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How to use Instagram to sell your products online?

Social media is the genie of this new-age world. It has the power to make or break careers and provides the perfect kick-start to budding entrepreneurs. But if one had to choose just one social media platform to capitalize on, then Instagram is the most natural choice. It has a large number of dedicated viewers, and most importantly, it is a photo-sharing app. Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? This justifies how Instagram can be used to sell your products online.

Selling online has become a recent trend and in order to take advantage of an easy business option, a strong social media presence – such as Instagram – is instrumental. To sell on Instagram is not as daunting as it seems and can prove to be a breeze for anyone adept at handling technology.

The following are some ways in which first time online sellers can make the most out of Instagram:

  • Instagram Business Profile

As it is said, ‘images are worth a thousand words’, Instagram is turning out into being one of the most used social channel for outreaching. The major benefits of having the Instagram business profile is the analytics it provides about the audience and the posts. In order to take the most of the Instagram business profile, you first have to work towards building a huge follower base.

For this, it is essential to put highly relevant and attractive content for your target customers. Frequently post content. If you receive instant engagements, it triggers Instagram that your post is quality content. This makes it more likely for your posts to show up frequently on your audience’s feed. You can also check Insights of your Instagram profile to find details about your activity, content, and audience. These data can be quite handy when deciding the time of post.

  • Hashtags, Tagging and multiple pictures

Instagram’s 2017 update allows users to follow hashtags as well as accounts now. Several hashtags have more than a whopping one million followers. If even a small amount of those followers see your post, the chances of turning them into active buyers is certainly high. Selling on Instagram becomes easy with this.

Instagram profile can have story highlights. This acts like an abstract to new viewers. The highlights should perfectly incline with what your profile is about. The multiple picture option (if they are attractive and engaging) makes the viewers stay longer and swipe through the end.  Short videos, probably animations, are a sure shot way to increase your following. These strategies can increase your followers, thus helping you out to sell on Instagram.

  • Engagement with followers

It is important to interact with followers by posting engaging content. This will build trust and help you gain more customers. It is also important to take care about what and how to post the products. Post aesthetically pleasing pictures of products you want to sell on Instagram. A catchy caption is also important. Ask people to leave comments or ask them a question that they have to answer.

  • Go with the trend

Keep a track of the trends on the Internet. If chokers are in vogue then perhaps you can show how your dress would suit it. Following the popular trends is a fast-track route of staying up-to-date. This shows your followers that you are aware of the current market trend, and you take into consideration their tastes.

  • Be technology smart

Linking your Instagram account to your Shop101’s online store can turn your followers into customers. Through the Shop101 app, customers can even follow you on Instagram without actually getting off the application. The app allows you to directly upload the products’ images from your Instagram account to your Shop101 online store. Most importantly, it enables direct sharing of products on the Instagram profile via app. The app integrates perfectly with your Instagram account, and provides you best of both worlds.

To make your product stand out, the posts on Instagram, the quality of the photographs, the number of followers on your account are all that matters to get the ball rolling and make customers start pooling in.

In the end, building the trust of your customers and followers is monumental in making a successful business. So, always listen to your customers.

Happy selling!

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Facebook page for business: A beginner’s guide

Facebook is the biggest social media network, with over 1.25 billion users since its existence. Facebook’s story started with college students and now, it is used by almost every individual who owns a smartphone. Now-a-days, even small businesses are turning to Facebook to post their advertisements.

Not using the network of over a billion users that Facebook offers would be like doing manual labour for something which can be done via machines. With the growth in digital marketing, Facebook is providing platforms and tools for businesses.

Based on target audience preferred by the company, Facebook advertisements can be categorised according to the location. The targeting of the audience is done on the basis of the demographics and interests as revealed by the company.

To have a Facebook Business page is, therefore, an efficient means of marketing. Seven reasons that will urge you to have a Facebook Business profile –

  1. Zero or minimum investment – The investment required for advertisements on Facebook is a very small. This makes Facebook the best place to advertise. And in turn, provides opportunities for the company to sell on Facebook. If you know what gets your target customers excited, you can build your brand and order entirely organically.
  2. Engaging shoppers – Facebook marketplace is enough to prove that Facebook boasts huge number of shoppers among its active users. You can sell on Facebook marketplace or create a unique brand on Facebook. Either way, you will never be short of the right audience.
  3. Brand building – It helps in creating and establishing a brand which may eventually help in building you an online store / business. To sell online through Facebook, you need to make frequent posts that are relevant and attractive. Having engaging content, and proper communication channel is a must for succeeding here.
  4. Product feedback – A Facebook business page becomes a convenient platform to reach out to the targeted audience. It is easier to get feedback from them about the products that you are trying to sell.
  5. Customer hunt – With Facebook it is easy to connect with people. Building up your network will help you in finding new potential customers for your products.
  6. Eye on competition – It helps you identify what other similar businesses are doing better online and handpick ideas which could work for you as well.

If you’re still reading, you now understand that having a Facebook business page now plays critical in rise of a business. Here’s a step-by-step guide on creating one:

Step 1 – Go to Facebook home page. Click on the sign up option at the bottom of the business page.

Step 2 – Choose a category you wish to classify your business. The page can be classified as

  • local or company,
  • organisation,
  • brand or product,
  • artist, band, or public figure, and many more.

Step 3 – Write the name of your business/online store as the page name, and choose a subcategory to best describe the business.

Step 4 – Update with a company logo in the place of profile picture for the store, write a good page description, and fill in basic information to complete page creation.

Step 5 – Beyond that is the most crucial and fun task i.e to put right content on the page. You need to make regular interesting posts relevant to your customers; reach out and communicate you’re your existing and potential customers, and keep them engaged on your page.

Step 6 – Upon posting, check the analytics and insights provided by Facebook regularly. This will help you better understand and plan what content works well with your target audience; what your current efforts are resulting into; what should you do next to reach the next level of following, engagement and business growth.

Integrating social media channels with your online store would be an additional bonus to your growing business. Adding your social media handles to your online store gives your business credibility and helps build trust. Shop101 can help you in doing so.

Shop101 is an online selling platform for small businesses or start-ups. It helps you create a free online store in just 2 minutes. You can link your Facebook account with your online store with Shop101 app. The customers get to see your Facebook likes right on your page and can even like directly from there.

Most importantly, you get to directly share products on Facebook the help of the Shop101 app. So much power to you at zero cost. Get the Shop101 app for free on play store or app store and start your online selling journey.

If you are excited about growing an online business, Facebook is a great place for you to start your search of right customers and what better than stepping up your business game with online business app such as Shop101. So much power right in the palm of your hand.

Happy selling!

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Reselling: the easiest way to earn money online

In this digital era, online selling business is a smart way to earn money. You can target a wide audience and earn really well. It is a zero risk, zero investment activity.

Sounds much simple? Yes, it is. By setting up an online reselling store, you can reduce all the expenses of renting out a brick and mortar retail store, purchasing inventory, paying your staff, and more.

It is a realistic, easy, and inexpensive option. All you have to do is to sell the wholesaler’s supply products and earn commission on that sale. You don’t have to keep the inventory. Your wholesaler will maintain the inventory and take care of the order fulfilment. You become the middleman between the manufacturer and customers.

Why you should become a reseller ?

  • Zero physical Inventory – You don’t need to carry any inventory, nor do you need to store them in your warehouse.
  • Zero investment – To start up an online reselling business, it requires no investment. You only need to pay for goods as your customer places an order from your online store. No money goes out of your pocket.
  • Huge variety of products – If you become a reseller, you’ll have a diverse range of products to sell. Example: If you are reselling clothes, you can expand your online business and start reselling shoes, jewelry, handbags, accessories. It won’t cost you money since you only pay for those products -your customer buys from your reselling store.
  • Set your own margins – Being a reseller, you are free to set your own margins. Since the cost of products is low, you can price your items to ensure your reseller business is profitable. Be sure to look at market standards before pricing the product.
  • No tension of shipping the order – As you don’t have to keep the inventory with you, your wholesaler ships the product directly to your customer. You don’t have to worry about order fulfilment or inventory issues. Your wholesaler takes care of that.

What products can you sell with a reseller business ?

You can sell anything from a trendy niche to an evergreen product. You are free to choose the variety of products. They can be clothes, or shoes, or even any antiques. Whether you are passionate about the jewelry niche or electronic products, or beauty industry, you’ll have access to ‘n’ number of wholesaling products to resell them to your customers.

How to make money from Reselling ?

Earning money online is becoming more and more possible, credible and accepted. And this is happening because of the digital, technological age we live in.

The potential for online sales and earning money in reselling business is very high. You can earn more than Rs 25,000 per month with this business. It is risk-free model. You don’t have to put money from your pocket. You can start this online reselling business with zero investment.

You can set your own margins and keep your reselling business costs low. It gives you a better chance to earn more money than many other competing brands.

Without any hassle, you can initiate this online reselling business easily with shop101. Shop101 provides you with a free online store. Download the application, register yourself as a reseller of shop101’s supply products and get an access to shop101’s wholesaler’s products. Upload the product images on your store and send broadcast to your friends or family. Setup your margin amount and enjoy reselling. You get a shipping label which lets you ship from the wholesaler with a return address on it and invoice customized to your online store.

So, download shop101 today and become the true owner of your online business.

Set your own hours and be your own boss with your reselling business. Earn money on every sale you make!

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How to improve your online store?

Most of the online store owners face the problem of converting their viewers into buyers. For that, your store’s display must be impressive. To be successful in an ecommerce market you have to keep on improving the quality of your online store.

Shop101 provides you with a free online store. It is quite easy to register on Shop101 application and get started. The tough task is to maintain a store meeting expectations of today’s customers. You have fewer than five seconds to grab someone’s attention-otherwise they’re gone, never to be seen again.

Some important tips to keep a critical mass of visitors to stay on your store:

  • Online store logo– You can create a logo of your choice. The logo design should reflect the products you are selling on your store. Create a simple yet attractive logo design for your business. Have a look on this store logo-
Image source: https://www.shop101.com/thebookishpandora

(To learn how to set your own logo on your Shop101 store refer to the end of the article)

  • Manage product categories– The store owner should organize the store by the categories the products fall in. If you have products from various categories, keep the ones you’re confident of selling at the initial positions.

  • Pin up your featured products– It is said that ‘Never judge a book by its cover’. But in this marketing era, your store’s presentation matters the most. Therefore, pin up your best-selling products as your online store’s featured products.

  • Consistent feed– To create a consistent feed of your online store, your products should have a consistent element or theme to tie them together. Setting up a theme or style on your selling store will make your customers spend more time on your store.

  • Clear and high definition images– Clear and HDR images of the products will entice your customers. The images should be real with a perfect and clean background. There should be proper lightning set-up. If not then the natural lightings will also do. Adjust your camera/lens, keep the product in the middle of the surface, focus on the product and there you are! Have a great product photoshoot and market them online.

  • Images of products from different angles– You must upload more than 1 images of each product. Try and click images from different angles and views. 360degree angular view of the products would be appreciated by the buyers. If you have any model who can try/wear the product then that would be the best idea. Buyer will get to know how exactly the product would look like after wearing it.

  • Proper product naming– this is the critical part of the branding process. Your product names must reflect their quality, attribute, or benefit. Keep the product names which distinguish them from your competitor’s products and convey a unique position in the market.

  • Discounted price– Setting discounts on the prices is a strategy that can drive more sales volume to your online selling business. Discounts make your customers feel good. Displaying the discounted prices for your products would tempt your customers to buy the product thereby increasing the sales and brand loyalty.

  • Product Descriptions – Providing key product details is critical if you want the shopper to click “Add to Cart” and differentiate your ecommerce website from the competitors. Product descriptions are the storytellers. They could vary anywhere between 4-6 sentences each. For better understanding of the product by the buyer, you can mention all the product features, how to use the product, or what one should keep in mind before using/washing/wearing the product.

 

  • For customized products– In case you are a manufacturer or reseller of customized products, you can mention the exact days required  for the product to get ready. Making your buyers aware of the time/days taken which will help build trust.

 

  • Connect your Social accounts – You can connect your Shop101 store to social accounts, like Facebook and Instagram. This will directly link to your social account and offer more functionality, like the ability to view the connected social page content. Your buyers can also view your likes and followers which will help you gain more credibility.

  • About us – Each store should mention the store’s unique features in ‘About us’ section. A captivating and genuine ‘About Us’ can help a buyer better understand your brand and will leave a lasting impression.

  • Return and Exchange policy – Don’t forget to write the return/exchange policy for your store products. Shopping really becomes more excited for your buyers if they are provided with hassle free Return/Exchange policy.

  • Contact us– Business is based on Customer relationship. Providing the genuine ‘Contact Us’ details to your buyers will help you gain loyal customers. Being a seller is not only about selling the products and generating profit, it is also assisting your buyers throughout their shopping journey and also ‘post shopping’. Communicating with your customers, solving their purchasing queries through calls, messages or mails will make them feel good about your store. This will definitely boost your repeat sales.

Never forget: People tend to like, and remember, the people who take care of them.

*To set your store logo design- click on the ‘Settings icon’- go to Setup – upload the image and click on SAVE.

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How to get your first online order ?

If you ask any kid to buy a product today, instead of visiting to any physical store, he would rather look over online and order the item. Why?

Ordering online is hassle-free and at one’s comfort. Moreover, provides wide variety of options in a single device. Any device that has a screen and internet connection will do. Although, the only drawback which seems quite valid for ladies in India is that, they won’t be able to negotiate. Sigh! But, sales and discounts will keep them calm.

The digital era has seen the rise in the e-commerce business. This was obvious. Technology is intended to make our lives easier . How better would it be if you could buy whatever you need with a few clicks. Easy!

If you own a business or are planning to have one, then it is time to flow in the direction of the waves. It is time to sell online.

But how to get your first online order aka sell products?

Follow the below steps and it will help you gain customers and sell products online.

Since you are new in the market, you need to outreach yourself to wider audience. It is vital that you have your presence amongst various people.

Following are some of the effective means of outreaching :

Social media

Earlier social media was popular with just teens and young adults. Now, almost every individual is looking forward to jump in the social media hype. There are various tools that help in targeting the right kind of audience. Creating Facebook pages and Instagram profiles have changed the picture of doing business. These provide detailed analysis and statistics which includes page views, clicks, individual posts analysis like post views etc. The social media has helped many small and medium scale enterprises in outreaching.

Online Advertisement

Hoardings and newspaper advertisements are still in use,but need a financial back. Online advertisements are taking the driving seat, leaving the traditional methods behind. Social media channels are providing a medium for brands to increase their outreach by posting their ads targeting their respective audience. With the help of ads, potential audience can be turned into customers and voila! You have your first online order.

Keep exciting offers and giveaways

Posting contests and giveaways is an attractive way of gathering large number of people. This will also increase the engagement of the audience with your products, and increase chances of getting orders.

Building connections

The best way to start connecting is by sharing it with people you know. Share your new venture with your family and friends. They will be sharing it too. This will not only help you in getting your first online order, but many more. Good publicity can go a long way to get your product into the minds of new buyers.

Collaborate with influencers

It is time to shake hands with some popular personalities on social media channels. They already have the fan base. They will be creating a shout-out to your products and help you to gain more followers. This will help in building an audience faster, turning your followers into potential customers.

For example, if you have a fashion product, look out for some fashion bloggers who have huge followers on social channels, collaborate with them and gain more visitors.

You have an idea for business, you now know how to sell products online and receive your first online order, but do you have an online selling platform yet?

Is your head bombarding questions like these –

‘Where am I going to set up my free online store?’,

‘How will I get the payments?’,

‘Who will ship the products?’,

Let me stop you here. Now, setting up an online store is a matter of two minutes.

Shop101 is a free online store that will hike up your ecommerce business. It is an online selling app that helps you to sell products online.

Why you should be using Shop101 :

  • Easiest way to sell online
  • Gives a free online store
  • Provides payment options – both online and Cash on Delivery
  • Provides courier facilities at cheap shipping rates
  • Offers products from 50+ categories from verified wholesalers for you to sell

Free online store from Shop101 will help you to sell products online. With that you can avail more benefits to increase your chances of getting online orders. Here are some advance Shop101 features:

  • Targeted ads on Social media.
  • Get abandoned cart updates.
  • Premium website themes.
  • Get personal domain.

“If not now, then when?”

Make your dream business come alive with your online selling app ‘Shop101’ and see it reach heights.

 

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How to capture high-quality product photos with your smartphone ?

Presentation is the essence of marketing. Your product should look well to grab people’s attention. Before you spend money on a DSLR and lens, consider using the quality camera that you carry around with you all the time: your smartphone! If you have a good enough smartphone with a decent camera; you are good to go dude.

Here are some tips about the camera features that will guide you in taking great product photographs using your smart-phone.

Use your smartphone as a camera

Most smartphones in today’s market come with great cameras. Whichever smartphone you use, make sure your camera has the option of auto focus and maximum amount of mega pixels too. There is no necessity to spend a large portion of your budget on high-tech equipments. Utilize your smartphone’s advanced camera features and start clicking good product photos that will entice your buyer’s eye.

Perfect lights and clean background

Natural light is the mother of good photographs. So placing your set-up near the source of natural light is always considered as the best idea.  Make use of the flash and keep a perfect background, and then go with a superb click. A solid white background to eliminate distractions can create magic to your entire photography. Also, if natural light is difficult for you to find, try using a larger lamp or renting a soft box-type lighting kit, depending on how big your product is. If you photographed your product correctly and upload them, you can do well in selling those products online.

Setup your product in middle of the surface

Setting up your product is one of those things that seems simple, but can take time to position correctly.  Line up your products perfectly in the middle of the surface/table. Once you click the picture, take some time and look at what you’ve created. Adjust your camera and try to click with different angles to make your product look good.

Few trips and tricks:

You can use some of these accessories during the photo-shoot with a phone camera.

  • Table to raise the height of your product
  • Stand for image stabilization
  • Tripod can be used to click pictures in multiple positions
  • Lens for better clarity and minute details of your product
  • White or light grey backdrop can bring a minimalistic and clean look

Take care of the extra details.

  • Make sure that your product is pristinely clean and that all price tags and strings have been removed
  • The  zoom feature should be turned “ON” so that it is easily accessible to you if you need it
  • Your grid function should be ‘ON’ so that it will help you to align your product  in the middle frame easily
  • Tap on the screen and let it get focus properly on the product to avoid blurry picture.

 

Last but not the least is editing apps

  • All your digital images need a little bit of tweaking to make it shine. You can enhance your images applying – crop and straighten, sharpen, contrast, shadows and vibrance features.
  • Once you are done with this- you can edit using some of the best editing apps. For example, Vsco Cam has the rich collection of filters and user-friendly editing tools that really make it stand out.
  • Android camera zoom will let you set up grid lines as well as display a stabilization indicator.
  • You can search through Tumblr or Pinterest about some of the best filters in VSCO CAM and try to maintain a feed too.

Conclusion

There you have it!  After all these tips you are ready to go clicking. Bring your smartphone in some productive use rather than playing games on it. Use it for your online business process.

When you provide them with wonderful product images, your buyers will know exactly what they’re buying when they decide to purchase your product. That will make them happy, and it will make them eager to do business with you again in the future.

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How to use WhatsApp Business to grow your online business?

Last month, WhatsApp Inc. launched the much-awaited WhatsApp Business app. According to the company, the main objectives of this app are:

  1. To make it easier for businesses to interact with their customers
  2. To separate business communication from personal communication
  3. To help users create an official communication channel for their business

If you are an online seller or sell products via Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the WhatsApp Business app (currently only on Android) could be a very powerful tool to grow your business. Many of the 50,000 plus sellers using Shop101 to run their own e-commerce stores have already started seeing the benefits of using WhatsApp Business app, and we’d love to share how you can too!

Let’s have a detailed look at how you can accomplish the objectives laid out above.

Objective: Make it easier for a business to interact with their customers

Problem: Let’s face it, at one point or another, all of us have found it difficult, even annoying, to process orders and reply to customer queries on WhatsApp. Order details often get lost in the ever-growing pile of WhatsApp messages. Hundreds of different customers ask the same questions about your products and orders (price, delivery status, shipping details, COD availability etc.) and the same answers have to be typed and explained again and again. Customers are able to message you at any time of the day and night and a late reply might result in an unhappy customer or, worse, a canceled order.

Solution:

  • Quick Replies feature on WhatsApp Business

With Quick Replies on WhatsApp Business, you can reply to all the Frequently Asked Questions from your customers almost instantaneously. No more typing, copying and pasting the same answers or information again and again. Here’s how you do it.

  1. Open WhatsApp Business. Click on Menu Button > Settings > Business Settings > Quick Replies
  2. Tap Add (+)
  3. Set message for the quick reply. Eg. “The price of this shirt is Rs. 1800”
  4. Set the keyboard shortcut for this quick reply. Eg. “PriceShirt”
  5. Click on Save

To use Quick Replies, just type “ / ” followed by the shortcut (eg. “ /PriceShirt “) on any chat.

  • Order Management on Shop101

Having a Shop101 storefront makes your order processing activity completely automated. All your orders are recorded and arranged on the dashboard on your app so that you can easily take account of orders that are pending approval, shipment or delivery at any time. And communicating with your customers about the status of their order is automated too; just click a button and your customers get both an email and SMS with a detailed update.

  • Away Messages on WhatsApp Business

Use the Away Message feature on WhatsApp Business to send messages to customers when you are busy. Remember, in an online business, feedback and quick response is key to customer success. Since your customer cannot see you in person, the next best thing to do is to ensure you are always there for them…even when you’re away! Here’s how you can use it.

  1. Open WhatsApp Business. Click on Menu Button > Settings > Business Settings > Away Message
  2. Turn ON Send Away Message switch
  3. Tap on the pencil icon to edit and set the Away Message. Eg. “Thank for contacting Awesome Store. We are unavailable at the moment but eager to respond to your message. Please visit our online store www.shop101.com/awesomestore to view our product range.”
  4. Define the schedule for your Away Message. Choose any one option between Always Send (Away Message will be sent to any incoming message), Custom Schedule (Away Message will be sent to incoming messages between specific times) or Outside of Business Hours (Away Message will be sent to incoming message arriving outside business hours defined in your WhatsApp Business profile)
  5. Click on Save

Objective: Separate business communication from personal communication

Problem: According to WhatsApp, close to 80% small businesses use WhatsApp for day-to-day communication with their customers. But mixing business messages with personal messages on WhatsApp is often a recipe for disaster, especially when your business is growing and the number of messages in your WhatsApp inbox becomes unmanageable. We’ve all faced embarrassment when a private message intended for your friends gets sent to your customers by mistake.  

Solution:

  •  Business Profile on WhatsApp Business

Business profile works as your business’s visiting card. It can help you create the right first impression in customer’s mind. Here’s what you should fill in your WhatsApp Business profile.

  1. Open WhatsApp Business. Click on Menu Button > Settings > Business Settings > Profile
  2. Profile picture – put a picture of your business logo or, if you don’t have one, a picture of your product(s)
  3. Business description – 2 or 3 lines about what you sell and what can customers expect in your products and service
  4. Official email – professional email address which you check regularly and respond to
  5. Store address – physical address of your store or business location. You can also set a precise location on the map as well
  6. Business hours – set the times and days of the week your store is open for business. This information is also used by WhatsApp Business to trigger Away Messages
  7. Website – your online webstore, for eg. www.shop101.com/awesomestore

Pro tip: Getting a website for your business becoming difficult? Worry not! Get a Free professional ecommerce ready website on Shop101. Create a beautiful website at no cost using their free app, no credit card required. Visit www.shop101.com for more details or download app at www.shop101.com/app

  • WhatsApp Sharehead on Shop101

The Shop101 WhatsApp Sharehead brings your entire catalog of products and order related information on WhatsApp. Just click on the Sharehead Bubble and get access to all your products which can be shared easily to any WhatsApp contact without leaving the WhatsApp window. What’s more? When your customers message you on WhatsApp, you can see the details of the current order right there on the WhatsApp chat window.

  • Statistics insights on WhatsApp Business

The Statistics feature on WhatsApp Business gives you the power to make decisions about your marketing efforts. If you’re confused about which messages or offers work better with the customer then use Statistics to judge their performances and make the right decision about them.

To see your message statistics, open WhatsApp Business. Click on Menu Button > Settings > Business Settings > Statistics.

Pro tip:  Send different messages on different days and note down their respective statistics. Compare later to find out which one worked better for your business.

Objective: Create an official communication channel for your business

Problem: Trust is one of the biggest factors for success in selling products online. With the heavy increase in individual online sellers, as well as reports of fraudulent ecommerce transactions (such as soap bricks delivered instead of mobile phones), trust is even harder to earn these days. This could mean a loss of sales as well as loss of customers.

Solution:

  • Greeting Message feature on WhatsApp Business

A warm Greeting Message on WhatsApp Business is the best welcome you can give your customers. It drives immense trust in a new customer as well as gives you the comfort of not having to worry about a proper welcome to potential customers, especially when you are occupied. Here’s how you can activate it.

  1. Open WhatsApp Business. Click on Menu Button > Settings > Business Settings > Greeting Message
  2. Type the message you’d like to greet a new customer with. Keep it short, warm and sweet. For eg. “Hello. Welcome to Awesome Store. Our famous leather sandals are back in stock. How may we help you?”
  3. If you like, set WhatsApp Business to automatically trigger a Greeting Message on two occasions – 1) when a new customer messages you for the first time and 2) when a customer messages you for the first time after 14 days
  4. Click on Save
  • Own ecommerce store on Shop101 with Trustmarks

Shop101 gives you the power to launch your very own e-commerce storefront within minutes. And your newly created storefront contains all the right Trustmarks (such as FedEx, MasterCard, VISA, American Express and many more) from the get-go. And that’s not all. Your Shop101 storefront is fully HTTPS Secure so that your customers can shop at your store with the knowledge and comfort that all their information is encrypted and fully secure. So, what are you waiting for? Visit www.shop101.com for more details or download the app at www.shop101.com/app.

 

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WhatsApp Business Tips & Tricks: How to use WhatsApp Business

1.3 billion people currently use WhatsApp to stay connected with each other. As of February 2017, WhatsApp attracted 200 million monthly users in India alone. Hence, It comes as no surprise that businesses are increasingly using WhatsApp to interact with their customers.

“Over 80% of small businesses in India say WhatsApp helps them both communicate with customers and grow their business today.”

(Source: Morning Consult study)

With the aim to improve the business experience, WhatsApp recently launched a free-to-download separate application, WhatsApp Business. The brand new app is set to help small and medium-sized businesses bring their business online and run it off of their mobile phones.

How to make the most out of WhatsApp Business?

The application pretty much looks the same until you go to settings which has a new section called Business settings. Business settings contain 3 important features.

Business Profile

Think of business profiles as a visiting card for your business. It plays a crucial role in creating the right first impression in customer’s mind. The profile menu lets you add a business address, category, description, business hours, email address and most importantly, a website.

“70.7 percent of internet users in India will have purchased products online by 2020.”

(Source: Statista study)

With the rise of online shopping, adding a business website to your WhatsApp Business profile will make a tremendous difference. But a lot of Indian businesses do not have an e-commerce ready website due to lack of exposure, finances, or technical expertise.

Messaging Tools

Away messages are a great way to maintain a communication with customers even when you’re not available to attend to them. You can set up an away message when you’re busy and cannot directly communicate with the customers.

Greeting messages are sent to customers who message you for the first time. You can craft an introductory message about your business.

Quick replies, another great feature. Business owners always get a set of similar inquiries/ questions from customers. With quick replies, you get to make keyboard shortcuts for answers to such inquiries, so you don’t have to re-type the same message to every customer.

Statistics

The third feature in the business setting will give you the power to decide if your marketing is working or not. If you regularly send multiple messages to customers and are sometimes confused which message appeals more to them, then Statistics can help you. See how many of your messages to your customers are sent, delivered and read.

Labels

It allows you to label every chat or customer and there are different options to choose from. For example,

  1. New Order – Tag customers who have placed new orders
  2. Pending payment – Tag customers who still have not made payment
  3. New customer – Tag customers who need your special attention
  4. And you know what’s even better? You can create labels of your own.

WhatsApp Web

Just like in normal WhatsApp app, you get to manage your chats on a desktop, you can do the same with WhatsApp Business. Attend to your customers separately and efficiently on WhatsApp Business Web. So much power now in your hand!

How to get started with WhatsApp Business?

WhatsApp Business app is now available to download from Google Play store. Both Business app and the messenger app can run on the same device but will need two different phone numbers. WhatsApp Business app just adds new features to your existing WhatsApp messenger app, so if you wish, you can migrate to the business app with your existing phone number.

Use WhatsApp Business to stay close to your customers in a much better way and grow faster. We will come back later with more tricks and tips.

Till then, happy selling!

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