Selling Your Honey Online!

Mieke Engelsma Jonathan R. Engelsma, Ph.D.

Today’s Agenda

About Us.

Why Sell Honey Online?

Alternative Ways to Sell Honey Online

Photographing Your Products

Shipping Considerations

Promoting your online store.

Quick FactsWe are a family of nine from Nunica, MI

Jonathan and Mieke both grew up on farms.

Jonathan works as a prof in GVSU’s School of Computing and starting keeping bees in 1984.

Mieke markets our honey crops at farmers markets, expos, home sales, online, etc

Family runs a sideline bee operation:

run 40-60 colonies mainly for honey production

retail the annual honey crop

sell nucs when available.

Website: http://hudsonvillehoney.com

Why Sell Honey Online?Expand the reach of your market at low cost.

Less time consuming than farmers markets, physical retail presence.

Target niche market opportunities (brides, brewers, etc.)

Customer convenience (even local customers).

Alternative Approaches

Consumer-to-Consumer eCommerce platforms: craigslist, eBay, Etsy.

“Cookie-Cutter” eCommerce Platforms: Shopify, Yahoo, BigCommerce,

Roll your own custom eCommerce website

C2C eCommerceExamples: craigslist.org, Etsy, eBay

Advantages:

easy to setup

leverage large existing user base

Disadvantages:

Loss of brand visibility - e.g., consumers are going to etsy.com, not hudsonvillehoney.com.

Fees often based on transaction volumes/amounts

Lack of portability, customization

craigslist.orgEquivalent to an old fashioned local classified ad.

Advantages:

Free and super simple to setup.

Very popular platform

Disadvantages:

transaction consummated out-of-band

scammers and weirdos

EtsyPopular eCommerce site for selling handmade and vintage goods

most sellers/buyers seem to be female… niche opportunity.

Advantages: easy to use, integrates with PayPal account.

Disadvantages: lots of nickel/dime fees that add up fast. Breeding ground for “idea stealing”

“Cookie-Cutter” eCommerce Platforms

Examples: Shopify, BigCommerce

Advantages:

Easy to setup.

Hosted on your own domain (promote your brand)

Fees are generally less onerous

Disadvantages:

Not as configurable as a fully custom site.

“Roll your own” eCommerce site

Advantages

You have complete control, e.g. most flexible, move site between cloud providers, etc.

Hosted on your own domain - extend your brand identity.

Disadvantages

Requires more technical expertise to establish

Our Solution

Multi-pronged approach:

Main website: hudsonvillehoney.com

Use Craigslist to promote local sales.

Use Etsy for niche marketing (wedding favors, holidays, etc): https://www.etsy.com/shop/HudsonvilleHoney

Example: hudsonvillehoney.com

Running Wordpress for content management

Uses WP eCommerce plugin for store front.

Integrates with USPS shipping calculator API to compute shipping charges based on weight/destination.

Integrates with PayPal for credit card payments.

Be sure your website is

“responsive”

Product Images

High quality photos of your products is an important component of your online store.

Options:

Hire a professional.

Befriend or marry a photographer.

Do it yourself.

DIY Product Images

Stuff you will need:

DSLR Camera & Tripod

Light diffusing box/tent

Studio lights

Shipping Considerations

Select a shipping method that is effective for yourself as well as your customer

Conveniently located drop offs or ability to schedule pickup.

Ability to integrate with your online store.

Rates will vary with package size/weight, destination.

Shipping

You will need to weight / estimate shipping charges in advance.

Use a postal Scale

automatically integrates with shipping providers (USPS, Fedex, UPS) to give accurate estimates.

USPSWe use USPS most frequently as rates are competitive and post office is nearby.

Added convenience & savings if buy postage online and print yourself.

Shipping calculator integrates with most eCommerce solutions.

PackingMake sure those lids are on tight!

Include a packing slip with a reference #.

Pack for worst case scenario!

You can ship glass but make sure you pack well!

Customer Relations

Consumers expect to be able to track their order, so email them a tracking number when it ships.

Set expectations in your product description: e.g., “Product ships within 1-3 business days”

Always give the customer the benefit of the doubt when something goes wrong.

Promoting your online store

Social media is not an option!

Social recommendations are very persuasive!

Double edged sword - learn how it works and use it right!

Social Media Integration

Social Media integration is a

great way to drive traffic to

your new website!

Electronic Mailing Lists

Very good way to drive repeat orders.

Don’t be spammy or people will sign off.

Make sure your newsletters are informative and not just product pitch.

Wordpress: Online Tutorial!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL97F549AEC78F2EEB

Any Questions? Jonathan Engelsma’s Contact Info:

email: jengelsma@gmail.com

web: http://hudsonvillehoney.com

twitter.com/honeyandcandles

Like us! /hudsonvillehoney

Slides available on

http://slideshare.net/jonathanengelsma