Where are the development opportunities for newly opened Taobao shops?
Author: Tian Keshan, E Taoke BLOG: http://jomocn.blog.sohu.com
Tonight, a young lady from Shanghai found me and then took pictures of several of my products. Why did she find me? Because I have a mask product that is the lowest price on Taobao, so naturally she could find me. Why did she buy other products after purchasing my mask? Because she thought my service was especially good and enthusiastic. During our chat, she told me, "Some crown shops are very arrogant, ignoring customers, so I don't want to buy from them." I also deeply agree with this.
A few days ago, I found a cosmetics wholesaler on Taobao. The retail price of one of his products was lower than the wholesale price. At the time, I asked him if doing this would be unfair to wholesalers. He replied, "It's you who found me. If you think the price is too high, then go find someone else to wholesale from." After hearing that, I was speechless, and naturally, I wouldn't wholesale from him. Because I am not a lowly person, even if all the wholesalers in the world have higher prices than him, I still wouldn't wholesale from him because his attitude and tone indirectly told me that such a wholesaler is not suitable for long-term cooperation.
Although many friends say it's hard to do business on Taobao, especially for newly opened shops. New shops have little credibility, so the prices are set particularly low. However, those shops with high credibility attract and retain old customers by offering discounts to compete with new competitors, causing a vicious cycle.
But at the beginning, those shops with high credibility provided especially good service because the shop owners themselves were serving customers. Once they developed, the shop owners became too busy, so they had to hire people. Naturally, the hired people wouldn't work as hard or attentively, which greatly reduced the quality of service. Therefore, this gives new shops an opportunity and space for development. I believe the development opportunity for new shops lies in service rather than price. As long as the price is not too ridiculous and reasonable, good service will naturally bring business. So, service and products are always the core focus for a businessman's long-term development, just like Taobao, which relies on products and services. Otherwise, how could Taobao beat eBay YiQiu?
However, many friends who open new shops can't improve their business. Why? Because they lack good positioning and strategic consideration before opening. What constitutes good positioning and strategy? Let's take my shop as an example. Initially, I planned to sell cosmetics. One day, while visiting a friend's house, that friend specifically sold cosmetics on Taobao, and his business was particularly good, now he does it full-time. In the conversation, we talked about many aspects of Taobao and the cosmetics market, so later I decided to do the cosmetics business because my friend would share his sourcing channels. At first, I bought a batch of goods, then painstakingly uploaded pictures and product information, and finally, the shop was up and running, but the business was consistently slow. Every night, I lay in bed thinking hard about the shop's development and way out. Meanwhile, friends also said my shop lacked distinct features and advantages. Comparing prices, some of my products didn't have an advantage, although a few products were the lowest price on Taobao, but for a newly opened shop, low prices aren't the core competitiveness. Facing this situation, I finally came up with a solution - to position the shop as specializing in masks, striving to become the largest, most comprehensive, most professional, and lowest-priced mask shop on Taobao. My Taobao shop is called "E Taoke", you can search for it to learn more. With this clear positioning, I started buying a batch of masks and promptly adjusted the prices and product categories in the shop. This is what positioning and strategy mean.
Yesterday, while chatting with a good friend on MSN who also has a Taobao shop, I looked at her store, which specializes in selling jeans, because her boyfriend specifically runs a wholesale and retail website for jeans. I think this friend's shop positioning is excellent - clear, precise, professional, and focused. Therefore, many friends when opening shops often think the more and more varied the products they sell, the better, but this isn't necessarily true. The more specialized, the faster they can develop.
Therefore, I suggest everyone reposition their shops, for example, specialize in selling shirts, socks, tea, purple clay pots, ties, glasses, underwear, etc. Only such dedication and professionalism make it easier to develop and grow faster.
Firstly, being professional makes sourcing easier, with smaller inventory and less capital required. The more diverse the products, the more complicated the sourcing process, requiring finding many wholesalers. Being professional makes it easier to familiarize oneself with and understand the products, target customers more effectively, provide more professional services and discounts to customers, and gain a competitive edge over other shops.