5 Tips for Mobile Retailers to Churn Cashflow within the First Month
Having a steady cash flow is an essential aspect of running a successful business.
Think of your cash flow as the lifeblood of your business. The blood coursing through your veins gives life to every limb in your body.
Similarly, a steady stream of revenue allows you to invest in every aspect of your business. If you can’t maintain a steady cash flow, your business will eventually go down.
If you do everything right, maintaining your company’s cash flow efficiently will become easier as time goes by.
However, it is possible to focus on achieving a good churn rate right from the start. This is especially important to do if you are starting with a smaller budget.
Here are some tips that will help mobile retailers maintain a steady cash flow from the get-go.
1. Use Dropshipping Methods
Dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to start a mobile retail business online and generate a quick, steady cash flow right from the beginning.
With dropshipping, you don’t have to order or stock any inventory. When a customer orders a product from you, you place an order for that product with the manufacturer, who takes care of the shipping and handling for you.
Since your inventory expenses only occur after a sale has already been made, the cashflow worries that are experienced by regular retail owners are simply non-existent.
Of course, dropshipping is not for everyone. However, even if you are not running a dropshipping business, there are plenty of ways to help generate a good cash flow from the first month onward.
2. Don’t Overstock
If you don’t want to end up with inventory that isn’t selling, don’t fall into the trap of ordering too much stock at once. This is especially crucial in the beginning when you haven’t yet determined which products are popular.
It may be tempting to purchase more inventory than you probably need if a sudden time-limited deal or discount appears, but exercise self-control.
In the beginning, order products in limited quantities. If you see that a product is very popular, order a larger quantity next time.
Don’t worry too much about a product being out of stock in the beginning. There’s a time for that, but right now you’re still figuring out what’s going to sell and what’s going to flop.
Besides not ordering too much of one particular product, consider focusing on fewer products when starting out.
During the startup phase, your customer base isn’t going to be as large as it will be in a year or two from now. At that point, you can add many products and see which ones are popular.
However, in the beginning, selling too many products will probably result in some of them never being sold.
Stock management is crucial. Do your research before you decide which products to sell and how many to sell. The most important thing is to find the right balance – you don’t want to offer too limited a variety either.
3. Focus On Conversions
In e-commerce, there are two things you need to focus on when setting up marketing and advertising campaigns.
First, you need to set up ads that will bring people to your website. Even more importantly, however, you need to focus on converting those visitors into customers.
When starting out, focus on a higher conversion rate as opposed to simply getting a lot of clicks on your ads. This will lead to a better marketing ROI and a better cash flow.
In addition, once people are on your site, make purchasing a product as quick and easy a process as possible.
This is especially important for retailers targeting the mobile market. Mobile users are often in a hurry and on their way to do something else.
- Make sure your site is responsive.
- Reduce the fields customers have to fill out on forms.
- Offer the ability to pay with several different methods.
- Make sure your site doesn’t take long to load.
In general, consider spending more of your budget on getting people to make a purchase as opposed to simply advertising.
For example, you can create loyalty or reward programs.
You can invest in email marketing and send out deals to previous customers or empty cart notifications.
4. Target the Right Demographics
Do comprehensive market research before investing money in an advertising campaign.
Part of achieving success through advertising is conducting split tests and tweaking your campaigns accordingly.
However, by doing in-depth research before you even start, you are likely to have better success and a better conversion rate.
5. Target Consumers at the Right Point in the Decision Process
Not all online consumers are at the same step in the purchasing process.
Some consumers are searching for information about a product they just heard or read about. They’re not yet convinced that purchasing it is something they really want to do.
Others have not yet heard of the product and are simply searching for a product that provides a solution to the problem they are facing.
Others know they want the product, but are researching different sellers, brands, editions, and prices so that they get the best deal.
Many consumers will make a few online searches before they finally buy a product.
When advertising, always try to target the consumers who are further down in the purchasing process. In other words, target those who are ready to buy.
This plays out in many ways.
Let’s say you are targeting online searchers with Google Adwords. Choose target keywords that indicate someone is already knowledgeable about a certain product.
For example, “cheapest [color] [product name]” or “[product name] [brand name] [model]” would be better keywords to target than simply “[product]” – who knows what kind of information the searcher wants with such a broad keyword like that?
Facebook Ads also gives you the opportunity to target people based on their demographics, and, most importantly, things they have expressed an interest in.
Final Words –
Generating a quick churn rate right from the beginning requires dedicated effort.
However, by focusing on the right things, it’s entirely possible.