Introduction to make the sale: build, launch and manage e-commerce stores

You’ll study the common terms, tools, roles, and strategies that are used in e-commerce. Then, you’ll learn how to begin an e-commerce project using market research, competitive analysis, target audience identification, product research, product sourcing, and brand strategy.

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Dedication to study

• Videos: 50 min

• Leitura: 3 h 10 min

• Teste: 1 Teste com avaliação

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Learning Objectives

• Define e-commerce.
• Explain the advantages of selling online.
• Recognize common terms, tools, and roles in e-commerce.
• Understand essential e-commerce strategies and practices.
• Explain how to conduct market research and product research.
• Initiate an e-commerce project.

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Content

1. Getting started with the course
2. Understanding e-commerce and why it matters
3. Terms, tools and strategies in e-commerce
4. Getting started in e-commerce
5. Review: Introduction to make the sale: build, launch, and manage e-commerce stores

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1. Getting started with the course

Introduction to Course 6

• Video Duration: 4 minutes

More people buy things online today than ever before, and the numbers continue to grow. In just over a decade, the global e-commerce market grew over 600%. E-commerce has completely changed the world of retail and continues to do so. It’s also added a lot of new jobs, like the ones you’re working towards by taking this program. You’ve learned a lot about digital marketing in previous courses. Now, in this course, we’ll focus directly on e-commerce, more specifically on selling online. E-commerce uses digital marketing to attract and retain customers. It also uses the marketing funnel you learned about earlier, which includes awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty. In many ways, digital marketing and e-commerce overlap. However, e-commerce can also include other roles and responsibilities outside of digital marketing, such as product management, order fulfillment, shipping, and customer service. You’ll learn more about those topics later. Before we get started, let me introduce myself. I’m Cindy, a sales excellence lead here at Google. My teams goal is to help our sellers unlock their potential through practice, coaching, and feedback. Prior to this role, I worked on a team that helped several brands launch their own e-commerce channels and sell directly to consumers. Our goal was to ensure our brand partners could successfully create and capture demand online. Although I have been working in digital marketing and e-commerce for over six years now, it wasn’t a straightforward journey to get here. My undergraduate studies were actually in biomedical engineering. But when I was about to start medical school, I had a moment of panic and I realized I could not be around blood and needles. I talked to a mentor who encouraged me to apply for a marketing role at a large consumer goods company. After working for a number of big brands, I discovered that I wanted to learn more about digital marketing. That’s when I started working at Google. Let’s start by reviewing what we’ve covered in the program so far. First, you explored how to attract and engage customers online. You discovered ways to reach more potential customers. And then learned how to keep those customers interested in your business. Next, you uncovered the potential of email marketing. You learned that using email to reach customers is a powerful way to keep them connected to your brand. After that, you learned about the ways social media can be used as a powerful marketing tool. You found ways to connect with customers on the channels they prefer. You also learned how to capture their attention with social media and advertising to help your business grow. Finally, you took the time to understand the importance of marketing analytics and measurement. You learned the power of making decisions based on data. That was a lot to learn. You’ve done an awesome job getting this far into the program. In this course, you’ll discover what e-commerce is and what the benefits of selling online are. You’ll learn the basic terms used in e-commerce and become familiar with the different tools and platforms available for selling online. Then you’ll learn about e-commerce stores and how they work. You’ll also discover how to drive valuable traffic to an e-commerce store through advertising and campaigns. After that, you’ll learn how to engage customers and create personalized experiences online. Finally, you’ll learn about the checkout process and how to get products to customers after they make their purchase. I look forward to being your guide as we explore the exciting and rapidly growing field of e-commerce. There’s a lot to learn and I’m excited to go on this journey together. Coming up next, you’ll learn what e-commerce is all about. Ready to get started?

Course 6 overview

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

You are now beginning the sixth course of the program, Make the Sale: Build, Launch, and Manage E-commerce Stores. By the end of this course, you’ll understand what e-commerce means and what the benefits are for selling online. You’ll learn the basic terms, tools, and platforms used in e-commerce. You’ll also learn how to drive valuable traffic to an e-commerce store through ads and campaigns. Finally, you’ll discover how to engage customers and create a personalized experience online.

Course progress

The entire program has seven courses. Make the Sale: Build, Launch, and Manage E-commerce Stores is the sixth course in the series.

1. Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce

—Learn about the fields of digital marketing and e-commerce and the skills needed for associate-level roles.

2. Attract and Engage Customers with Digital Marketing

—Apply the marketing funnel concept to stages of the customer journey, including engagement, conversion, and loyalty. Learn methods for search engine optimization so potential customers find your products or services.

3. From Likes to Leads: Interact with Customers Online

—Learn how to create marketing content and ads on social media platforms and evaluate their effectiveness using social media analytics data.

4. Think Outside the Inbox: Email Marketing

—Learn how to execute email campaigns, use mailing lists, and automate customer communication and workflows.

5. Assess for Success: Marketing Analytics and Measurement

—Learn how to collect, monitor, analyze, and present data from marketing campaigns using analytics and presentation tools.

6. Make the Sale: Build, Launch, and Manage E-commerce Stores

—(current course) Learn the process to create a new e-commerce store and drive traffic to the online business through advertising campaigns.

7. Satisfaction Guaranteed: Develop Customer Loyalty Online

—Learn strategies to build customer loyalty in e-commerce and use specific tools to help develop and maintain client relationships. This course also closes out the program with professional development topics to help you prepare for a job search.

Course 6 content

This course has regular assignments. You can complete them at your own pace; however, the assignments are designed to help you finish the program in six months or fewer. Refer to the information below about progression for this course.

Module 1: Introduction to Make the sale: Build, launch, and manage e-commerce stores

You will explore the field of e-commerce and learn about the benefits of selling products online. You’ll study the common terms, tools, roles, and strategies that are used in e-commerce. Then, you’ll learn how to begin an e-commerce project using market research, competitive analysis, target audience identification, product research, product sourcing, and brand strategy.

Module 2: Learn about online stores

You will learn about different e-commerce stores, including Shopify. You’ll learn about creating, designing, and optimizing an online store to sell products. Then, you’ll build a mock Shopify store and create product listings for it.

Module 3: Ads and campaigns in e-commerce

You will discover how to reach customers online through methods like advertisement campaigns and examine the benefits of online advertising. Then, you’ll explore how seasonality affects e-commerce businesses. Finally, you’ll learn how to optimize an e-commerce marketing strategy to meet campaign goals.

Module 4: Engage customers with an online store

You will learn how to engage with customers online. You’ll explore how the online checkout process works and how to entice customers to purchase a product. You’ll also learn how to move customers efficiently through the flow of a Shopify store. You’ll end the course by learning about the importance of creating a successful path to purchase for customers and how the order fulfillment and shipping process works.

What to expect

Each course offers a series of lessons with many types of learning opportunities. These include:

• Videos for instructors to teach new concepts and demonstrate the use of tools

• Readings to introduce new ideas and build on the concepts from the videos

• Discussion forums to share, explore, and reinforce lesson topics for better understanding

• Discussion prompts to promote thinking and engagement in the discussion forums

• Self reviews to practice tasks and check your results for accuracy or correctness

• In-video quizzes to help your comprehension of content presented in videos

• Practice quizzes to prepare you for graded quizzes

• Graded quizzes to measure your progress, give you valuable feedback, and satisfy program completion to obtain a certificate—Following program guidelines, you can take a graded quiz multiple times to achieve a passing score of 80% or higher.

Tips for success

• It is strongly recommended to take these courses—and go through the items in each lesson—in the order they appear because new information and concepts build on previous knowledge.

• Participate in all learning opportunities to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible.

• If something is confusing, don’t hesitate to replay a video, review a reading, or repeat a self-review activity.

• Use the additional resources that are referenced throughout the program. They are designed to support your learning.

• When you encounter useful links in a course, remember to bookmark them so you can refer to the information later for study or review.

• Understand and follow the Coursera Code of Conduct to ensure that the learning community remains a welcoming, friendly, and supportive place for all members.

Helpful resources to get started

• Reading: Duration: 20 minutes

As a learner, you can complete this course only. However, to obtain a certificate, you must complete all the courses in the program. This reading describes what is required to obtain a certificate and best practices for you to have a good learning experience on the platform.

Course completion to obtain a certificate

To receive your official Google Digital Marketing and E-commerce Certificate, you must:

• Pass all graded assignments in all 7 courses of the certificate program. Each graded assignment is part of a cumulative graded score for the course, and the passing grade for each course is 80%.

AND one of the following:

• Pay the course certificate fee,

• Be approved for Coursera Financial Aid, or

• Complete the certificate through an educational institution, employer, or agency that’s sponsoring your participation.

Healthy habits for course completion

Here is a list of best practices that will help you complete the courses in the program in a timely manner:

Plan your time: Setting regular study times and sticking with them each week can help you make learning a part of your routine. Use a calendar or timetable to create a schedule, and list what you plan to do each day in order to break your work down into achievable goals. Create a quiet place to watch the videos, review the readings, and complete the activities so you can really focus on the material.

Work at your own pace: Everyone learns differently, so this program has been designed to let you work at your own pace. Although your personalized deadlines start when you enroll, they are just a guide. Feel free to move through the program at the speed that works best for you. There is no penalty for late assignments; to earn your certificate, all you have to do is complete all of the work. If you prefer, you can extend your deadlines by returning to Overview in the navigation panel to click Switch Sessions. If you already missed previous deadlines, click Reset my deadlines instead.

Be curious: If you find an idea that gets you excited, act on it! Ask questions, search for more details online, check out the links that interest you, and take notes on your discoveries. The little things you do to support your learning along the way will take your knowledge even further, open more doors in this high-growth field, and help you qualify for jobs.

Take notes: Notes are useful-to-remember information that you think might be important in the future, especially as you’re preparing to enter a new job field. In addition, taking notes is an effective way to make connections between topics and gain a better understanding of those topics.

Chat (responsibly) with other learners: If you have a question, chances are, you’re not alone. Reach out in the discussion forum to ask for help from other learners in this program. You can also visit Coursera’s Global Online

Community: Other important things to know while learning with virtual classmates can be found in the Coursera Honor Code and Code of Conduct.

Update your profile: Consider updating your profile on Coursera. This link appears in the menu when you click on your name at the top-right corner of this screen. When classmates find you in the discussion forums, they can click on your name to view your profile and get to know you more.

Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations for course activities

To complete certain activities in the program, you will need to use digital documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Marketing professionals use these software tools to collaborate within their teams and organizations. If you need more information about using a particular tool, refer to these resources:

• Microsoft Word: Help and learning: Microsoft Support page for Word

• Google Docs: Help Center page for Google Docs

• Microsoft Excel: Help and learning: Microsoft Support page for Excel

• Google Sheets: Help Center page for Google Sheets

• Microsoft PowerPoint: Help and learning: Microsoft Support page for PowerPoint

• How to use Google Slides: Help Center page for Google Slides

Course glossary

This course will cover a lot of terms and concepts, some of which you may already know and some of which will be new. To remind yourself about what a term means, or to help you review concepts for graded quizzes, refer to the Glossary for this course.

Course feedback

Providing feedback on videos, readings, and other materials is easy. With the resource open in your browser, look for the thumbs-up and thumbs-down symbols.

• Click thumbs-up for materials that are helpful.

• Click thumbs-down for materials that are not helpful.

If you want to flag a specific issue with an item, click the flag icon, select a category, and enter an explanation in the text box. This feedback goes back to the course development team and isn’t visible to other learners. All feedback received helps to create even better certificate programs in the future.

Meet and Greet

• Discussion Prompt Duration: 10 minutes

Earlier in this course, Michael shared how he grew in his role at Google with his passion for analytics and measurement.

Now it’s your turn to let your peers get to know you a little better.

Your post should be 5–10 sentences.

If you don’t know what to write, here are a few suggestions:

• What interests you about media planning?

• Are you coming into this course with any former knowledge or experience in media planning? If yes, please explain.

• What are you most looking forward to: planning, coordinating, or monitoring a digital campaign? Please explain your answer.

• What have you learned so far in this program that excites you the most?

Then, visit the discussion forums to check out what others shared about themselves and respond to at least two posts.

Answer

If I had an unlimited budget to create the ultimate e-commerce store, I would envision a high-end lifestyle marketplace catering to the discerning tastes of individuals who appreciate luxury and exclusivity. This store would curate a selection of premium products spanning from bespoke fashion and accessories to cutting-edge tech gadgets. The emphasis would be on offering unique, limited-edition items from renowned designers and emerging brands, ensuring that customers have access to truly distinctive and rare finds. The website would feature an elegant and user-friendly interface, incorporating augmented reality for a virtual try-on experience, and personalized recommendations based on individual preferences to enhance the overall shopping journey. This dream e-commerce store would not just be a platform for transactions but a digital destination synonymous with sophistication and style.

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2. Understanding e-commerce and why it matters

Welcome to week 1

• Video Duration: 43 seconds

Hello again. Let’s do a quick overview of what you’ll learn in the following lessons. First, you’ll learn how e-commerce works and what type of products or services you can sell online. You’ll also learn what the benefits are for selling online. Then you’ll learn about the basic terms used in e-commerce and the types of entry-level roles you might apply for. Next, you’ll learn how to do market research, including identifying your target audience and conducting product research. Finally, you’ll learn about product sourcing and the importance of branding in e-commerce. Sound like a plan? Let’s get started.

What is e-commerce?

• Video Duration: 2 minutes

Are you excited to start learning about e-commerce? In this video we’re going to learn what e-commerce means and what it allows you to do. Then we’ll go over a few examples of the types of products you can buy or sell with e-commerce. First let’s talk about what e-commerce means. The definition of e-commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet. It’s also commonly called e-comm. E-commerce allows you to list products or services on your website and receive payments online from your customers. With a traditional retail store, also called a brick-and-mortar store, you visit the store in person, shop for a product on the shelves, and observe the product more closely or try it on in the dressing room. You may also ask a store employee for help in finding or choosing a product. Then you carry the product to the register and pay for it before leaving the store with your purchase. With an e-commerce store, you visit online, perhaps after searching for a product on Google or clicking on an ad in social media. You shop by navigating the web pages, adding a product to your virtual shopping cart, and then paying for the product through a digital checkout system. When your order is ready, the product is shipped to your address or sent to a specific location for you to pick it up. The types of products sold online can vary widely, but they often fall into one of four categories. Physical goods, digital goods, services, or software. When you think of e-commerce, you might first think of something like a pair of shoes you buy online and receive in the mail. Those would be considered physical goods, something that you can touch and hold. Other examples of physical goods could be books, appliances, or phone cases. Another example you might think of is an e-book that you purchase online and download to your device. That would be considered a digital product. Other types of digital products could be digital photos, digital music files, or online courses, just like this one. You might also think of something like online tutoring lessons. That would be an example of a service. Other types of services could be health coaching, business consulting, or professional services such as graphic design. Finally, you might think of Adobe Photoshop,which is a software program you can buy online and download to your computer. That would be considered a software product. Most of us have experienced what it’s like to be a customer. Now we’re exploring what it’s like to be the one doing the selling. You can use your own experience as a customer to help you create a better experience for the customers that visit your store no matter what type of products you’re selling. That’s all for now. Meet you in the next video.

The benefits of selling online

• Video Duration: 5 minutes

Earlier you learned what e-commerce is, how it works, and what types of products you can sell online. Now we’re going to cover why a business might choose to sell online. How customers shop has changed dramatically in the last few years. The majority of customers research products online before making a purchase, often from their smartphone. They use the internet to help them discover what types of products are available, choose the right product for their needs, and make their final purchase. During this process, they may interact with a brand in multiple channels at different points during the buying process. For example, through social media, a mobile app, website, online chat, or visiting a brick-and-mortar store, just to name a few. The customer journey is more like a winding road than a straight path from A to B and this journey increasingly involves searching for products on the internet. That’s why it’s important for almost any business today to sell their products online. Now, let’s go deeper into the benefits of selling online and how a business might choose to do that. A brick-and-mortar store has a specific location where customers can come to shop. It’s typically open during certain hours and is limited by the number of customers who can get to the store’s location. An e-commerce store, however, allows customers to shop online from anywhere at anytime. You can reach more customers with e-commerce because it doesn’t require the customer to live near your store or travel to get there. All they need is a device that’s connected to the internet in order to shop there. That’s one of the biggest benefits of selling online. E-commerce includes two types of businesses. One type of business sells their products online only. The other type of business sells online, as well as in a brick-and-mortar store. This is also called a click-and-mortar. An online only e-commerce store can save on startup and overhead costs since you don’t need the retail space or in-store staff. You can start selling new products more quickly because you don’t need to stock shelves in stores. Plus you can more easily adapt to customers needs by making improvements to the customer experience based on data insights. Another advantage of e-commerce is that you can reach customers looking for specific products that may not be available in local stores. For example, a specific textbook for a class or a swimsuit in the middle of winter. Selling products online allows a business to grow even when it would be difficult to attract enough customers locally. One of the challenges to e-commerce is that since customers aren’t able to observe or try out products in store, there may be a higher rate of return. There’s also the cost of shipping to consider. If the business offers free shipping, a perk that many customers have come to expect, the extra costs will shrink the company’s profits. E-commerce stores also can’t offer in- person customer service like brick-and-mortar stores can. Now, let’s consider the reasons why a brick-and-mortar store might expand to include online sales, which means it would become a click-and-mortar store. For example, think about a business that already has brick- and-mortar stores, such as a shop that sells office supplies. Why would they want to make their products available for sale online? One reason is because the majority of customers shop online first, even if they end up buying in store. According to Google, shoppers go online first in over 60 percent of shopping occasions. Customers want to make sure a business has what they need in stock before they make the trip to the store. Some customers might browse in-store to try out a product in person, but then end up buying the product online. They may buy online because they need more time to decide which product is right for them. They may be searching for a better price online than they can find in stores or they may want to find out if more options are available online, such as additional sizes or colors. Which brings us to another benefit of selling online. With e-commerce, you can sell a much wider variety of products, more than what would fit on the shelves in a store. Online shopping can also drive in-store traffic if customers are able to buy online and then pick up their order in-store. Customers may end up buying additional items while they’re in the store. Plus, it allows customers to receive their order the same day without waiting for it to ship to their address. It also saves on shipping costs. If you think about your own experience buying products, I’m sure you can come up with a list of reasons why you might choose to buy online or in-store. For example, did you need the product the same day? Was the product available at a store near you? Did you want the convenience of shopping from home? Did you want to interact with the product or get help in-person? All of these are reasons to keep in mind when it comes to serving your customers. Both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce stores are valuable. But increasingly, customers expect to be able to browse inventory and buy products online, even if you have a brick-and-mortar store. That’s why having an e-commerce presence is important for almost any business. Now that we’ve covered the benefits of selling online, you’re ready to learn about the basics of e-commerce.

Henry - My career path into e-commerce

• Video Duration: 3 minutes

I’m Henry, and I’m a Digital Strategy Lead on our Accelerated Growth Team at Google. I got into digital marketing relatively by accident. I did television sales, and there was a sprinkle of digital marketing there involved through digital video and video-on-demand products, and that’s when I became familiar with the industry and started to learn more about different things in the digital advertising space. When I was learning about digital marketing and when I was teaching myself about different aspects of digital marketing, I ended up moving on from the position that I was doing to start my own business. I ran a business called Sunny Pickup that was essentially an on-demand laundry service. It’s not a typical e-commerce business because we didn’t sell a product, but we were a technology-enabled service that allowed people to get their laundry picked up, washed, dried, folded, and returned within 24 hours. It was definitely a convenient, service-based type business that allowed people to use technology in a way to make their lives easier. And when I was starting my own business, there was definitely a lot of digital marketing things that I needed to do as the business owner. And of course, when you’re the business owner, you basically oversee everything that’s going on in your operation. Part of it was taught to me through some leaders and some mentors that I developed in the industry, but I definitely used a lot of online content to teach myself some of the basics in terms of Google ads, Google analytics, what are the basic level, fundamental building blocks of digital marketing and how they impact businesses and what they need to do in order to maximize those opportunities. There are a lot of benefits to selling online. I would say one of the chief ones is definitely margins. When you run a website, it’s definitely a lot less expensive than running an in-person store. So when you run a business and when you’re trying to make money, one area that you can always look to is reduced costs, and selling online is definitely an avenue for that. Selling online is also very important when it comes to the amount of people you can potentially sell to. When you went to an in-person store, essentially, you’re limited by the geographic area in which your store operates. Most people won’t go three to five miles to transact with the business or buy something. But when you’re selling online, then essentially the world is your oyster. Anybody can go onto a website from anywhere in the world and potentially purchase your item. Information that you can get about your customers through online channels is a lot more impactful than the insights you can gather from your in-person sales. One of the things that you can see online is how people are reacting with the different products that you sell. Are people looking at this product for a long time? Are they looking at it for a short time? Are they not interested? Where are they clicking? Where are they dropping off? Why are they no longer interested? These are things that you can use to develop your product strategy and your advertising strategy as well. Then finally, there are bigger picture headwinds for selling online. Most sales still in the United States and in the world occur in person, but you can see that there are strong trends year over year to drive in more online sales, especially pandemic-related and all the things going on in the macro-level environment, definitely want to be where the consumer behavior is going. You don’t want to fight against consumer behavior in any way. The pandemic has played a really instrumental role in changing the way consumers want to interact with their favorite brands or companies. Before, people would take a lot more joy to go into the store, to testing new products, to try new clothes on, or whatever it may be. But now more and more people just want to try things on at home. They know that they can return things if it’s an issue and more and more just want to deal with the comfort of the at-home environment instead of the hustle and bustle in going out and being in crowded spaces. I think the future of e-commerce is definitely going to be very competitive, but I think it’s going to provide a lot of opportunities for a lot of different individuals and a lot of different fields. There are a whole lot of individuals outside of tech companies, through agencies, through sole proprietors, through business owners that are effectively beating themselves and developing a career and growing themselves through e-commerce, and that’s only going to continue to grow over time.

Test your knowledge: Why e-commerce?

• Practice Quiz. 4 questions. Grade: 100%

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3. Terms, tools and strategies in e-commerce

Get to know the basics of e-commerce

• Video Duration: 4 minutes

Now that you have a better understanding of why e-commerce is important, it’s time to move on to the basics of e-commerce. In this video, you’ll learn about the common terms, tools, and platforms used in e-commerce. You’ll also get an overview of the entry-level roles available in e-commerce. Let’s get started by covering some of the basic terminology used in e-commerce. You’ll need to understand a few terms that relate to how customers navigate through an e-commerce website. First, an e-commerce store receives visits to their website. Added together, those visits make up a site’s traffic. Traffic is the number of visits that a website receives.

The first page a visitor encounters when they go to a website is called the landing page. The landing page could be a homepage, a product page, or any other page on your website.

When a customer visits a website, you want them to take a certain action, such as buying a product or signing up for an email list. A call to action is the instruction provided to the customer that tells them what to do next. For example, a call to action could be the Add to Cart button on a product page. Or, it could be a link that says “Sign up for email” on the website’s homepage. Next, the customer adds a product to their digital shopping cart. This is the virtual equivalent of a physical shopping cart. It keeps track of all of the items the customer plans to purchase. When the customer is finished shopping, they can begin the online checkout process. The customer is able to complete their purchase by entering payment information during checkout. This is done through the payment service provider, which is a secure way to process transactions online. The payment service provider allows an e-commerce store to accept and process multiple types of payments, such as credit cards, debit cards, or third-party payment services. When a customer makes a purchase, this action gets tracked as a conversion, which is the completion of an activity that contributes to the success of a business. You may remember learning about conversions in previous lessons. Conversion happens when a customer completes the action you wanted them to take. This could be signing up for an email list, filling out a contact form, or spending a certain amount of time on the site.

However, in e-commerce, conversion most often refers to the process of turning a visitor into a paying customer.

This happens when a customer makes a purchase on your site by completing the checkout process. Now that you understand more about the basic terms used in e-commerce, let’s take time to explore the different tools and platforms you might come across. An e-commerce store is built on an e-commerce platform, which is a software application that allows you to sell products or services online.

A popular platform many e-commerce stores use is Shopify. With a platform like Shopify, you can manage your website, conduct marketing campaigns, manage shipping and fulfillment, set up payment services, review analytics and more, all in one place. Besides an e-commerce platform, you may also use business tools such as Salesforce, which helps businesses manage and monitor different aspects of their company, including sales, marketing, analytics, and customer service. You may also use tools specific to the needs of your role within a project, such as advertising, social media or email marketing. Some of those tools you learned about in earlier lessons. Understanding how to use basic office software is also important. The tools you need to be familiar with may be different depending on the type of position you find yourself in. Let’s review some of the most common entry-level positions in e-commerce now, so that you have an idea of what might interest you. Some of the entry-level positions you might apply for include e-commerce analyst, e-commerce specialist, e-commerce associate, or digital marketing specialist. These types of roles may involve adding or updating products on an e-commerce website, helping with online campaigns, measuring the success of the company’s goals through analytics, managing email campaigns, monitoring the company’s social media accounts, running paid ads, and more. The knowledge and skills you’re gaining in this program will help prepare you for one of these entry-level positions. You’re already well on your way to understanding the basics of e-commerce

Learn more about the basics of e-commerce

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

Now that you know the basics of e-commerce, you are ready to learn more about this fast-growing field. This reading will help you become familiar with the terms, platforms, tools, and roles available in e-commerce.

Why e-commerce matters

Global e-commerce sales surged in 2020. E-commerce is taking more and more of brick-and-mortar’s share of retail sales, growing up to almost five times faster in 2020 than it did before, due to changes in the global market.

The more e-commerce grows, the more businesses will miss out on attracting new customers and growing their business if they don’t sell their products or services online. E-commerce is beneficial for any size business, whether it’s a startup, a small business, or a major retailer.

Here are some benefits of e-commerce:

• Allows businesses to sell products to customers worldwide, since mostly anyone can visit the store online

• Reduces overhead expenses and lowers startup costs, since it doesn’t require a storefront

• Makes it easy to sell a broad range of products, since it doesn’t require physical display space

• Allows customers to research products available in store before visiting a brick-and-mortar location

• Stays open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so customers can shop whenever they want

• Allows businesses to personalize the customer’s experience based on data or saved preferences so that they can provide better service and increase customer engagement online

• Provides data on customer behavior so that businesses can improve their e-commerce store

Basic e-commerce terms

Here are some basic terms that are helpful to know for getting started in e-commerce:

• E-commerce (or e-comm): The buying and selling of goods or services using the internet

• E-commerce store: A store that sells its products online

• E-commerce platform: A software application that allows you to sell products or services online

• Responsive website: A website that is designed to work on all types of devices, including computers, mobile phones, and tablets

• Domain: The core part of a website’s URL, or internet address, such as google.com.

• Landing page: The first page a visitor encounters when they go to a website

• Call-to-action: The instruction provided to the customer that tells them what to do next

• Conversion: The completion of an activity that contributes to the success of a business

• Digital shopping cart: The virtual equivalent of a physical shopping cart

• Payment service provider: A secure way to process transactions online

E-commerce tools

There are many different tools used in e-commerce, including platforms, which are a specific type of e-commerce tool. The tools you use will depend on the company you work for and the specific responsibilities of your job. It may be helpful to explore some of these tools on your own. This will help you become familiar with how they work, and it can make it easier to learn other new tools on the job.

The tools mentioned in this reading are some of the more popular options; however, there are many other good options available besides the few mentioned in this reading. Plus, new platforms and tools launch on a regular basis as the field of e-commerce continues to change and grow rapidly. The list of most popular platforms and tools is constantly evolving.

Although it’s not required, visiting the websites for the following e-commerce tools and platforms is a good opportunity to familiarize yourself with some of the different tools you might use on the job.

E-commerce platforms

As you learned in a video, an e-commerce store is typically built on an e-commerce platform, which is a software application that allows you to sell products or services online. Using a platform makes it easier to get started selling online, because you don’t need to have any software development skills. E-commerce platforms often include built-in tools for marketing, analytics, inventory management, fulfillment, and other aspects of your business.

Here is a list of some of the most popular e-commerce platforms:

• Shopify

• Wix

• BigCommerce

• Squarespace

• WooCommerce

• Magento Open Source

Shopify, Wix, BigCommerce, and Squarespace are Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, which feature web-based software available on a subscription basis. With a SaaS platform, you don’t need to know HTML or have any web development skills. You can simply choose from the options available in the platform.

WooCommerce and Magento Open Source are two examples of open-source platforms, which feature software that allows the user to access and edit the original source code. This means you can customize the website in almost any way you want. Just keep in mind that making these types of changes in an open-source platform often requires web development skills—or the ability to hire someone to make these changes for you.

Other e-commerce tools

Besides working in an e-commerce platform, you will likely use other tools to do your job as well. These tools might be helpful for communicating and sharing information with your team, managing projects or marketing campaigns, reviewing analytics, tracking customer service issues, and more.

Here are a few types of e-commerce tools you might use, along with a few examples of each type:

Customer relationship management (CRM): These tools help businesses manage and monitor multiple aspects of their company, including sales, marketing, analytics, and customer service. Here are a few examples:

• Salesforce

• Oracle

• HubSpot

Team collaboration: These tools help teams stay organized and make it easier for them to communicate with each other. Features that might be included in these tools are email, video calls, cloud storage, messaging, file sharing, and more. Here are a few examples:

• Google Workspace

• Microsoft Teams

• Slack

Digital advertising and PPC: These tools help teams manage their online advertising campaigns:

• Search Ads 360

• AdRoll

Digital marketing: These tools make it easier to manage marketing campaigns for email, social media, or other channels:

• HubSpot

• Hootsuite

• Sprout Social

Search engine optimization (SEO): These tools assist with monitoring and improving a website’s performance in search results:

• Google Search Central

• Semrush

Analytics: These tools help businesses analyze their website traffic, sales, and other data.

• Google Analytics

• Adobe Analytics

• Tableau

Entry-level e-commerce roles

As e-commerce continues to grow, so do the number of jobs available in this high-growth field. By completing this career certificate program, you will be better prepared to start applying for an entry-level role in e-commerce.

Here are some examples of entry-level e-commerce roles:

• E-commerce analyst

• E-commerce specialist

• E-commerce associate

• E-commerce coordinator

• E-commerce product manager

Here are some examples of entry-level digital marketing roles that you might find at an e-commerce company:

• Digital marketing specialist

• Digital marketing coordinator

• Search engine optimization specialist

• Search engine marketing specialist

• Social media manager

• Email marketing specialist

There are many different job titles and responsibilities in e-commerce. When you’re looking for job openings online, it’s a good idea to search for a number of different job titles to find the position you want. Although your job responsibilities may differ even within the same job title, you can read the job description to learn more about what the role will involve. You can also ask questions about the role when you get to the interview stage of the application process.

You can begin searching for these roles on LinkedIn, Indeed, or other job sites to get an idea of the responsibilities and requirements for each type of role. This can help you decide which type of role might interest you the most.

Other entry-level roles in e-commerce

There are many other roles available in e-commerce that may require training or experience outside of the information you’ll receive in this course.

Here are a few examples of other entry-level e-commerce roles:

• Web developer

• IT support

• Logistics coordinator

• Digital operations coordinator

• Project manager

• Digital copywriter

• Digital graphic designer

• Financial analyst

• Data analyst

• Customer support specialist

Key takeaways

To get started working in e-commerce, it’s helpful to know the basic terms, tools, and platforms commonly used in the industry to be able to communicate with potential employers, teammates, and stakeholders. It’s also helpful to get an overview of the entry-level roles available in e-commerce, so that you can start to think about what type of roles might interest you the most.

Identify: Basic e-commerce terms

• Ungraded Plugin Duration: 10 minutes

Jaylin - The role of an entry-level e-commerce specialist at a big company and a small business

• Video Duration: 3 minutes

Hi, my name is Jay. I work for Google as a Google Ads Account Strategist for agencies specifically, meaning I partner with agencies and help them and their top clients use Google Ads in a way that will help benefit and grow their clients’ accounts. A lot of the digital marketing experience that I had came from just myself helping some of my friends with their smaller and upcoming businesses on Instagram or other social media networks like that. So when I was working on digital marketing with some of my friends prior to joining Google, the thing that really got me excited and wanted to pursue a little bit more was the creative freedom that it allowed me. I love to try and think of new things and try and get people excited about things I’m also excited about, so a lot of those were passion projects. When it comes to being an entry-level strategist, common tasks that you could find yourself doing: one would be talking on the phone or talking via video conferencing. Conversations with my e-commerce clients can vary depending on the stages that we find ourselves in. But usually, we’re looking to gain a better understanding of where they’re at in terms of their pacing on budget, where they’re at in terms of pacing against their expectations, and then where we’re at in terms of pacing against our actual goals. These actual goals can be the marketing objective, like “We want to sell x number more of whatever product,” or it can be tied to a specific business objective, which is “We want to sell x more of this nuanced product in red” as opposed to the black, purple, and green that they may also offer.” And then from there, optimizing around those goals and expectations within the accounts. A lot of these different things for different clients are going to come with these sometimes specific due dates, So it’s also going to be important to really understand the value of your time and where to place it to make sure that things get done appropriately and in accordance to that timeframe. One of the benefits for working for a larger company is the breadth and reach of the types of things that we have available. Google or any large company has so many different things that it touches on, and it’s easy to think of yourself as a siloed employee in that one thing, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be the case. There’s a lot out there, and you should be able to use the tools that you’ve picked up throughout your time at wherever you’re spending it, to then continue to grow and maybe spread your wings to something new. If you’re working at a small business as an e-commerce strategist, you’re going to have the ability to get into the nuance of the types of things that really drive e-commerce strategy. This can be cost per clicks or engagement rates, or how many people have visited your site. When it’s on a small business, those are the types of things you have a lot more time to engage with to really influence change because you have one, only one, business to worry about and two, a much deeper understanding of that business because you’re directly a part of it. Whether it’s a small company or a large company, you really dictate your career path. They say the best time to start was yesterday and the second best time to start is now, so you might as well just start getting it going, right? And hopefully this certificate will bridge that gap between where you’re at and where you want to go, seeing how you already have a lot of the tools already in your toolkit.

Essential e-commerce strategies

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

A Morning Brew-Harris Poll found that 50% of people between the ages of 26 and 41— sometimes referred to as millennials—do most of their shopping online. Online sales will continue to grow at a fast pace for all age groups. This reading introduces you to essential elements of an e-commerce strategy to gain online customers in a highly competitive market.

E-commerce strategy

An e-commerce strategy is a working plan to promote an online store and increase its sales. It’s critical that every online business builds and executes an e-commerce strategy. Here is an overview of the methods of discovery that an e-commerce strategy can use. All methods help customers find a business or brand online.

Business profile

You previously learned that a Google Business Profile allows any business to customize how their business information appears on Google Search and Google Maps. Note that Maps can apply to online businesses that also have local stores in select areas. A Business Profile indicates the availability of a business. It enables a business of any size to broadcast at large “I exist and am open for your business!”

Organic social media

According to one survey by Sprout Social, 40% of online customers find new brands from their personal network, while 32% of online customers do so from word of mouth. These are all examples of organic social media. Furthermore, with the popularity of YouTube and the rise of TikTok, a lot of organic social media is going to be from video.

Paid search, display, social media, and shopping ads

Paid search, display, social media, and shopping ads are typically included in an e-commerce strategy because a combination of organic and paid content yields the best results. The benefits of paid ads are that you have direct control over branding, ad copy, landing pages, bidding strategies, and performance. Paid ads drive a significant percentage of revenue for e-commerce businesses. Although some social media users block branded content from their social media feeds, paid social media ads are still a useful part of an e-commerce strategy. From a content perspective, shoppable ads on Facebook and Instagram can be quite effective. Some users engage with them without recognizing that they’ve clicked on paid ads.

Influencer marketing

A small but growing number of online customers find new brands from the influencers they follow. An estimate puts this number at around 35% of online customers. Influencers can help brands or products reach the right customers with a message that’s tailored to the audience’s interests. A paid influencer campaign can be part of an e-commerce strategy, but be aware of certain practices that limit the impact of an influencer:

• Some stealth marketing campaigns post content that appears to be word of mouth without disclosing that the content is part of a sponsored advertising campaign. This makes users a little wary of influencers.

• Some customers will buy products an influencer recommends only when an influencer shows evidence of personal use. For example, influencers show photos of empty packaging to demonstrate that they have actually used a product that they recommend.

• Some influencers can have fake followers that are powered by bots (a bot interacts with systems but isn’t a human user). A high number of followers doesn’t always mean that there is a lot of user engagement happening!

In-store ads

Finally, if a business is hybrid, serving both in-store and online customers, in-store ads that inform customers about the benefits, convenience, and cost-savings of online ordering can be quite effective. A lot of online sales can be generated from existing in-store customers. As incentives, some businesses choose to offer special inventory (hard-to-find sizes or colors) and more deeply discounted clearance inventory to online customers only.

E-commerce innovation

An e-commerce strategy also needs to be innovative to improve business value. Some of these changes could include:

• Improved communication and customer tracking of shipments

• More local fulfillment, sometimes called micro-fulfillment

• Use of fulfillment networks and services

• Use of dropshipping by wholesalers to reduce retailers’ inventory

• Curbside returns (the reverse of curbside pickup)

• Diversification of payment methods

Key takeaways

An e-commerce strategy is critical to launch, grow, and maintain an online business. As more people shop online, the quality of goods, price, speed of delivery, and return policies will impact their buying decisions. An e-commerce strategy that incorporates as many discovery methods and innovations as possible will be successful.

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4. Getting started in e-commerce

Market research

• Video Duration: 4 minutes

You’ve learned a lot about the basic terms, tools, and strategies used in e-commerce. Now it’s time to explore one of the first steps to build a successful e-commerce business: market research. What is market research? Market research is the process of gathering information about consumers’ needs and preferences. Why is this process important? Because the information gathered helps determine the e-commerce store’s potential for growth and success within a specific business and industry. I actually started my career in market research. Research helps you understand more about your target audience, such as who they are, where they shop, what else are they considering. Market research helps you to know how to reach your desired audience with the right message at the right time. If your job in e-commerce is at a smaller company, you may be directly involved in doing market research. If your job is at a larger company, there may be a specific team that handles the research. Whether or not you’re directly involved in doing the market research, the results can help you better understand your customers and how to engage them. There are two types of market research. The first is primary research, or research that’s done by you. Primary research could include conducting surveys, or interviews, direct observation, or focus groups. The results of this research are valuable because you can gather information so that it’s very specific to a business. However, it takes a larger budget and more time. The second type of research is secondary research, or research done by others. It involves gathering information from published sources, such as consumer insights, surveys, interviews, or other resources to conduct secondary research. Secondary research is the more budget-friendly option since the research information is already available online or other published sources. It also requires less time since you don’t have to do the initial research yourself. The downside is that the information you find might not be as specific to a particular business as you’d like, or the market may have changed since the study was completed. Let’s use an analogy to describe how these two types of research are different. If you send out a survey asking people what type of fruit they love the most, that would be gathering primary research. You’re able to ask personally for the information that you want to know. If you search online for the most popular types of fruit, and find a pie chart describing the outcome of a study that’s already been completed, that would be secondary research. Someone else gathered the data and published the results, which you can use in your research. Now that you understand primary and secondary research, let’s move on to the types of information you need to gather when you’re doing market research. There are three main areas you want to focus on: the market size, target audience, and competition. First, let’s cover market size, which is the total number of potential customers within a specific industry. In determining market size, here are the questions you’re looking to answer: Is there a large enough demand for the type of product you’re selling? If so, how much competition exists in the market already? Is there room for growth? Second, you need to consider your target audience, the group of people most likely to purchase a company’s products. Does your target audience want to buy this type of product? Is the product in their price range or budget? Finally, you’ll need to understand the competition, or the other sellers that exist already in the market. Who are your most important competitors? How can you differentiate your business from the competition and provide a better product or experience? All of these questions help you form a better understanding of your industry and your customers. Your research findings will help you make better decisions in all areas of your business, including the types of products that you sell, the prices that you set, and how you market to customers. You’ll learn more about why market research is important and how to do it later. You’ll also learn how to identify your target audience. Meet you in the next video.

Get started with market research

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

As you’ve already learned, one of the first steps to build a successful e-commerce business is market research. This reading will cover more information about how to get started with market research.

Introduction to market research

Market research is the process of gathering information about consumers’ needs and preferences. It’s an important process because it helps you determine the potential for growth and success within a specific business or industry. It can also help you tailor your marketing, advertising, and business policies to meet the needs and desires of your target audience. Your target audience is the group of people most likely to purchase your company’s products.

Types of market research

There are two ways you can go about gathering research information. The first is primary research, which is research that’s done by you (or someone you hire to do it for you). It might include conducting surveys or interviews, directly observing someone interacting with a product, or conducting a focus group.

The second type of market research is secondary research, which is research that uses information someone else has put together. It requires gathering information from published sources, such as consumer insight reports, published surveys or interviews, or other resources.

Because secondary research requires less time and money, it’s often the best place to start. You don’t have to find consumers to participate in your research or reimburse them. Although you may have to pay for access to information from these published sources, the cost is typically much less than you would pay to conduct primary research.

By starting with secondary research, you’ll get a general overview of the industry and a better understanding of consumers’ needs and preferences. Then you’ll have a better idea of where to focus your efforts when you conduct primary research to gather information that wasn’t available in the secondary research.

Primary research takes more time, money, and effort, but it can provide information that’s very specific to a particular business. It also provides the most up-to-date information, since the market may have changed since the secondary research was conducted.

Market research questions

Before you start conducting research, it’s helpful to figure out what type of information you need. This will depend on the company’s goals for market research, such as launching a new brand, entering a new market, rebranding an old product, or a different goal. The goals for market research could be to learn more about the size of the market, your target audience, or the competition—or perhaps all three.

If your company has done market research before, you may have access to some of this information already. In that case, you may not need to research all of these areas. Or, your responsibility may be to find out if the market has changed since the last time your company did market research. In that case, you may need to start your research from the beginning, finding out all you can about the size of the market, your target audience, and your competition.

Here are some questions that can help guide your market research:

1. Is there a large enough demand for the product or service you’re trying to sell?

2. Is there room for growth in the market?

3. Does your target audience want to buy this type of product or service?

4. Is the product or service within their price range or budget?

5. How much competition exists?

6. Who are your most important competitors?

7. How can you differentiate your business from the competition?

Sources for secondary research

Secondary research is often the best way to start researching the market because it helps you form a basic understanding of your specific industry. It’s also the most budget-friendly option. Plus, it’s a faster way to gather information than conducting primary research.

Here are some examples of sources for conducting secondary research:

• Government data, statistics, and resources

• Small business association resources

• Research agencies

• Industry publications

• Trade journals

• Research published by competitors

• Internet research for competitor information

• Transcripts of competitors’ earnings calls

• Google Trends

Pro tip: Check the publication date first to make sure the data is recent enough to be relevant.

Sources for primary research

Primary research involves gathering your own information by asking questions or observing someone interacting with a product. It takes more time than secondary research, but it can also offer insights that are more specific to your business.

Here are some examples of sources for conducting primary research:

• Interviews

• Surveys

• Analytics data

• Focus groups

• Direct observation of consumers interacting with a product

• Visit to a competitor’s brick-and-mortar store (if possible) or online store

How often to do market research

Market research isn’t something you do once and then never revisit. The market can change over time. For example, social or cultural behaviors might evolve, consumers’ needs and desires might change, or new competitors might enter the market. The market could also change very abruptly if there’s a major event that disrupts the market.

That’s why it’s important to revisit market research regularly. How often you conduct market research depends on your business’s needs. Some businesses conduct market research annually or every few years. Other businesses conduct market research only when there’s a specific need, such as the decision to start a new business, launch a new product, expand an existing category of products, or identify the reasons behind a long-term slowdown in business.

Benefits of market research

With the information that you gather through primary and secondary search, you’ll be able to make decisions that increase the business’s chance for success. There are multiple ways that market research can benefit your business.

Here are a few ways you can benefit from market research:

• Optimizing your marketing and advertising campaigns

• Boosting your return on investment (ROI)

• Focusing your time and budget on efforts that are likely to produce meaningful results

• Reaching more customers

• Increasing sales

• Improving customer relationships

Key takeaways

Market research is a valuable process that helps businesses understand consumers’ needs and preferences related to their specific industry. You can conduct market research using primary research or secondary research methods to gather the information you need to make business and marketing decisions

Activity: Perform a competitive analysis

• Practice Quiz. 1 question. Grade: 100%

  • Access Quiz:

• On Step 1: Access the template Competitive analysis. To use the template for this course item, click the link below and select “Use Template.”

Activity Exemplar: Perform a competitive analysis

• Reading Duration: 10 minutes

Here is a completed exemplar along with an explanation of how the exemplar fulfills the expectations for the activity.

Completed Exemplar

To review the exemplar for this course item, click the link below and select “Use Template.”

• Link to exemplar: Competitive analysis

Assessment of Exemplar

Compare the exemplar to your completed competitor analysis. Review your work using each of the criteria in the exemplar. What did you do well? Where can you improve? Use your answers to these questions to guide you as you continue to progress through the course.

The exemplar includes the following:

A list of three competitors

The exemplar lists three competitors that sell eco-friendly bath towels and other related products:

• Sustainable Home, Inc.

• Organic Cotton Home and Bath

• Bath & Bamboo Shop

General information about each competitor

The exemplar includes general information about each competitor in the following columns:

• Website: The exemplar includes the website (URL) for each competitor’s website. For example, the website for Bath & Bamboo Shop is www.bathbambooshop.com

• Types of products sold: The exemplar lists the types of products that each competitor sells, which were listed in the website’s navigation menu. For example, the navigation menu for Bath & Bamboo Shop reveals that they sell sheets, towels, and baby clothing made from bamboo and organic cotton.

• Background story: The exemplar includes a summary of the company’s background story, as described in the “About Us” or “Our Story” page for each competitor’s website. For example, the story behind Bath & Bamboo Shop is that their mission is to use materials that are healthier for the earth and partner with fair trade factories.

Information about each competitor’s content strategy

The exemplar includes information about thetypes of website content and social media platforms for each competitor in the following columns:

• Website content: The exemplar lists the type of web content each competitor features on their website. For example, Bath & Bamboo Shop features articles, an FAQ page, and a catalog on their website.

• Social media platforms: The exemplar lists the social media platforms that the company uses to engage with their customers. For example, Bath & Bamboo Shop uses Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to share content and connect with customers.

Information about each competitor’s marketing strategy

The exemplar includes information about the marketing strategyfor each competitor in the following columns:

• Current sales promotion: The exemplar lists the current sales promotion on the competitor’s website. For example, Bath & Bamboo is currently featuring an offer for 20% off your first order.

• Email signup incentive: The exemplar includes information about any incentives or special offers available to customers who sign up for the company’s emails. For example, Bath & Bamboo provides exclusive deals, information about new designs, and sustainability articles to their email subscribers.

• Rewards program: The exemplar describes the competitor’s rewards program, if available. For example, Bath & Bamboo offers a rewards program that allows customers to earn loyalty points. Not all competitors offered a rewards program.

Information about each competitor’s customer service, shipping, and return policies

The exemplar includes information about the customer service, shipping, and return policyfor each competitor in the following columns:

• Customer service: The exemplar lists the different ways customers can contact customer service. For example, Bath & Bamboo Shop allows customers to contact them by phone, email, a contact form, live chat, or on social media.

• Shipping: The exemplar includes information about the shipping options available and whether or not there are costs associated with each option. All three competitors offer a free shipping option, as well as faster shipping for an additional fee. Two of the competitors offer international shipping for an additional fee. For example, Bath & Bamboo offers free ground shipping on all US orders of $50 or more. They also offer expedited and international shipping for an additional fee.

• Return policy: Each competitor allows customers to return their product for a refund of the purchase price. Two competitors, including Bath & Bamboo Shop, offer returns within 60 days, and one competitor offers returns within 30 days. One competitor also mentions an additional fee for washed or used products.

Product information for three bath towels (one for each competitor)

The exemplar includes information about one bath towel product for each competitor. The information is listed in the following columns:

• Bath towel product title: This cell lists the product title, which is often located at the beginning of the product page. For example, the product title for the bath towel chosen on the Bath & Bamboo Shop website is “Deluxe Bamboo Bath Towel.”

• Bath towel product page URL: This cell lists the URL for the product page on the competitor’s website. For example, the URL for the Bath & Bamboo Shop bath towel iswww.bathbambooshop.com/bath-towels/deluxe-bamboo-bath-towel.

• Organic or eco-friendly materials: This cell describesthe type of materials used to make the product. For example, the Bath & Bamboo Shop bath towel is made of 40% bamboo and 60% cotton.

• Types of product images: This cell describes the types of images featured on the product page. For example, Bath & Bamboo Shop includes images that feature multiple colors, a close-up of the texture, and towels folded on a bathroom countertop.

• Types of product videos: This cell describes the types of videos featured on the product page. For example, Bath & Bamboo Shop includes a product video that describes how the materials are sourced.

• Customer reviews: This cell lists the options available for customers to leave a review on the product page. For example, Bath & Bamboo Shop allows customers to rate a product, leave a written review, and upload their own images or videos.

• Regular price: This cell lists the regular price for the product on the competitor’s website. For example, the price of the Bath & Bamboo Shop bath towel is $20.

Identify your target audience

• Video Duration: 2 minutes

Now that you understand the concept of market research, let’s focus on one of the key components: identifying your target audience. As you learned in earlier lessons, your target audience is the group of people most likely to buy your company’s products. Knowing exactly who your target audience is can help you make decisions based on their needs. Your branding, marketing campaigns and pricing strategy can all benefit from knowing who you’re trying to reach. Identifying your target audience helps you focus specifically on the people likely to buy your product. That way you have an effective strategy for spending your marketing budget or building a brand that your customers can identify with. The more specific you can be, the better. For example, let’s say, a retailer that sells affordable custom suits defines their target audience as men between the ages of 30 and 45. This narrows their customer base somewhat, but it’s still pretty broad. What if the retailer did more research and discovered that their customers were men between the ages of 30 and 45, with incomes of $100,000 or more, who have advanced degree. Their focus starts to become more clear. Then the retailer narrows it down further by discovering that a large majority of their customers are men who travel frequently for their job. The retailer then continues to research and ask questions, such as: Where do these men shop? Do they make their own decisions about which clothes to buy or does someone else help influence the decision? Do they need to pack multiple suits when they travel? In asking questions about their target audience, the retailer needs to be aware of their biases and keep in mind that other groups of customers will shop with them as well. Many people wear suits other than the men that they have identified as their target audience. That’s why it’s important to use data to better understand who your customers are. All of these factors are useful for understanding your customers in depth. When doing market research, you want to study the demographics of your customer as well as the things that are important to them. Some important demographics to consider include age, location, income level, education level, and occupation. Other factors to consider include personality, interests, hobbies, values, lifestyle, and behavior. The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be to build your business and marketing strategies around their needs. That’s all for now, meet you again later.

Learn more about identifying your target audience

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

Knowing your customers is important for any business model—including e-commerce. One way to get to know your customers better is to research your target audience, or the group of people most likely to purchase your company’s products. You already learned about market research and identifying your target audience. Now it’s time to consider the specific steps you can take to identify your target audience.

Use insights from market research

The information you gather through market research can help you understand what types of customers are most likely to be interested in buying your products or services.

To identify your target audience, you’ll need information about your customers’ demographics, and their personal characteristics. If you don’t have enough information on your potential customers, you may need to do additional market research.

There are a lot of other questions you could ask about your customers besides the ones mentioned in this reading. You’ll need to choose the questions that are most relevant to your company’s goals and the products or services you sell.

You can gather this type of information using surveys, interviews, analytics, and other methods.

Demographics

These are some examples of demographic information you might gather to learn more about your potential customers:

• Age

• Location

• Gender identity

• Family

• Education level

• Income level

• Occupation

Personal characteristics

It’s also helpful to ask questions that provide insight into the customer’s personal characteristics, and their goals and barriers.

Here are some examples of questions you might ask about the customer’s behavior:

• What stores do they like to shop at?

• What motivates them to make a purchase?

• Who influences their buying decisions?

• Where do they go for advice or information?

• Which social media sites do they use?

• What type of media do they consume regularly?

Here are some examples of questions you might ask about the customer’s interests, hobbies, lifestyle, and values, or what’s important to them:

• How do they spend their free time?

• What are their hobbies?

• What causes do they support?

• What is important to them?

Here are some examples of questions you might ask about the customer’s goals and barriers:

• What goals do they want to achieve?

• What are the barriers to achieving these goals?

• How would your product or service make it easier for them to reach their goals?

Analyze existing customers

Another step in identifying your target audience is to analyze the data you have for existing customers. For example, Google Analytics includes demographic information for visitors on your site, including their location, gender, interests, age, and language. You may also be able to access customer data within the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, which is software that helps a business manage and monitor its interactions with existing and potential customers. CRM systems, such as Salesforce, collect data about a company’s customers.

Customer reviews and comments can also give you a better idea of who your target audience is. For example, you could review comments posted on the company’s social media accounts, read online chat transcripts from the customer service team, or browse product reviews written by customers.

To gather more information from your existing and potential customers, you could create a survey and post it on your website or social media accounts, or send it to your email subscribers. Offering an incentive to complete the survey might increase the response rate.

Identify patterns

Once you have enough data about your existing and potential customers, you’ll need to organize the data and search for trends. As you learned in an earlier course, using a spreadsheet can help you organize, sort, and filter data to discover the main characteristics shared by a group of customers.

For example, the spreadsheet below organizes a company’s data by the name, age, location, household, education, and main concern of their customers. Based on the data in the age column, most of this company’s customers are in their 20s and 30s.

Although all companies have at least one target audience, it’s common for companies to have more than one target audience. This is especially true for companies that sell a variety of products or services.

It’s important to avoid excluding a group of customers just because their characteristics don’t match the majority of your customers. This smaller group of customers can be an important target audience for your company to consider.

Describe your target audience

After you’ve researched your existing and potential customers and identified patterns, you can begin to describe the groups of customers you’ve discovered.

The custom suits retailer used as an example in a video describes their target audience in this way:

• Men between the age of 30 and 45

• Income of $100,000 or more

• Professionals with an advanced degree

• Very little free time because of frequent travel for work

• Use LinkedIn and Twitter

• Wardrobe decisions are influenced by their partner and the company’s dress policy

• Need multiple suits for work

• Partner does most of the shopping for their wardrobe

• Impressing clients is their main motivation for buying a custom suit

• Buying a custom suit online is easier than making time to visit a tailor

The custom suits retailer also identified another target audience made up of a smaller but significant group of customers. They describe this target audience as follows:

• Women and non-binary people between the age of 40 and 60

• Income of $100,000 or more

• Executive-level professionals with an advanced degree

• Very little free time because of long work hours

• Use LinkedIn and Facebook

• Wardrobe decisions are influenced by fashion media and colleagues

• Need multiple suits for work

• Make their own shopping and purchasing decisions for their wardrobe

• Expressing power in the workplace is their main motivation for buying a custom suit

• Buying a custom suit online feels more comfortable than visiting a tailor who traditionally measures for men’s suits

Reaching your target audience

Now that the custom suits retailer has identified the groups of customers in their target audience, they can use this information to make better marketing and advertising decisions. For example, they might choose to include product images on their website that feature women and non-binary people wearing custom suits instead of just men. They might also include a measuring guide that applies to all genders. Plus, they might shift their advertising budget to spend more on the social media sites or other channels that their customers use frequently.

Key takeaways

Identifying your target audience helps you understand who your customers are and how to reach them more effectively. You can identify your target audience by using insights from market research, analyzing your existing customers, identifying patterns, and describing the groups of customers that make up your target audience.

How to do product research

• Video Duration: 7 minutes

Earlier, you learned how to identify your target audience, the people most likely to buy your products. Now, we’re going to take a closer look at product research. We’ll be using some of the concepts you learned about market research and applying them to specific products that a company sells. Launching a new product takes time, effort, and money. That’s why it’s important to find out if there’s enough demand for the product before investing time and money into it. Demand refers to how much consumers are willing and able to buy a certain product over a given period of time. Researching demand for a product helps a company answer important questions like, is there enough demand for this product to make it worth selling? If so, is there a reason to believe this level of demand will continue? If the demand is low or nonexistent, the company would need to build up demand for that product if they still want to sell it. Or they may decide it’s not worth selling. If the demand is extremely high, it could be a sign that competition is intense and advertising costs may be higher. Or it could be a sign that competitors are low on inventory, or that the product is new to the market. Let’s use the example of the custom suits retailer we discussed earlier to explore how the process of researching demand works. Imagine you’re working for this retailer in an e-commerce role. The retailer wants to increase the revenue per order by encouraging customers to add additional products to their cart. They may ask you to research the demand for items like belts, dress shirts, and neckties. How would you go about researching these products? You can start by using a tool like Google Trends to find out how much demand there is for the products. Using Google Trends, you can compare multiple products and find out the interest level in these products over time. You can narrow your search to a specific region or state where your target audience lives. Or you can search more broadly across a nation or worldwide. To get a better idea of how the interests in a product changes over time, set the time range to cover the past five years. The chart will help you figure out if demand for a product is stable, growing, or shrinking. The chart will also show you spikes in demand if there’s seasonality for a product. A tool like Google Trends will show you interest in a product over time for specific region. But you’ll also need to consider how this applies to your target audience. Is this the type of product they would buy? Does it meet a need or solve a problem for them? Asking these questions about your target audience and using tools like Google Trends will help you determine the demand for a product. But you also want to make sure the product is profitable. Let’s examine how to determine the profitability of a product soon after it launches. Imagine the company you work for has been selling a new line of custom suits for the past six months. Now they want to figure out if it’s worth continuing to sell the new belts. As part of your job, you’ve been asked to provide information about how the new product line is performing. One of the ways you can figure out whether a product is worth selling is to determine the net profit for the product. Net profit is the amount of money left over after expenses are paid. With net profit, the questions you’re looking to answer is, can you sell the product at a competitive price and still make enough money on it? You can calculate the net profit by determining the total revenue for a product and then subtracting the total expenses. The first step is to figure out the total revenue. You can do this by multiplying the number of products sold by the average selling price. The second step is to figure out the total expenses. These should include all of the costs associated with the product. For example, you’ll need to include the cost of goods sold, packaging, shipping, fulfillment, advertising, return costs, and any additional expenses. The final step is to subtract the total expenses from the total revenue. The result is your net profit. Let’s use the same example we used earlier to demonstrate how this works. For instance, let’s say the custom suits retailer sold 500 custom suits in the last six months for $800 each. 500 times $800 equals $400,000. That’s the total revenue for the product. The total expenses include the cost of goods, packaging, shipping, fulfillment, advertising, the cost of products returned, and any additional expenses. Those come to $280,000. Now that you know the total revenue and total expenses, you can calculate the net profit. $400,000 minus $280,000 equals $120,000. After that, you can take things a step further by calculating the net profit margin, which turns the net profit into a percentage. This makes it easier to compare the profitability of different products no matter how much they cost. The net profit margin takes your net profit and divides it by the total revenue, and then you multiply the result by 100. The net profit margin for the custom suits example is 30 percent. Generally, the higher the net profit margin, the better. However, a lower profit margin can still be profitable if the product drives a high enough volume of sales and the advertising costs stay relatively low. Now, let’s consider another aspect of determining how a product is performing. As you learned in the previous course on analytics, return on ad spend, or ROAS, is an important metric to measure the success of your advertising. After launching a new product, it’s helpful to track the ROAS over a period of time to determine if the company’s advertising dollars are well-spent. As a reminder, ROAS can be calculated as the number of products sold times the cost per unit divided by the ad spend. Let’s figure out the ROAS for the new line of custom suits to get an idea of how well the advertising is performing. For example, let’s say 450 custom suits were sold for $800 each to customers who clicked on the company’s ads. That means the advertising revenue is $360,000. The total cost for advertising was $45,000 over the past six months. Now you can take the revenue, which we calculated at $360,000, and divide it by the cost, $45,000. The result is your return on ad spend, which is eight. To recap, net profit helps you determine if the product as a whole is profitable, while ROAS helps you determine if your advertising for the product is profitable. Both are helpful to consider in determining whether a product is worth selling. Great work, you’re well on your way to understanding and applying important strategies for e-commerce. (Required)

Product sourcing

• Video Duration: 2 minutes

Earlier, we covered how to research products in order to make sure they’ll be successful in the market. One step in that process was to figure out the profit margin. That includes factoring in the cost for packaging, shipping, and fulfillment. These costs depend largely on how the company decides to source their products. Product sourcing, or how a business acquires the products they sell to customers, is a key factor in how an e-commerce business operates. Imagine a business that wants to sell mattresses online, for example. There are three main choices when it comes to sourcing their products. First, the company can design and create its own custom mattresses, either in-house or by partnering with a manufacturer. This requires a large amount of time, expense, and commitment upfront. The benefit, however, is that it gives the company more control over the design and quality of its products. It also allows the company to create a unique product that fills a specific need in the market. Plus, it can allow for higher profit margins, Since the company itself owns the product. Second, the company can partner with a vendor or a wholesale supplier, to sell mattresses made by other companies. This option allows the company to sell products from brands that customers already know and trust. Another benefit is that it’s less time-consuming and expensive than sourcing custom products. Finally, the mattress company can outsource their product fulfillment by partnering with a drop shipper. Drop-shipping is a fulfillment method in which products are shipped from the supplier directly to the consumer. This is the fastest way to bring a product to market, since the drop shipper handles all of the inventory, shipping, and fulfillment needs. The mattress company doesn’t have to purchase mattresses in advance, store them in a warehouse, or ship them to customers. The downside of drop-shipping is that the profit margins are usually slim. And a company’s reputation depends on the quality of the drop shipper’s work. Customers may love the product itself, but they won’t be happy about a product that arrives damaged or in the wrong color. As you’ve learned, the product sourcing model that a company chooses can affect multiple aspects of their business. These include product availability and inventory, profit margins, shipping options, and warehousing needs. The product sourcing model also affects the amount of control a company has over the reputation of its brand. We’ll talk more about branding later. In the meantime, you’ll learn more about product research and sourcing. You’ve come a long way already, keep up the great work.

Researching and sourcing products

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

Sourcing products for your online store can be a big undertaking. There are so many considerations to make before you decide which products you’ll sell. This reading will help you determine which products make the most sense for your store.

Product viability

Since the purpose of an online store is to make sales, you’ll need to research the viability of each product before you decide if you want to add it to your online store. Product viability is the sales potential for a specific product. So, when determining the product viability of the items you want to sell, consider two things:

• Demand: Is there a high enough demand for this specific product to make it worth selling?

• Profit margin: Will you be able to sell this product at a competitive price while also making a profit?

Product sourcing

Recall from a previous video that product sourcing refers to how a business acquires the products they sell to customers. There are several ways to source products, and before you start selling, you’ll need to identify which is best for your business.

Create products in house

One way to source products is to create your products in house. This requires a lot of time, money, and other resources, but if you can commit to it, you have more control over the quality of the products.

Source products from a manufacturer

Another approach is to source products from a manufacturer. If you go this route, you will have less control over the quality of your products and your profit may be lower. However, you may be able to have the products dropshipped, which saves you time and resources. Dropshipping is a fulfillment method in which products are shipped from the supplier directly to the customer.

Source products from a wholesaler

If you source products from a wholesaler, you will purchase products directly from them at a lower price and sell them at whatever cost you feel comfortable with. This strategy for sourcing means you will have to ship the items yourself, but you may see a higher profit margin. Sourcing from a wholesaler also means you may be able to have your products dropshipped.

As you weigh these options and decide where you will get your products from, consider the advantages and disadvantages of each of the following:

• Quality control: How important is overall product quality to your store and brand reputation?

• Profit margins: How important is overall profit to you? How does each product sourcing option affect your profit?

• Shipping and fulfillment: Will you be able to fill orders yourself, or will you need to have a warehouse and employees?

• Time spent: How important is time to your business? Will making products yourself take too much time?

Forecasting demand

Before you source your products, you’ll need to consider if your consumers will even want those products. Forecasting is the process of predicting the future demand for products. In other words, when you forecast, you’re hypothesizing about how popular an item might be on your website. This is important because it helps you analyze whether certain products are worth the financial risk. It can also help you better understand seasonal trends, which allows you to know how much of each product you’ll need in stock.

Forecasting includes taking actions like using analytics dashboards and sales data to view your top-selling products, negative reviews, quantities sold over a period of time, seasonal sales spikes or dips, and product reviews.

Add accessories to increase revenue

When you’re researching products and forecasting inventory, a good way to increase your revenue per order is to add complementary accessories that align with those products. This is an effective strategy because when you remind customers that if they buy one product, they may need another product that complements it, they may spend more money at your store. For instance, if your online store sells electronics and you’re offering the newest and most popular laptop, you may also want to sell charging cables, cases, screen protectors, external hard drives, and more.

Key takeaways

When it comes to determining which products should be in your store, there is a lot to consider. Doing thorough research to determine product viability, product sourcing, and forecasting will help set you up for success.

Branding in e-commerce

• Video Duration: 4 minutes

You’ve learned a lot about the basics of e-commerce so far. You’ve also learned about branding in earlier lessons. Now you’re going to learn more about branding and how it ties into multiple aspects of e-commerce. Branding means to promote a product or service by identifying it with a particular brand. Branding isn’t just about a company’s logo or its name. At its core, branding is about how customers feel about a company and the products it sells. It’s about how they treat their customers, and how they make things right when there’s a mistake. It’s the story behind how the company got started, and it’s about how customers connect with the values that the company supports. Almost every aspect of an e-commerce store reflects on a company’s brand identity. Although we don’t have time to cover all of those aspects, we’ll explore a few of them in detail now. Let’s start with the company’s website. The look and feel of a website is part of what affects brand identity. The website’s design, photography, font style, and color scheme all impact how customers feel about a brand. The same is true for the voice and tone of the words used on the website, and also for the design and wording used in all advertising and marketing channels. Another big piece of branding is the quality of the products that a company sells. Do customers feel they can rely on those products? Do the products make their lives easier? Do they fit the customer’s lifestyle? Quality is also important when it comes to customer service. For instance, is the customer able to easily get the help that they need? What if something goes wrong? For example, let’s say a customer receives a damaged product. The way a company responds and how fast they respond will impact its brand. A company that cares about its brand will do what it takes to make things right. They’ll make sure the customer is satisfied with the final outcome. If that happens, even a negative experience can positively impact how the customer feels about a brand. Including helpful information on the website can also impact a company’s brand in a positive way. For example, the website should make it easy for customers to find and fill out a contact form if they have questions or issues. It should also include links to helpful information, such as frequently asked questions or self-help articles that allow customers to troubleshoot issues on their own. And it should include clear, easy-to-understand instructions for returns and exchanges. A generous return policy can improve customers’ perception of a brand. If a company backs up the products it sells, customers feel an increased sense of trust. They’re more likely to feel confident about buying a product if there’s an option to return or exchange it. The website also needs to tell the story behind how the company got started, and what’s important to them. Storytelling is an important part of branding. Customers want to understand the values that a company upholds. They want to know how the company is making a difference in the world. Research indicates that 77 percent of consumers buy from brands that share their values. Customers want to feel good about their purchase. Knowing a company’s story and identifying with its values can help strengthen a customer’s relationship with a brand. A company’s brand needs to be centered around its customers. That’s why it’s important for a company to know who its target audience is, so that it can build a brand around the customers’ needs and desires. Do the company’s values match the values of its customers? And do the company’s actions prove it? For example, a pet supply company whose customers are avid pet owners might donate a portion of their revenue to support pet adoption. Customers will feel good knowing that a portion of their purchase goes to help pets in need. Branding is about establishing an emotional connection with customers, providing them with the best experience possible. It’s about sharing the company’s story, serving customers well, and connecting with customers’ values. In the next section, we’ll review the topics that we’ve covered so far. Then you’ll learn about what goes into building an e-commerce store.

Activity: Identify brand values

• Practice Quiz. 1 question. Grade: 100% -Access Quiz:

• On Step 1: Access the template

To use the template for this course item, click the link below and select “Use Template.”

• Link to template: Brand values worksheet

• On Step 2: Access supporting materials The following supporting materials will help you complete this activity. Keep them open as you proceed to the next steps. To use the supporting materials for this course item, click the link below and select “Make a Copy.”

• Link to supporting materials: Jamboard branding exercise

Activity Exemplar: Identify brand values

• Reading Duration: 10 minutes

Here is a completed exemplar along with an explanation of how the exemplar fulfills the expectations for the activity.

Completed Exemplar

To review the exemplar for this course item, click the link below and select “Use Template.”

Link to exemplar: Brand values worksheet

Assessment of Exemplar

Compare the exemplar to your completed Brand Values worksheet. Review your work using each of the criteria in the exemplar. What did you do well? Where can you improve? Use your answers to these questions to guide you as you continue to progress through the course.

Note: The exemplar identifies some of the potential ideas for brand values and suggestions on how to demonstrate these values. However, your answers will likely differ in certain ways. What’s important is that you were able to identify brand values and provide suggestions for how the brand can put their values into action.

Let’s review the brand values worksheet:

Identify brand values

Arranging the Jamboard sticky notes by theme made it easier to identify brand values. Although the sticky notes could represent more than five brand values, here are the five brand values identified in the exemplar:

Integrity: Multiple sticky notes mentioned integrity and doing what you say you’ll do. Because of this, integrity was identified as a brand value.

Dependability: Multiple sticky notes described the brand as someone you can depend on. Because of this, dependability was identified as a brand value.

Environmentalism: Multiple sticky notes mentioned a concern or passion for taking care of the environment. Because of this, environmentalism was identified as a brand value.

Making a difference: Multiple sticky notes mentioned the brand as making a difference in the world and in other people’s lives. Because of this, making a difference was identified as a brand value.

Passion for nature: Multiple sticky notes mentioned a love for the outdoors and nature. Because of this, a passion for nature was identified as a brand value.

Suggest ways to demonstrate brand values

1. Donate a portion of their sales to a nonprofit organization that supports a healthy environment.

Because customers care about the environment, the brand can encourage this by donating a portion of their sales to help the environment. They can help customers feel good about their purchase by letting them know that their purchase will support the environment. The brand can also include this information as part of their story in the “About us” page on their website.

This action demonstrates the brand values of environmentalism and a passion for nature.

2. Be transparent about the eco-friendliness of their products.

Because customers are concerned about buying products that are eco-friendly, the brand can encourage this by being transparent about the materials used to make their products and how the products were manufactured. They could include this information on their FAQ page.

This action demonstrates the brand values of environmentalism, integrity, and dependability.

3. Educate customers about other ways they can help the environment.

Because customers are concerned about the health of the environment, the brand can include information on their website about other ways to help the environment. For example, they might feature tips on conserving water or recycling. They could publish articles about these topics on their blog and post about them on social media.

This action demonstrates the brand values of environmentalism and a passion for nature.

Case study: How Prados Beauty’s brand uplifts the indigenous community

• Reading Duration: 20 minutes

You learned storytelling is an important part of branding. Customers want to understand the values that a company upholds. They want to know how a company is making a difference in the world. Prados Beauty, located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, sells beauty products and incorporates storytelling as part of its branding. This case study illustrates how the indigenous community is uplifted by the Prados Beauty brand.

Company background

“Self-starter” is a word that describes Cece Meadows, founder and CEO of Prados Beauty. As a descendant of the indigenous Yoeme and Nʉmʉnʉ people who populated present-day Sonora, Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, she established Prados Beauty in part to raise awareness of their stories, resiliency, and beauty.

Cece’s own story reflects that resiliency and beauty. Independently supporting herself as a community college student, she was once homeless and relied on tips as a restaurant server just to be able to fill up the gas tank in her car. A friend noticed her customer service and money-handling skills and recommended that she apply to become a bank teller. Within six months of becoming a teller, she became the customer service lead at the bank. From there, she grew her financial skills and invested in real estate and stocks. But at age 27, she was diagnosed with cancer. Before she became a cancer survivor, she didn’t think she could have a career using her creativity or personal interests. After beating cancer, she discovered she was wrong about both and founded Prados Beauty.

Today, Prados Beauty is a brick and mortar store and online retailer whose brand is all about the strength of the indigenous people and inclusive economic opportunities for the next generation. Its brand identity is clear from the Indigenous Marketplace on its website which offers an online platform for indigenous artisans to sell their products in a digital economy. Its brand message to build generational wealth is evident in the “Matriarch Collection,” a set of beauty products whose name pays tribute to the strength of grandmothers. These are women who stay home to watch over and nurture their Chicano grandchildren while their parents work hard outside the home pursuing the American dream to build a better future for the next generation. Chicano (and Chicana) describes someone who lives in the U.S. and is a native of Mexico, or descends from Mexican immigrants.

Prados Beauty proudly gives back to its community through donation, volunteering, and mentoring initiatives. For more information, refer to the Prados Promise.

The challenge

In keeping with its brand identity, Prados Beauty wanted to disrupt a common trend of Native American artisans not getting a fair share of profits from sales of their creations. How can indigenous people begin to create generational wealth without first maximizing their profits? Prados Beauty wanted to be an instrument of change.

The approach

To create fair business opportunities for indigenous artisans, Prados Beauty welcomes them to sell their products in the Indigenous Marketplace. To support these entrepreneurs and dreamers, Prados Beauty employees have also become marketplace business development managers and marketing coordinators.

Marketplace business development

For marketplace business development, Prados Beauty establishes partnerships with indigenous artisans and small business owners. Prados Beauty purchases products at a wholesale price of 50% retail and then advises partners on retail markup to maximize profits. After debuting in the marketplace, partners may sell additional runs of their products or offer other products they’ve created. When artisans sell products in the marketplace, they can display a photo or bio that often includes information about buying directly from them. With a boost in visibility, some partners choose to launch their own direct-to-customer sales using what they learned from their experience with Prados Beauty.

Multi-channel marketing

When a new artisan onboards and is ready to sell a product, Prados Beauty dedicates a certain amount of ad spend to feature and promote the product. The company coordinates marketing efforts on email, Google Ads, and social media to help the product be successful in the marketplace. For example, Prados Beauty partnered with an indigenous artisan to sell ten pairs of beaded earrings in the Indigenous Marketplace.

For its marketing campaign, Prados Beauty:

• Created product images on Canva. These images were uploaded to its Google business page and were displayed in targeted ads. Below are images of the earrings that were used.

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• Managed emails with Shopfiy. The email marketing features built into the platform simplified the management.

• Used Google Ads. The recommendations in Google Ads helped improve the effectiveness of ads.

• Rearranged products in the marketplace. The earrings appeared at the top, making it easier for people to find them if they were referred by an ad.

• Incorporated keywords in hashtags. Hashtags like #IndigenousOwnedBusinesses, #NativeOwned, and #SupportSmallBusiness increased the social media engagement of potential customers who were most likely to purchase the earrings.

The result

Each success is achieved one artisan at a time. The goal was to sell out in one day. They created a social media post and ran a concurrent email campaign. The earrings not only sold out in one day—they sold out in two hours. The earrings were such a sensation that customers showed up at the Prados Beauty store in Las Cruces asking how they could buy them. The example of the beaded earrings illustrates how products promoted in the Indigenous Marketplace drive sales growth for both the artisan and Prados Beauty.

Conclusion

Prados Beauty has demonstrated that its brand identity and strategy bringing products from indigenous artisans to market is a win-win-win (for the business, for the artisans, and for the indigenous community). It’s a win for Prados Beauty because unique products generate customer interest, product demand, and profitable sales. It’s a win for indigenous artisans because they get a fair stake in profit sharing. And finally, it’s a win for the indigenous community because the other two wins uplift an entire community.

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5. Review: Introduction to make the sale: build, launch, and manage e-commerce stores

Wrap-up

• Video Duration: 1 minute

Nice work. Let’s recap what we’ve discussed so far. You’ve learned about what e-commerce is and some of the benefits of selling online. You also learned a lot of the basic terms used in e-commerce, such as traffic, landing page, call to action, and conversion. You discovered several tools and platforms you might use in e-commerce, such as Shopify and Salesforce. Then you were introduced to some of the most common entry-level jobs available in e-commerce. Next, we discussed the importance of market research and how it works. You learned how to identify your target audience. And then you learned how to do product research, including how to research demand for a product and how to calculate the profit margin. After that, you learned about product sourcing. You learned that how a company sources its products can affect the overall costs and operations of the business. You also learned how it affects the amount of control a company has over its brand. Finally, you learned the importance of building a strong brand and strengthening the emotional connection with customers. There’s a lot that goes into building a successful e-commerce store, from market research, to knowing who your customers are, to creating a strong brand. Working through each of these processes helps increase the possibility for success in e-commerce. In an entry-level e-commerce position, you’ll likely be involved in some of this work. You’ll also find it helpful to be familiar with the basic terms we covered. You’ll learn more about many of these terms later. Coming up, you’ll learn all about how e-commerce stores work. You’ve made a lot of progress so far. Keep up the great work.

Glossary terms from module 1

• Reading: Duration: 10 minutes
  • Access the glossary

Module 1 challenge

• Quiz: 10 questions. Grade: 100%
• Link to challenge 1

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END! - Week 1 - Course 6