, debit cards, net banking through payment gateway

Different payment gateways:• PayPal• SecurePay.com • CCAvenue• EBS• PaySimple• Payumoney• RuPay

Different mobile wallets:• PayTM• Amazon Pay• PhonePe• Google Pay

Shipping Options

• Shipping yourself

• Fulfilment warehouse

• Drop-shipping

• Shipping charges calculator

• Third party shipping solutions

Legal guide for e-commerce

• Terms and Conditions

• Company information

• User rights and responsibilities

• Disclaimer and limitation of liability

• Privacy policy

• Refund policy

About the terms

• Terms of payment

• Terms of delivery

• Terms of shipping

• Terms of refunds

• Terms of use of your website

Frauds and Precautions

• Account takeover: Most ecommerce stores provide customers with accounts that store personal information, financial data and purchase history. Perpetrators often hack into these accounts through phishing schemes..

• Identity theft: Although most businesses take many precautions to secure customer data, fraudsters still manage to hack into databases and steal usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and other personal information.

• Security threats : The most common security threats are phishing attacks,identity theft, digital currency thefts, data misuse, hacking, credit cardfrauds, OTP frauds etc.

Risks and Solutions

RISK SOLUTION

• Cyber security

Your business can become the victimof a cyberattack. An entrepreneurneeds to be aware of spam mail,hacking, malware, phishing attacks,etc.

To defend against such issues, onemust keep updating all the softwareregularly and also keep all the systemsprotected by standardized softwareand the use of strong SSL (SecureSockets Layer).

• System reliability

You may face the online paymentrelated issues by the paymentgateway, which could show errors tothe customers. There is a possibility ofa web server/payment gateway crash.

The operating systems and APIs(Application Programming Interface)need to be updated to protect againstsuch threats.

Risks and Solutions

RISK SOLUTION

• Misuse of credit card information

Hackers may use the stolen credit card tomake purchases online. They may alsouse the stolen credit card data fromother customers in your system and tryto make their payments.

This is part of cyber crime. Managingonline security measures is crucial.Always make sure that any suspicioustransaction is verified immediately andreported to bank/police if needed.

• Intellectual property issues

Others may copy the information orcontent related to your website. Yourwebsite images, logos, videos, andproduct descriptions can get copied byother businesses or web developers. Thiscan result in a violation of someoneelse's intellectual property.

It is suggested to focus on TechnicalProtection Services (TPSs) like trademarkregistration and patenting, which mayhelp control the digital intellectualproperty on the internet.

Digital Marketing

• The right marketing is very important for the success of any Product or service, whether it is traditional business or E-commerce

• In E-commerce, marketing becomes even more important, as the website will not be visible to customers

• Digital marketing is the use of the internet, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other channels to reach consumers

• It is the best way of growing your business and providing service of your products via digital technology

Business on social media platforms and digital marketing

Key Messages Description

Digital Marketing Understanding different ways of digital marketing mainly Social media

Business on Social Media Platforms

Facebook Business Page

Instagram Business Profile

WhatsApp Business Profile

Content Creation Photography and content creation tips for social media marketing.

a) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

b) Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

c) Social Media Optimization(SMO)

d) Social Media Marketing ( SMM)

e) E-mail Marketing

f) Content marketing

11

Digital Marketing

Image Source: digihunts.academy

Search Engine Optimization(SEO)

• A search engine is a web-based software which enables users to find information on the World Wide Web. Popular examples of search engines are Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.

• SEO stands for "search engine optimization." It is the process of getting traffic from the "free," "organic," "editorial" or "natural" search results in the search engines.

Types of SEO

• On-page Optimization

• Off-page optimization

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is used to explain different online advertising efforts. Like SEO, it is used to attract users to your website.

• Ads that are displayed at the top and to the right of search engine results in various search engines like Google and Bing

• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisement because you generally pay some amount every time the users click on your ad

• Social media marketing refers to business activity on social mediaplatforms which contributes to marketing objectives such as brandawareness, website traffic, and customer acquisition.

• This activity is predominantly in the form of content —such as text,images and videos — but also includes community engagement and paidads.

• At the heart of great social media content is the audience’s desire to shareit. When your audience share your content, they become your channelof distribution.

What is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

Calculation

✓ ROI (return on investment) = [(Payback - Investment)/Investment)]*100

Many tools and systems are available to calculate your ROI and to measure the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaign.

ROI tools

✓ Google analytics

✓ Google webmasters tools

✓ Basic google search

✓ Google adwords

✓ Social media monitoring tools

✓ Sentiment analysis tools

Digital Marketing Measurement

How social media helps e-commerce business?

• For businesses, social media is a powerful marketing tool thathelps them connect to thousands of people in their market,fellow players in the industry, and even influencers that canhelp them penetrate the market better.

Facebook

• Facebook offers Facebook Market place and Facebook shopfor selling your products.

• In Facebook Marketplace buyers get the information aboutthe products and the seller but cannot buy it.

• In Facebook Shop, buyer can buy the product, Facebook

directs the buy link to dedicated online marketing stores like

Amazon, Flipkart or own website.

Facebook Account

• To create account visit www.facebook.com

• To finish creating your account, you need to confirm youremail or mobile phone number

• Enter your name

• Email or mobile

• Phone number

• Password

• Date of birth and gender

• Click Sign Up

Facebook Account

Facebook Business Page

Having a Facebook Business Page makes it easier for people todiscover and interact with your brand online.

Steps to create a Facebook business page:

Step 1:

Facebook business pages are created using a personal Facebookaccount, so you’ll need to first log in to your Facebook account.

Step: 2

Go to Pages section and Click on “+ Create New Page”.

Facebook Business Page

Step: 3 :Enter Your Business Information

• Tell Facebook what you want the name of your business page to be.

• choose a business category that best represents what your business offers.

Facebook Business Page

Step: 4 :Upload Your Profile Picture & Cover Photo

• Choose a photo to upload as your business page profile picture. Businesses commonly use their

• logo as a profile picture, but you may use any photo that represents your business and your business’ branding.

Facebook Business Page

Creating Account in Instagram

To create an Instagram account from the app:

Instagram encourages the user to post via phones hence it does not allow to update through the photographs or content through desktops or laptops.

1. Download the Instagram app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android).2. Once the app is installed, tap to open it.3. Tap Sign up with Email or Phone Number (Android) or Create New Account(iOS), then enter your email address or phone number (which will require a confirmation code) and tap Next. You can also tap Log in with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.4. If you register with your email or phone number, create a username and password, fill out your profile info and then tap Next. If you register with Facebook, you'll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.

To create an Instagram account from a computer:

1. Go to instagram.com.

2. Click Sign up, enter your email address, create a username and password, or click Log in with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.

3. If you register with an email, click Sign up. If you register with Facebook, you'll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.

If you sign up with an email, make sure you enter your email address correctly and choose an email address that only you can access. If you log out and forget your password, you'll need to be able to access your email to get back into your Instagram account.

Instagram Business Account

Why Its necessary?

• In business account, Insights of number of users who view the posts

• Business account will help you to connect Instagram to Facebook business page

•In business account, We can promote posts to reach more people

Step: 1Before you start to create Instagram Business Account, Create an Instagram account

Instagram Business Account

Converting Instagram account to Instagram Business Account

Step 1:

Navigate to your Instagramprofile in the bottom right cornerof the app.

Step 2:

Tap the menu button in the top right corner

Instagram Business Account

Step 3: Tap “Settings” andscroll down to “Account”

Step 4: Scroll down the menu and tap “Switch to Professional Account”

Instagram Business Account

Step: 5 Swipe through the features of the Professional accountand Select ContinueStep: 6 Select a Category for your brand from the availableoptions

Instagram Business Account

Step: 7 Select “Business” as your account type on the nextscreenStep: 8 Review your contact info and select Next

Instagram Business Account

Step: 9 Connect your existing Facebook business page to yourInstagram account, or create a new Facebook pageStep: 10 Complete your on boarding process with all necessaryInformation.

Instagram Business Account

Congratulations, now you have an

Instagram business profile!

THANK YOU!!

For any questions/queries contact us

+91 836 4258918+91 84978 08999

+91 1130973701 / 04

Emailinfo@wesellonline.org

contact@wesellonline.org suveera.saxena@un.org

References

E-commerce Onboarding Process

Key Messages Description

Contacting the e-commerce company

How to reach out to the chosen e-commerce website

Basic Photography Tips Basic tips on how to take good product pictures for e-commerce

Product Description Identifying the key attributes of the products and describing them well

On boarding process in detail

Step by step onboarding process requirements of a selected few e-commerce websites : Amazon, Facebook

Marketplace.

Portal commission and fee E-commerce websites commission structure and additional fees.

Payment processes Understanding the payment cycles of the different e-commerce websites

Returns Dealing with product returns

Content Creation: Tips for Social Media Marketing

• Hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), Used on social media to identify messages on a specific topic.

• Hashtags make your content easier to find on social media, which is filled with numerous posts. Use of the right hashtags is very important for the success of your post.

• Keep the promotional content catchy, Draw customer’s attention through your content and make them take a simple action such as- a like, comment or share the post.

• Photographs is the first thing that attracts the customer’s attention. It is important to do a good photo shoot of the products intended to sell.

• Content can also include related pictures or videos, which help the

Understanding E-commerce business processes in detail

➢Target market’s requirements must be matched in terms of design and price.

➢Employ adequate packing to avoid any possible damage during shipping.

➢Products in the lower or middle price segments perform better online than

very expensive products.

➢Heavy products with high shipping costs are usually a little difficult to sell

online.

➢Choose products which can be made in good quantity and can be

replenished once sold out.

➢Ensure quality of the product, to avoid Returns.

➢Provide variety to the customer, in terms of colour and design within

a Collection.