I have decided to enter the e-commerce business. The product I will be selling is original wristwatches. My friend has a shop selling wristwatches on a busy street in a busy district of Istanbul. I will supply the products from him.
In short, I want to mention my roadmap.
I am not considering setting up a website initially. I want to proceed primarily through social media. Later, I aim to make sales by opening shops on online marketplace sites like Gitti Gidiyor.
Because I think if I continue via an e-commerce site, I would need to invest more capital. (Site, SEO, Adwords, etc., etc.).
Hello,
The e-commerce adventure is truly exciting but an equally demanding sector. My first advice to you is to carefully calculate profit margins; afterwards, if there are people doing this business online, definitely meet and talk with them, learn their turnover. When you mention original wristwatches, expensive products come to mind; for example, do people buy watches online?
I have; once I bought an original Diesel watch at a very good price, but the site I purchased it from was Markafoni, which gave me a complete sense of trust, and the moment I paid 120 TL for that watch, I had no doubt.
In short, what I mean is that selling these kinds of products is a bit harder. I don’t know about selling replicas, but for original expensive accessories, good advertising is needed. A friend sells Ottoman jewelry, bracelets, rings, etc.; he put a 300% profit margin and advertised, 10,000 people visited the site, but not a single person bought. Then he gave up. I told him this: “If it were you, would you buy a product at that price from the first site you see?” People never believe a brand is good unless they see it 3 times, especially in these matters, they definitely want it in their hand, on their arm, on their wrist…
What I described above was for original watches costing at least 50-100 TL; at least that’s what I thought. However, you can easily sell replica products on GittiGidiyor; a friend of mine who doesn’t understand these things is even making sales by buying products from Alibaba Express.
I will be selling the same products that Saat ve Saat sells, and I don’t think there are watches for 100 lira like that. I haven’t fully looked into the detailed pricing yet.
I think initially I need to combine the Instagram, Twitter, Facebook trio with GittiGidiyor marketplace and do at least a few trials.
To give an example from myself. When I want to buy a watch, I like to go and try it on my wrist. As for the price, I do research on the internet and place my order from the cheapest but reliable site. My humble suggestion initially, alongside social media, is to give your business a corporate identity. Because the price of an average watch is not small. People will primarily want to trust. In addition to social media, opening a shop on Sahibinden and Gittigidiyor, and also offering a pay-at-the-door option on your e-commerce site first, could be much more efficient. Even if you do not have an e-commerce site, if you set up a normal corporate site, you can instill more confidence in buyers.
If you are not opening an e-commerce site, at least do SEO for your stores on virtual marketplaces and sites like n11 by opening blogs about watches to support them. In other words, let the blogs you set up serve as intermediaries to target sales-oriented keywords.
Saat&Saat is a watch retailer found in all shopping malls in Turkey, so what is your corporate identity? (I’m not saying this to belittle you)
Also, there is a lot of fear regarding replicas with these original products; consumer rights only protect you up to a point.
Most places like N11, Gittigidiyor, and Sanalpazar take a 10% commission, paying this on every sale + selling at a very low price.
Sometimes I compare products; I have the wholesaler prices in hand, and a guy sells a standard box of cat litter for a 5 TL profit. Why does he do this? To keep cash flowing; everyone’s business gets stuck from time to time, and they sell whatever they have to make payments; the profit isn’t the priority.
A blog is very logical; if you know about watches, set up a nice blog, patiently add content, and then recommend it to people. I am aware that the things we are saying are difficult.
First of all, here is the situation: if you are entering a sector where giants exist, you need to think about this first; why would the user buy from me? Price? While you can stock a maximum of 10 of the same watch, giant companies will buy 1000 wholesale. No matter where you buy from, they won’t give a low price to someone buying 10, but they will to someone buying 1000… Consequently, even if you wanted to, you won’t be able to sell below their prices… Even if you do sell, you won’t make a profit.
You mention social media; let’s say you increased followers using cheats, irrelevant followers have no meaning in this sector… Also, since you will be sharing posts by adding links, your reach will drop by 99%. If you say you’ll run Facebook or AdWords ads, that’s all well and good, but if the total of those ad fees plus the purchase price of the watches is less than the money you earn, then great… What matters is not revenue, but profitability. I suggest you think carefully; these are not simple businesses. Having a friend who sells watches doesn’t change much. Even manufacturers struggle to make money in such sectors…