So I started out my online business with Shopify around Feb 2014˳ I was introduced to it by a friend and found it extremely easy to use˳ I had no coding background whatsoever and it was addictive˳ Previously I had a WordPress website˳ But it was so ugly and I had to find ways to add PayPal button to collect online payments˳ So when I found out the Shopify has online payment checkout capabilities, I was hooked˳ I never looked back˳
Shopify allowed me to integrate essentials like Google analytics and download apps to increase functions easily˳ So if you are thinking of starting an online shop, use Shopify˳ I stand by it˳
2013
Moving on, my first year on Shopify and to be honest, it was bad˳ I was paying USD40-50 a month without a sale˳ For the WHOLE YEAR! Look:
At that point of time, I was still young and luckily, I did not have much commitments˳ So I looked at it as a hobby and I enjoyed having a fully functioning website although I had no sale˳ I received emails from time to time, but nothing concrete˳
2014
So 2014 came and strangely, more and more companies are having online store because of Government Grants like PIC˳ That actually helped by increasing confidence in online shopping˳ Furthermore, my products were pretty niche, so I did not have much competition˳ I started having more emails and more calls˳ My phone was ringing non stop! I wondered why˳ I search keywords online and I was shock to see that the site was organic top 3 for most keywords describing the site˳ In 2013, I was page 100˳ I read somewhere before if you want to hide a dead body, bury them in page 2 because nobody will find it˳ And now I am on first page and top 3! Look at my sales in 2014:
I never imagined my sales to shoot up like this˳ I was thrilled˳
2015
I went full time into the site˳ I went for courses to help increase the site traffic˳ Basically, tons of books and YouTube videos to learn to be a better online marketeer˳ I started to market overseas and started selling more and more˳ 2015 was a breakthrough for me because I felt I truly stepped into the online scene˳
I almost tripled my sales! There’s no looking back now˳
2016
I felt like an online guru! Thoughts to start an education hub to share my knowledge came into my mind˳ I wanted to earn more money by helping people achieve an online shop like mine˳ So I started and strangely, my strategy did not work well with most of my “students”˳ I couldn’t explain why˳ So I stopped˳ I felt like a con man˳ Until today, I still don’t know why˳ I think it was the first year of non stop website tweaking despite of no sale that helped the site hit organic first page˳ So no matter what other people say, ads traffic will never compare up to organic traffic˳ You can never get a shortcut even if you pay for traffic˳ There are more elements to make an online sale and even more to have consistent online sales˳ Anyway, 2016 was another great year for me as more and more people are shopping online˳
It was time for me to take they next step˳ Fighting the big boys
2017
I always knew I had to innovate˳ The market was getting more congested˳ My competition were no longer local SMEs˳ Amazon, Taobao, Qoo10, Lazada and many many more were the preferred place for online shoppers˳ They were offering way more products, way better prices and they had all kinds of loyalty programme˳ I needed to be better otherwise I have to start looking for another job˳ I started to create a video for every product or service that I was selling˳ Of course I had to keep my loyal customers, so I introduced my own loyalty programme˳ While I knew I could not compete with the international big boys, there was a market gap of high end consumers who prefer reputable brands˳ I had to win over this market˳ So the products I brought in after were from reputable brands˳ I focused on services too˳ All kinds of ways to differentiate the site from the main stream ones˳ I didn’t do too badly for 2017˳
Despite the strong competition I managed to maintain my sales˳ Although the days of crazy year on year increases are over, I strongly believe that the market of online shoppers will continue to grow˳ Lets hope there will be a better performance in 2018˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?Online-Shop-in-Singapore&id=9983083
