What is the ideal time to start an eCommerce business like an online grocery or liquor marketplace?
Well, starting any business requires extensive planning, research and expertise. But these are the controllable factors, however, the success of any business also depends on conditions in the market and the economy. But, the right timing of the grand opening of the business can do wonders and the best timing is the Festive or Holiday Season!
So, when does the festive season start? It begins with Halloween, morphs into Thanksgiving and ends with the Festival of Lights, Christmas. The festive season is a really sweet business opportunity.
Top Two eCommerce Business Ideas For Festive Season
- Online Grocery Store
- Online Liquor & Wine Store
Why Online Grocery Business Is a Great Business Idea For Holiday Season?
Do you know what would be the yummiest online business to start during this season? Online Grocery Business — for obvious reasons.
Festivals like Halloween or Christmas are not just limited to costumes and gatherings; snacks & food is the life of this festival. One of the most popular customs of Halloween is Trick or Treat. Why not treat people this season with amazing eating items (candies, chocolates, etc,) you can help them purchase all the things they need to make delicious Festive Cuisine.
How to Start an Online Grocery Business?
You need to follow certain steps if you want to launch an online grocery marketplace. Here I am listing these steps for you:
Step 1: Market Research
Before you start selling online, you should have in-depth knowledge about the product/service. Market research can identify how customers and potential customers might view your business and identify gaps in customer expectations. This is powerful information to have when you’re starting any kind of business.
Competitor analysis can also help you in many ways. You can always learn from their mistakes and get motivated by their success.
Step 2: Define Your Target Market
Once you decide what product/service you want to offer, you should also know who needs it the most and where. You need to define the persona of people you are going to target and the area (locations) you want to cover.
Identifying a target market can also help your company develop effective marketing communication strategies.
Step 3: Choose The Right Business Model
When it comes to grocery eCommerce, you can either go for an online store or a multi-vendor grocery business. If you are naive in the eCommerce industry, then I suggest you first start with a single-vendor store and then can further plan for a multi-vendor website for groceries.
Related: Different Business Models To Launch An Online Grocery Business
Step 4: Build/Launch An E-commerce Platform
This is the most important step if you are planning to start an online grocery business. It is important to find a solution that has all the necessary features like BOPIS, Multi-cart feature, Cart sharing feature, Multilingual & Multi-currency functionality, etc. So, I am suggesting a ready-made solution that is highly customizable and scalable — Growcer by FATbit Technologies.
It is an Online Grocery Shopping Software to build single vendor and multi-vendor grocery marketplaces with,
- Effortless Storefront Administration & Management
- Readymade Grocery Buyer & Delivery Apps
- Fully Customizable & Free 1-year Technical Support
Why To Start An Online Liquor Marketplace like Drizly?
Halloween & Thanksgiving are one of the BOOZIEST holidays!
The average alcohol consumption on Halloween rises nearly 30% when it falls on Friday or Saturday. Aside from Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is the holiday where retailers take in a lot of customers.
Don’t you think Launching an Online Liquor & Wine Marketplace around a festival can help you earn a fortune? Let’s take a look at the Market Leaders in the Online Liquor & Wine Industry:
- Drizly
- Wine.com
- Saucey
- Mini Bar
Launch Your Online Liquor Marketplace
You can easily launch an online liquor & wine marketplace within a few days using a ready-made eCommerce solution. Before we jump to the perfect eCommerce marketplace solution for your online liquor store, let’s understand how this business works.
Business Model for Setting-up an Online Liquor & Wine Marketplace
User Registration: This is the primary step where the users register themselves using either their email id or social logins.
Age Confirmation: The user needs to confirm their age as well. After confirming their age (18+), the customer is able to enter their address for finding alcohol stores available.
Adding Products to Cart: The next step is to add the beverages to the cart. They can choose from a wide range of alcoholic drinks like wine, liquor, etc.
Payment: Once the products are added to the cart, now the user needs to make the payment. There must be multiple payment gateways so that the customer can opt for the preferred one.
Place Order: When the payment is done, the seller receives the order request. The seller then starts the packaging process and the delivery is assigned to the respective person.
Order Delivery: The order is delivered either by the admin or third-party delivery service provider. The customers get a notification when their order is out for delivery. The admin cuts his commission on every purchase and transfers the rest amount to the sellers’ account.
Here’s the business model canvas that can be used to plan your firm’s or product’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, finances and other key activities:
Revenue Model for an Online Liquor & Wine Marketplace
Commissions: It is one of the oldest and most used revenue channels. It is recommended as a marketplace owner just need to charge commissions on every purchase made. This commission is charged to the vendors/sellers by the admin. When an order is placed by a user, the eCommerce marketplace owner receives the order amount and sends it to the seller after deducting his commission.
Advertisements: Online ads are the perfect way to expand your business. But how? You can allow your vendors or other relevant brands to run or PPC ads on your website and this way you get more traffic plus good revenue in one go.
Subscription Fee: It is a type of business model so if you want to earn revenue through subscriptions, your business model should also be based on it. The subscription could be monthly or yearly in exchange for getting access to the marketplace or any other benefit like free deliveries. This kind of revenue model is very profitable for those who want to earn money in the long run.
Affiliate Partnerships: In the case of an affiliate model, an online marketplace owner agrees to pay an affiliate in exchange for providing an advertisement/ link to other websites. Having affiliate partnerships with local businesses can improve your market reach and scale your business.
Delivery Charges: This is another very popular source of revenue. Delivery commissions are charged by the admin from the buyers. This option is suitable for those online marketplace owners who operate their business independently.
With people getting fond of eCommerce and digitalization, I believe, Online Grocery and Alcohol Business has a BRIGHT FUTURE! Make a right decision and start any of these businesses this holiday season.
Content Sources: https://medium.com/growcer-ecommerce-grocery-software/halloween-business-idea-start-an-online-liquor-store-like-drizly-1fc3d2b1a17c
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