An ecommerce venture is the easiest to start. All you need is a website and few items to offer for sale, which also are generally outsourced. There is no need for an office, sales team. This makes it a comfortable venture for anyone and everyone. The problem with this is that the ecommerce market is fiercely competitive and the players are increasing by the day. In such a scenario, any advantage that you can get goes a long way in helping you drive past the competition. Here are few of the tips that can do just that for you. They might not be entirely applicable in all scenarios, but one or two of them can also make a substantial difference.

Social media is a boon of marketers and it’s no different for ecommerce. The entire ecommerce game revolves around getting more and more people to the site and increasing the site popularity. Companies spend millions in this attempt and their cost per acquisition can go very high. With proper use of social media i.e. Facebook and Twitter you can bring down your cost per acquisition to practically zero. All you need to do is smartly maneuver yourself on the social media circuit and gain popularity. Contests and events are a common way of gaining quick appreciation on social media networks.

You must always optimize the facilities offered by your drop shippers or vendors. They offer lots of schemes and facilities which can be of great use if availed properly. For example, almost all vendors give discounts on advance or before time payments, you need to figure out if these discounts are more useful than delaying payments and earning interest from bank. If the discounts work out better then you should go for it right way. Similarly, there are many package deals or end of season deals. If you plan your purchase properly, you can benefit from these offers.

Another strategic decision that can make a difference is whether to keep stock yourself and get the items shipped directly by the drop shippers. As most times this is not as obvious a decision as it looks. You need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of both the options and decide logically. Don’t forget to take in account the shipping charges when comparing the options, in some cases the vendors offer free delivery within a specified area.

If you make proper use of all or any of this cost cutting method you will be able to sell better and at a lower cost, which will make you a preferred choice amongst the customers.