How to Sell Mobile Accessories Online?
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Before you leave the house, what do you make sure you haven’t forgotten? Keys, wallet, and we’re guessing, your cell phone.
It’s a sign of the times that we are all glued to our cell phones, relying on them not just to make calls and send texts but for everything from online banking to tracking our sleep.
This screen addiction may not be great for our eyesight, but it does make selling cell phone accessories an excellent choice for an online business.
Think about how many people own a cell phone. That’s the potential audience for your products. Sizeable indeed.
Selling cell phone accessories online is a great ecommerce business, but if you’re unsure how to sell online or get started then, this article is for you. We’ll take you through everything you need to know about how to sell mobile accessories online.
Pick Which Mobile Accessories You Want to Sell
First things first, you need to decide what products you want to sell. You’re probably thinking you’ve already made that decision – mobile accessories, right? Wrong.
There are hundreds of different types of cell phone accessories and for your best chance of success, you need to choose a niche.
Some examples of cell phone accessory niches you can choose from are:
- Accessories for specific makes or models
- Phone cases
- Personalized or print on demand phone cases
- Headphones
- Bluetooth speakers
- Portable chargers
- Cell phone cleaners/screen wipes
- Screen protectors
- Selfie sticks
- Car accessories
Find a Name for Your Mobile Accessories Online Store
Having just the right name for your business is essential. You want something that accurately represents the products you sell, is easy to remember, will stay in your audience’s mind, and of course, something that isn’t already being used.
Make sure your name is catchy and, before making a final decision, check to see if things such as domains and social media handles are available to make sure you can market your business on various platforms.
You’ll need to register your business name with the relevant authorities as well as apply for any specific licenses that may be required to sell products within specific states. Check out your local regulations to make sure you are following all the right rules.
Find Suppliers
Once you’ve taken the steps to set up your business, you need to begin sourcing your products.
There are various ways you can source the items to sell from your online store. You may decide to purchase items from one specific supplier who can offer you the best rate or use multiple different ones to supply various items.
If you’ve decided you want to sell unique items on your ecommerce site that can’t be purchased anywhere else, you’ll need to find a manufacturer to make your designs a reality.
Whether you opt for a supplier or manufacturer, be sure to conduct your due diligence. Check out their reviews and try to receive samples that you can physically see, allowing you to check that you’re happy with the designs and quality before making a bulk order.
Determine How to Manage Your Inventory and Ship Your Products
Making sure that you manage your stock inventory and master the shipping process is crucial if you want to offer a good customer experience.
Often people will decide to start with a limited inventory, just purchasing and selling a few items, until they are confident of their online store’s success. The last thing you want is to purchase hundreds of items that you end up stuck with if they never sell.
You also need to decide if you want to fulfill the orders yourself or use a fulfillment center. A fulfillment center will store and ship your products for you, saving you a lot of time and storage space.
If you don’t have the budget for this though, or you want to control each individual order, you’ll need to be prepared to store, pack, and ship every single item you sell.
Make sure you’ve also established a returns policy before you begin making sales. You need to decide on things like how long customers have to return an item, whether or not you’ll be offering free returns, and how you will store or dispose of returned stock.
Advice from the Experts
Top tip: Before you can begin making sales you also need to set up a reliable backend system for accepting payments. Our favorite ecommerce website builders such as Shopify, Wix, and BigCommerce all accept payments from leading platforms such as PayPal.
Get Online
The key to successfully selling mobile accessories online is actually having somewhere to sell them – obvious right?
There are various ways you can get your business online and in front of the right eyes. You can sell your cell phone accessories on marketplaces, social media, or your own online store.
Marketplaces
Marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are great places to sell your products. One of the major perks of using a marketplace is that there is a ready-made audience that you can tap into.
Websites such as Amazon are also trusted worldwide, meaning people will be much more likely to make a purchase, knowing that they are using a respected brand.
Each platform has its own membership terms and you’ll usually have to pay either a membership fee and/or a seller’s fee on each sale you make, so ensure you take this into account when pricing your items.
Social Media
Social media has become a shopping platform in its own right. Not only can you use your various platforms to showcase and promote your products to your target audience, but many now also offer users the chance to buy items directly.
For example, if you set up a business account on Instagram you’ll be able to add an online shop section to your page. Here users will be able to purchase items from your online store without ever leaving the Instagram app.
Online Store
Of course one of the best ways to sell your products online and build up your ecommerce business is to set up your own online store.
Having your own online store allows you to have complete control over how your items are presented to users, and you can avoid having to pay sellers fees or commissions to other platforms.
Setting up an online store isn’t as complicated as it sounds either. Shopify, Wix, and BigCommerce are all easy to use no matter what your skill level, and allow you to create a fully-customizable online store.
Promote Your Website
- Advertise on Social Media Jump to section
- Start an Email Newsletter Jump to section
- Create a Blog Jump to section
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: if you don’t promote your online store then how can you ever expect potential customers to find it?
It’s no use having an optimized and high-quality ecommerce website full of products if nobody knows it exists.
There are various ways you can promote your website including:
Advertise on Social Media
Social media is one of the biggest and best marketing tools at your disposal and, best of all, it’s free!
Take the time to conduct some audience research to discover which platforms your target audience uses most, and then use these platforms to connect with them.
Create content that will inspire your audience and encourage them to visit your online store.
Building up a social media following is also a great way of adding social proof to your online store, helping to increase your reliability and reputation.
Start an Email Newsletter
Email newsletters are a great way of building up a relationship with your audience, especially those who have visited your website but are yet to convert or who have abandoned their carts.
Building an email subscriber list enables you to create direct contact with your audience and gives you the opportunity to create targeted content and product recommendations.
Just remember to create a realistic email schedule, don’t spam the inboxes of your audience – otherwise, they’ll quickly unsubscribe!
Create a Blog
Blogs are a great way of directing organic traffic to your website – traffic that can then convert into customers.
Think about topics that are relevant to the products you’re selling (topic ideas could be things such as “how to keep your cell phone germ free” and “the best bluetooth accessories for your cell phone”).
Creating content that is optimized for your target keywords is the best way to help increase your search result rankings and open your website up to more potential customers.
Manage Your Website
Once you’ve set up your online store and grown a strong audience the work isn’t over. You’ll need to stay on top of the management of your website in order to ensure you’re always offering the best customer experience.
Make sure you keep your product inventory regularly updated, replacing sold-out items with new-in products that are available to purchase. High-quality photos and detailed product descriptions will help to convert more visitors into customers.
Take the time to collect feedback and reviews from customers. If items have reviews from real-life customers, users will be much more likely to make a purchase (providing they’re positive of course!)
You also need to ensure that you stay on top of order fulfillment and responding to customers. A poor customer experience will result in bad reviews for your ecommerce store and fewer sales.
How to Sell Mobile Accessories Online: Summary
So there you have it, our guide to selling mobile accessories online.
If you’re thinking about taking the plunge and setting up your own online business then you likely already know how lucrative the market can be.
There’s a lot of competition out there though, so you need to be willing to put the time and effort into ensuring you’re providing products and a customer experience that can’t be beaten.
To recap, the most important things to remember when selling mobile accessories online are:
- Choose a niche for your products. It’s always best to select a specific type of cell phone accessory to sell.
- Before you get started you’ll need to make some important decisions such as naming your business, choosing a supplier, and deciding how you will fulfill your orders.
- You can sell mobile accessories online in multiple ways including via marketplaces, on social media, or through your own online store.
- Don’t forget to promote your online store to help increase your audience.
Now you’ve got to grips with how to sell mobile accessories online we’re pretty sure you’ll be ready to get started. If so, make sure you check out our ecommerce website builder comparison to help you select the best store builder for you…and don’t forget to let us know how you get on! Or, for more ideas on what the best products are to sell online, check out our list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Think how many people in the world have a cell phone – this is your potential customer base!
With people more reliant on their cell phones than ever before they’re also more willing to invest in accessories such as cases, earphones, or portable chargers to help enhance their experience.
You’ll need to invest in the products you want to sell but if you’re working on a limited budget then we recommend focusing on a small number of items at first.
Similarly, website builders such as Wix, Shopify, and BigCommerce all have various subscription plans and affordable options.
Using marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay or social media platforms are also great ways to reach a wider audience, especially in the early stages of your business.
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