[AMA] Ask me anything about e-commerce

[R4v3nbl4ck]

I've worked for 3 years for a company that has an e-commerce with $1 million annual revenue, no dropshipping.
You may think $1 million it's not that much, but the site is the 3rd most popular e-commerce in my country in that niche (a relatively unknown niche, most people don't even know there is such a thing).
I won't disclose the site, the country or the niche, but you if you are interested in selling online you can ask me anything.
Here's what I did: I built the site (WooCommerce), managed it, did most of the marketing, some customer service and other tasks as needed.
I ultimately quit because of low pay, understaffing and my boss going crazy, but it was quite an experience and I've learned a lot there.
So, if you have any querstions, feel free to ask me.

 

[Bonpensiero]

What paid channels were you mostly using to drive traffic and make money?

 

[zionbar]

can you tell us the site, country, and niche?

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

What paid channels were you mostly using to drive traffic and make money?

The paid marketing budget was split between Google ads (3/4) and Facebook ads (1/4). We also did a lot of email marketing with MailChimp.

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

can you tell us the site, country, and niche?

Not sure if serious but I can tell you that it was kind of a luxury niche.

 

[whitecupg]

how much do these companies est. spend on ads monthly?

 

[nihalsad]

Tbh $1M as annual revenue for an e-commerce company is barely anything

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

how much do these companies est. spend on ads monthly?

We spent about $5000 per month between Google ads and Facebook ads.

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

Tbh $1M as annual revenue for an e-commerce company is barely anything

True, but as I said, it's a very specific niche that basically no one knows.
Also, the company had other sources of income besides the $1 million from the e-commerce.

 

[zionbar]

Not sure if serious but I can tell you that it was kind of a luxury niche.

Nah i was kidding bro because u asked not to ask
I have a real question where was the bulk of traffic coming from? paid ? if paid what type of ads and what type of campaign strategy were they using?

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

Nah i was kidding bro because u asked not to ask
I have a real question where was the bulk of traffic coming from? paid ? if paid what type of ads and what type of campaign strategy were they using?

50% Google ads (mostly Shopping, some Search and very little Display)
30% organic/direct traffic
10-15% email marketing (MailChimp)
5-10% Facebook ads (mostly to target users who abandoned the cart, and also some cold campaigns)

 

[aspire.samee]

Country India
Product Female Cosmetics
Platforms Online.
I have a freind who imports female cosmetics from China. Since he is my Freind he gives me products in Wholesale price but for retail qty.
I am selling door to door, with female help.
How can I take this Online and how much scope.

 

[Don Kongo]

If people dont know the product what kind of GA campaign did you start of with?

 

[Fresherwink]

Tell us more about product sourcing .TIA

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

Country India
Product Female Cosmetics
Platforms Online.
I have a freind who imports female cosmetics from China. Since he is my Freind he gives me products in Wholesale price but for retail qty.
I am selling door to door, with female help.
How can I take this Online and how much scope.

Cosmetics are a great nice. If you are a beginner you could maybe try building a simple site with Shopify, which is very easy to use.

 

[MwaleedH]

How can you rank, 400,000 products website.
Can you please share some tips, Asking about its SEO

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

If people dont know the product what kind of GA campaign did you start of with?

Mostly Shopping, targeting the few people who actually know the products.
Brand awareness was mostly done with Facebook ads.

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

Tell us more about product sourcing .TIA

In that niche it's kind of a nightmare, as you can only source these products from officially licensed dealers who require you to have offline stores as well. If you don't own an offline store, or if you do but it's not up to their high standards, they won't sell you the products.
Any other niche would be 10 times easier, as you can simply look for B2B companies.

 

[R4v3nbl4ck]

How can you rank, 400,000 products website.
Can you please share some tips, Asking about its SEO

Focus on quality, not quantity. Try to have unique product descriptions instead of copy-pasting them from other sites, it really helps for SEO. I understand it's going to be a long task with 400000 products but do what you can from now on.
In my experience I've found that even unique images are important. We sort of made an experiment and uploaded some products with unique pictures (shot by us, so not found anywhere else) and these products actually ranked much better than others.
You can also add tips, instructions and maybe even your own thoughts to product description, it's good for SEO (if you use the right keywords) and your customers will appreciate it as well. Some people even emailed us just to say they appreciated how detailed our descriptions were.
And last but not least, backlinks!

 

[aspire.samee]

How to Dropship from AliExpress or XYz from China.
When the same thing is available cheaper in Indian wholesale market.
What is your view, how to select a product