How to start an online books store in India ? Sell books online

Selling books requires a great deal of market knowledge as it is already flooded with numerous players. Whether its the offline or the online market, there is a whole lot of competition. However, for those who want to enter the market, should start with something innovative. The decision to start an online book store and sell books online seems a pretty viable option. Here is the quick guide for those who want to step into the market.

Before you Decide to Sell Books Online – Get to Know the Market

Money is a useful resource. It is scarce and should be utilized to the best of its ability. Before investing any amount, one should go ahead and get all the knowledge regarding the industry. You can start a retail business and also wholesale books from it. In books there is not much profit margin these days. It is as less as 10% in retail and 3% in wholesale or distribution. There is also a lot of variety in books. To know and understand the market you can either work for some time in a bookstore or talk to experts like existing booksellers, publishers etc. The general misconception in the field of bookselling is that the more discount you’ll provide the more customers you’ll get. Whereas the best way to hold on to customers is fulfilling their demands and giving them a huge variety.

Build Contacts with Relevant Book Poblishers

The best way to sustain in the books market is to have contacts with everyone including publishers, wholesalers, distributors, fellow competitors, etc. Some publications like to deal directly with retailers while some only work via distributors. For example Tata McGraw Hill, Pearson Education and other similar multi-national publications only deal via distributors.

Keep a Bigger Variety of Books

Books market is not only about bestsellers or novels. It has one of the biggest ranges in any industry. Invest a crore in stock and you still won’t be able to gather a complete variety. There are academic books, that sub categorize into higher, medium and primary level. Then there are children books, competition books, law books, medical books, general books and books of numerous other topics and subjects. There are books in various languages too. In all it is an exhaustive list but the more you’ll keep the better it will be. Generally people only keep fast selling and in-demand books whereas it shouldn’t be the case. There should be a ready stock of the books available on the portal.

Categorize your variety

Once you have a variety of books, you need to categorize them accordingly to ensure that your customers can easily search for a book. You can divide the books into several categories. There are academic books, that sub-categorize into higher, medium and primary level. Then there are children books, competition books, law books, medical books, general books and books of numerous other topics and subjects. There are books in various languages too. Once your list is ready, you need to ensure that your books are described appropriately. The best descriptions are always short and easy.

To Sell Books Online You nee to Have a Competitive Pricing Model

Pricing plays a very important role in any business. You also set the prices of your books appropriately. Initially, you should not look into the earring higher profits. Therefore, maintain the prices of your books with a low-profit margin when you start online bookstore and sell book online. Later on, as the popularity of your store increases, you can increase your prices accordingly. To make your pricing strategy even more attractive, you can use sales gimmicks such as discounts and offers. These gimmicks will helps you expand your customer base.

Responsive Website is a Must to Start an Online Book Store

A website or online portal should be designed to understand and take care of customers’ needs. It should be responsive in the sense that it should be compatible with all the various types of devices like tablets, smartphones, laptops etc. and operating systems viz. Android, iOS, Mac, Windows etc. The website should be quick and have a huge database. It should offer as much variety as possible.

Shopnix lets you create an online store in just ONE simple step. On sign-up you get a free eCommerce website with hosting, shopping cart, store manager, in-built marketing and everything you need to sell online.

Payment Methods

The payment is what brings everyone into business. Once you start online bookstore and sell book online, you need to provide various payment methods for your customers. Therefore, it is essential that you incorporate all option such as debit card, credit card, online banking and third-party options such as PayPal. Initially, online stores were hesitant about cash-on-delivery. However, in recent days, it has become a trend. Therefore, you can increase the customer count with the cash-on-delivery option.

Shipping Methods

Shipping is another important element of any online store. The customers often consider the shipping criteria very seriously. They require their product in the shortest possible time and within the promised time. If you miss the on-time delivery, the trust of your customers on your online store will slowly disappear. You should mention the possible time of delivery so that the customers know when to expect the product. Also, in metro cities, you can introduce option such as express delivery to entertain your customers. Apart from the time, the safety of the product is also essential. You need to ensure that the book that you ship reaches your customers intact. Any kind of damage would disappoint your customers. With on-time and safe delivery, you will get a very good publicity through word-of-mouth. As a result, increasing your online traffic.

Marketing Your Online Book Store

A website or online store is only successful if people are aware of it. Therefore, to start online bookstore and sell book online you must ensure proper marketing and advertisement of your store. You can choose direct marketing, digital marketing or both. Direct marketing could include giving an advertisement in the newspaper, distributing flyers or other methods. Digital marketing includes advertising over the internet such as social media and search engine. You can also make use of SEO techniques while executing digital marketing.

Therefore, if you to start your online store, visit Shopnix today. It lets you create an online store in just ONE simple step. On sign-up, you get a free eCommerce website with hosting, shopping cart, store manager, in-built marketing and everything you need to sell online. Moreover, it also has a lot of other features such as payment, marketing and shipping.

Go ahead and enter the market but only if you have sound survival strategies and preparation. Provide services that others do not. Give them what they need and they’ll hold on to you.

Go ahead and enter the market but only if you have sound survival strategies and preparations.Provide services that others do not. Give them what they need and they’ll hold on to you.