Jane Han is the North America editor for The Korea Times. Based in Seattle, she has covered business, culture and social issues across the United States for over 15 years. She previously worked at The Boston Globe.
Why sell on e-commerce?
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This is the second in a series chronicling the trial-and-error journey of a momtrepreneur who juggles the thrills of running a business, writing and parenting.
By Jane Han
SEATTLE ― So why does it seem like everyone and their mothers are selling something online these days? Probably because many everyday people are trying to make money.
It is 2019 and if you still do not have any kind of side hustle online, it is about time you pick up the trend.
In Korea, Coupang, Naver Smartstore and Gmarket are popular e-commerce selling options, while Amazon, Shopify and eBay are big in the U.S.
One common advantage sellers see in the e-commerce platform is that it is inexpensive with little overall risk. The internet really leveled the playing field for aspiring entrepreneurs by enabling anyone with a working computer and internet connection to make money with an online business.
Unlike a typical brick-and-mortar store, you do not need capital, you do not have to worry about paying rent and you do not need to hire any employees. Instead, you get to run your business with a potential global audience regardless of where you live, you can work as little or as much as you want depending on how fast you want to scale the business. Everything is up to you.
Of course the outcome is a direct consequence of your decisions, but these factors are plenty enough to tickle the interest of today's people in all walks of life.
I have seen children as young as 13 own a cyber storefront, with the help of their parents, to 70-something retirees selling online as their hobby or post-retirement career.
As for me, this is not my first time experimenting with an internet business platform.
In 2015, I launched a shopping site via Shopify that exclusively specialized in imported baby products from Korea. I learned my lessons then. E-commerce is not as easy as it looks and you can easily end up ― or even more likely, you will most probably end up ― being a nobody in the sea of e-commerce shops.
This time, I wanted to correct the mistakes I made in my last round.
For starters, I needed guaranteed traffic. An independent no-name store in cyber world has a slim to zero chance of attracting any organic visits whatsoever. Again, whatsoever.
Another equally important prerequisite for me this time is warehousing and fulfillment so I do not have to store boxes and boxes of inventory in my house and run to the post office to ship out every order that comes in.
These reasons led me to Amazon, which is essentially a search engine with millions of shoppers who have their credit card info already conveniently on file. With a good enough product, purchase is ideally only a click away. The online retail giant also provides fulfillment ― of course with a pretty significant fee, but a service I still need.
Because I have decided on which marketplace is the right fit for me, now comes the hard part, the real part.
What should I sell?
The question where most people start ― and all too many times stop ― their business.