E-commerce entrepreneurship: buy or traditional?

In fact, group buying is also a kind of business, where the traditional mode refers to the direct transaction mode of E-commerce. For the discussion of e-commerce mode and e-commerce operation mode, please refer to the article "in-depth discussion of e-business model and e-business operation mode".

Group buying business is undoubtedly the most popular topic for consumer E-commerce, since it is blue sea, far from the Red Sea? If you are not obsessed with "buy" this e-commerce model, let us take a look at the nature of the group buying business, group buying and traditional sales of the common and differences.

From which we can see the biggest feature of group purchase website operation, can be said to be the advantage: the commodity is very simple (SKU very few), this means that the supply chain management or commodity management, logistics processing are very simple, and these two parts can be said to be the most hidden cost of E-commerce website operation.

But the threshold for group-buying sites to continue to operate is not low:

1/Group Purchase website Commodity prices are very low, quite attractive to consumers. This in itself is the biggest selling point of group buying website. So you have to be able to support the low priced sales policies of the goods and make a profit, whether it is to reduce purchasing costs or price subsidies. Also because it is difficult to see a profit model beyond the platform of the Business-to-consumer;

2/If it is for the Life category catering service industry services category of goods (coupons) sales, such goods have a strong regional consumption characteristics. In other words, business needs to be replicated on a large scale (in different regions) to have an effect. So you have to have regional business replication capabilities. Otherwise, you must make a major breakthrough in the number of items and sales, in order to balance the lack of goods (SKU) caused by the low net purchase sales problem;

Buy more, consumers benefited, but suppliers can't stand. Therefore, the number of group purchase sites can continue to operate for a long time, will never exceed the traditional consumer shopping site. It can be said that the threshold for group buying is low, but to continue large-scale operation, the threshold is not low, and the survival rate is low, it is not easy to play!

What are the advantages of the persistence of traditional business websites? The number of items (SKUs) is definitely an advantage. Also, the number of SKU items is generally proportional to the sales of the site. and the increase in page browsing volume, may make the site's advertising value improved.

Traditional Web sites also have "Professional category" and "whole category". The former refers to a site focused on the sale of a particular category of goods, such as the former Jingdong and former Dangdang, which focus on 3C products, and books and audio-visual products. But now it has evolved into a "whole category" E-commerce site. This shift, I think, is a mature way of thinking about e-business operations. Initially focused on a certain type of goods, so that the release of funds more concentrated in order to quickly establish a professional shopping service website brand image, improve E-commerce project success opportunities. Then, along with the website brand establishment, the customer, the flow stability, the commodity policy is bound to expand to target the same kind of customer object's other commodity category, in order to maximize enhances the market promotion benefit, expands the sales performance. So I think, "Professional category" and "whole category" is basically just different stages of business e-business mode, is a commodity strategy!

For those who are ready to devote themselves to consumer-oriented e-business entrepreneurs, please carefully consider the mode of cooperation with the supply chain before considering the E-business model!