Digital transformation for Reseller

Retail Business.
Switching to Ecommerce

What is a reseller business?

As the name suggests, a reseller sources products from suppliers
(manufacturers or wholesalers) and then sells it to the end consumers. Unlike
a homegrown brand or label that sells its own

Is online reselling a profitable business option?

Reseller businesses can be based out of a physical premise or can be entirely
online. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent
push to online companies, online reselling is the more lucrative option. It
brings all the benefits of a typical reseller business, plus the perks of an
online enterprise.

 Lucrative business idea: It is a viable business option for anyone who wants
to sell online but doesn’t have the means and skills to produce their own
goods

 Multiple product listings: There are no fixed rules for resellers. You can
dabble and sell numerous product types – which may be related or unrelated.
All resellers need to ensure is that they sell demand-fulfilling products

 Easy to establish: For online reselling, you have to ensure that your platform
is in place - be it a website, blog, or a social media page. Post that, you can
instantly start listing the products which are up for sale and become open for
business
  No inventory costs: Reselling business does not require you to spend on
warehousing, compliance or bulk purchases

 Low financial commitment: Online setups require minimal cost and time.
With no inventory costs and low shipping prices, you can set up your online
reselling business with ease.

 Work-from-home resellers: Many reselling apps provide guidance on

becoming a partner reseller. People can start their online reselling enterprise
from home; all you need is a dependable internet connection

How Can You Start Reselling Online?

An online reseller can be anyone – a student, a homemaker, a professional, or
even a freelancer. All you need is a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a
thorough understanding of the process of reselling. We are here to help you
to understand the steps required in starting your online reselling business

STEP 1. Finalize the business specifics

Reselling is a vast area of selling. As listed above, one of the advantages of

online reselling is that you can choose to deal in multiple products. Thus,
before starting a business as an online reseller, there are a few areas you
should decide upon.

 Specific Industry Niche: This means the broader area or product lines that
your reselling business will cater to. Though there are no restrictions on the
kinds of products one can sell, it is advised to maintain uniformity. For
example, a reseller’s industry can be apparel and clothing. Under this, he/she
can sell bed covers, dresses, curtains, and suits. However, a reseller for
mobile phone and a baby blanket together might seem odd to the customer

 Target audience: Another good practice we help you with is to narrow down
who you want to target with your business. Having a customer profile in mind
helps you decide the communication channel, marketing strategy, and even
pricing decisions.

 Competitor analysis: Every business requires a thorough understanding of

the competition and current business practices. Resellers differ in multiple
 aspects – from tone and branding to pricing and variety. Have a good look at
your competitors so that you can make learn what works best accordingly

STEP 2 - Setting up a communication channel

You can source the right products, price them right, and be ready for
business. But all these steps won’t be as significant if the customers don’t
get to interact with your reseller business. Here are the different ways you
can set up an online platform for your reseller business.

 Social media channels: One of the often-used ways of reselling online is by

leveraging social media. Resellers use their personal or business accounts on
Instagram, Facebook, and
Whatsapp to showcase their
product range. Orders are then
received over direct messages

 Blogs: Resellers can also set up

blogs on personalized websites to
set up an online reselling
platform. As a reseller, you can
post images of your merchandise,
details, and other useful
information on the blog. People
can then place orders via the blog
itself

 Mini websites: Websites like

Wordpress/WIX offer themes and
templates to make small-scale
websites in a short time. These
websites can serve as an e-
commerce platform for your
reselling business
STEP 3 - Marketing it right

No business is complete without effective marketing. Even for reselling

businesses, targeted marketing strategies can play a significant role in
increasing sales. It is entirely the reseller’s discretion on how he/she wants to
market their products.

Some of the commonly used marketing strategies in reselling are:

 Pricing products lower than the competition

 Offering free delivery
 Offers like Buy One, Get One
 Lucrative messaging like “Offer valid till stocks last” or “Last few pieces left”
 Customer testimonials
 Referral discounts

STEP 4 - Finalizing payment channels

If you plan the above steps well, customers will likely engage and buy from
your online reselling initiative. However, the last and one of the more crucial
steps post receiving orders is processing payments.

In an online reselling set-up, there might be issues like late payment, sending
daily payment reminders, and looking for a consolidated way to accept
payments. Nigerian payment platforms like Paystack and Flutterwave have a
high-end user interface and consolidated payment setup, as such you can
accept payments seamlessly in no time.

Now You Have A Strategy, But Which Tools Would

You use To manage your Communications &
Marketing…
Let us Introduce “A Sales Funnel”
What Is A Sales Funnel?
A sales funnel is the marketing term for the journey potential customers go through
on the way to purchase. There are several steps to a sales funnel, usually known as
the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel, although these steps may vary
depending on a company's sales model.

Why Do You Need A Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel takes the users from downloading a lead magnet to buying
your product or service. Not only that, it boosts your average order value
through order bumps and one-click upsells.

Here are some major benefits of a sales funnel:

 Lesser Distractions: Users go from one step to the next without any exit
points along the way.
 Higher Returns on Ad Spends: Creating optimized user journeys allow you to
maximize returns on ad spends.
 Greater Order Value: Showing customers relevant pre and post-purchase
offers, they can accept with one click, hence increasing the order value.
 Higher Conversion Rates: With marketing automation added to your sales
funnel, you can bring abandoned users back to complete their purchase.

Recommended Marketing Platform: MailerLite

A good marketing platform has all the tools you need do for communication
and marketing in one place. MailerLite is a web-based email marketing tool
that's trusted by more than 600,000 users around the world. Started in 2010,
this email marketing software aims to help freelancers and small-to-
medium-sized businesses enjoy email marketing perks at an affordable cost.
Among MailerLite's main strengths are its ease of use, beautiful email and
newsletter designs, and excellent customer support. Despite its simplicity,
MailerLite boasts lots of nifty features and integrations.

Common Issue with Email Marketing Software

With so many email marketing tools today offering almost the same set of
standard features, choosing a good one would depend on your budget.
There are premium tools which offer a more robust set of features but
expect them to come at a high price. On the other hand, some tools are free
or cheaper, but the features they offer are pretty basic.
MailerLite is one of those few email marketing tools that have a nice blend of
features and affordability.

Key Features of MailerLite

MailerLite’s key features can be categorized into the following:

 Creating campaigns
 Managing subscribers
 Building forms
 Building websites
 Building landing pages
 Automation
 Integrations

MailerLite Pricing
MailerLite is an affordable email service provider. It’s great for startups, small
and midsize businesses, and individuals who don't have too much money to
spend. There are five pricing models, including a freemium version. However,
if you intend to use MailerLite for business use, we suggest that you go with
the $10/month plan so you can enjoy all features and be allowed to send
unlimited emails.
Here are the pricing plans:

 $0/month (free): up to 1,000 subscribers; up to 12,000 emails per month;

with limited features.
 $10/month ($84/year): up to 1,000 subscribers; unlimited emails per month;
access to all features.
 $15/month ($126/year): 1,001 to 2,500 subscribers; unlimited emails per
month; access to all features.
 $30/month ($252/year): 2,5001 to 5,000 subscribers; unlimited emails per
month; access to all features.
 $50/month ($420/year): 5,001 to 10,000 subscribers; unlimited emails per
month; access to all features.
Associated Costs

1. Marketing System Costs Options

Option 1 (your domain (www.yourname.com ) on Mailerlite

- Use Mailerlite $10 per month plan. Budget ($120) for your first year.
- Register Domain name: $15
- Note: Your contacts you are nurturing cannot exceed 1000 on this plan
- No mailerlite logo in your emails

Total - N75,000 in naira

Option 2 (Use yourname.mailerlite.com)

- This is Free
- Mailerlite logo in your emails. Makes you seem less professional
- Note: Your contacts you can nurture as much as 12000 contcts on this plan.

2. Our Implementation Cost.

Services we will provide includes:

 Mailerlite, Mailchimp account setup

 Attractive and well arranged landing pages
 Setup Woocommere
 Build converting sales funnel
 Email campaign on Mailerlite
 Email list tagging and segmentation
 Train User on Sales Funnel & Social Media marketing
 Implement Whatsapp For Business.

Cost - N200,000
Advertisement Budgets - An amount N50,000 and above should for
reserved Facebook & Instagram Adverts you would have to run within the
first few months of launching you website