The best gift of the Digital world to us isn't social media but e-commerce. It has made shopping so easy. Do you want a new pair of glasses? Order it online. Do you want to get a white T-shirt? Order it online. Ecommerce has gone from being just an idea to our day-to-day reality.
Many e-commerce platforms have been popping up around the world. Amazon may be the most comprehensive online e-commerce platform, but there are still e-commerce stores popular locally. Lazada used to be the most popular e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. But now it has got many competitors. One of its leading competitors is Shopee.
And in this article, we’re going to tell you everything about how to sell on Shopee to help you get started quickly and confidently.
According to Wikipedia, Shopee is a multinational technology company based in Singapore. However, it has been wildly popular for its e-commerce around Southeast Asia. It was launched in 2015 by Forrest Xiaodong Li. Currently, Shopee serves people all through Southeast Asia and East Asia.
According to the information provided by Shopee in its Help section, Shopee is available in the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Shopee is currently ruling the Southeast Asian e-commerce market. It followed a C2C model, but it soon became a hybrid between C2C and B2C. Shopee and Lazada have been in competition with each other for a few years. While Sea Group in Singapore owns Shopee, Lazada is owned by Alibaba based in China.
There are many e-commerce options for sellers in the Southeast Asian market, then why Shopee?
While Lazada charges a commission ranging between 4%-8%, Shopee does not charge sellers. Though the profit margins may be less, the platform still does not charge any commission fee to sellers. So you get to keep the profit all to yourself. Any seller who wants to get started can become a Shopee seller without paying fees.
Free shipping may not be available to all buyers on Shopee, but customers who buy from sellers who are part of the Free Shipping Subsidies RM15 or RM40 program can enjoy Free Shipping with a minimum spend of RM15 or RM40. Free shipping is often an attractive selling point for prospective buyers, so you can gain more customers if you offer free shipping.
Shopee website is the fastest-growing e-commerce store in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, with over 54 million visitors in the second quarter of 2021. When you start selling on Shopee, you have a huge audience base to tap into.
Online marketplaces are a great way to sell your products because the audience is already there. You can't get this many eyeballs on your own. It's too hard to reach that many people easily with your store. Shopee sellers benefit from an already massive marketplace with a stronghold in the Taiwanese and Indonesian markets.
If you want to start your own online business in Southeast Asia, Shopee is the best platform. But where to start? How to open a Shopee store?
To start selling on Shopee, you need to register.
-Next, you have to enter the shop information like Shop Name, Email ID, Phone number, Signature(upload a scanned PDF of your signature), and write on “How did you hear about Shopee?”
Congratulations, your shop profile is done!
This process is the same for the Indian Subcontinent. In other countries, Shopee sellers will have to input similar details for registration.
There is also another way around it. You can set up the shop by verifying your number and mail id. Later you can log in to the account using your number and password. After that, you can complete your profile as well. Here is how you can do it,
-Log in to the Shopee seller centre using your number or email id.
The shop name should be reliable and relevant. Write a short, catchy description to attract shoppers to your shop.
You may include information about what kind of products you sell or when you can chat. Do not include personal information such as email or phone numbers. And while adding images, make sure they are of high quality.
Before creating your first product detail page on Shopee, you need to add an address. There are two ways to do that:
Or
Now that you have entered a valid pickup address, it is time to start product listings.
-Select My Products.
There you go, First listing on Shopee done! This is how you start selling on Shopee.
If you want to be a Shopee preferred seller, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Receiving a Preferred badge from Shopee shows that you're a reliable seller and can help boost your customers' trust. This increases the relationship between you and your customers, cementing the bond of loyalty.
Being loyal to customers means more sales for you- so it's essential to encourage these customers to buy from you.
If you want to get the badge, then visit Shopee updates. The link will guide you to a registration page to submit your IC number, along with a photo of you holding your IC. After the submission, Shopee will review whether you are eligible for Shopee preferred seller.
When you make a product list, the intention is to attract customers. A good product listing must-
How can you create product listings on Shopee stores that make people notice your products?
It is simple, and you do not need to get into any technicalities. Tailor your product listing the way you want to see a product detail page and make sure Shopee app users see your products.
You need to target people with the right buyer persona for your products. For example, you want to sell skincare products; you shouldn't target middle-aged men who mostly have no interest in the products.
Keyword research is the first step to targeting the right people. It helps you find high-volume, relevant keywords that your audience is searching for. When you publish product listings that aren’t keyword-optimized, they won’t appear in item search results in Shopee. So, if you want to start selling products, start by targeting the right audience.
Can you see what's wrong with the product description here? The product name or title is all wrong and inaccurate. It is not a midi skirt; it is a mini skirt. A minor slip-up while entering product descriptions can cost your customers.
Whether you are selling on Amazon or Shopee, great detailed product descriptions take you one step closer to conversions. To create winning product listings, here is what you need to do:
Now that you have product listings that can convert, you need to move on to the next step- Shipping. When a customer places an order, you have to confirm the order. Then you have to start shipping out the products. Thanks to Shopee, the process of shipping has become more accessible.
The best option for Shopee sellers is to use Shopee supported logistics for shipping. But you can also ship with non-Shopee supported logistics.
There are two ways to arrange shipment on Shopee, through Shopee supported logistics and through non-supported logistics. In using Shopee suggested logistics, you can use the pickup option or drop it off yourself. Here is how you can do it both -
-You have two options: I will drop off, and I will arrange pickup.
If you want the shipping company to pick up the order from your place, click on I will arrange drop. But if you're going to drop the products yourself, choose I will drop off. Then click Confirm
I Will Dropoff
You have to drop the shipment into the nearby delivery office yourself when you choose this option.
I Will Arrange Drop
After clicking on Confirm, you need to schedule a pickup.
To print the pack list, you need to follow these easy steps -
Choose Download Shipment documents and choose the products you want to prepare
Under the "Mass Download" section, select the shipping documents you want to download.
This is how you ship the valuable products through Shopee-supported logistics. But if you want to arrange the shipping yourself through non-Shopee-supported logistics, the process is slightly different from what is mentioned above.
Shopee started the brand-new RM40 Free Shipping Programme rolled out to sellers on 1 March 2021. The program offers shoppers Free shipping, with a reduced cost of 2% in service fees for free shipping.
They can also enjoy benefits such as new RM40 special items, and the sellers can use the Free Shipping Icon. If you are going to be a Shopee seller, you should start using the free shipping program by Shopee. For new sellers as well as old, this is a great program.
Shopee Sellers should use RM40 Free shipping because-
There are times when sellers sell in their own country and want to sell across countries. Shopee enables sellers to opt for cross-country shipping. When shipping internationally, you need to have a shipping solution in place to make sure you're meeting your customer's standards. With Shopee, there are two different shipping solutions for you to explore:
Shopee's fulfillment service, Fulfillment by Shopee (FBS), is available only to brands that have high sales volumes and lack fulfillment capabilities. You can sign up for the program by invitation only.
Sellers prefer FBS to do the heavy lifting for them. With Shopee, you get free and unlimited order storage, quality inspection, pick and pack, shipping, and returns. The only downside is that you may need to manage the fulfillment and shipping on your own at the start.
3rd party fulfillment centers can help you sell your products on various marketplaces, including Shopee, more successfully. One example is Easyship, an established fulfillment company located in Hong Kong. If you aren't invited to use FBS, you can use a third-party fulfillment center in your country that works well.
Shopee offers many payment options for buyers. Payment options can vary from country to country. But here are the eight verified payment methods acceptable on Shopee as mentioned on their website.
If you have a seller account, receiving payments on Shopee is also easy. A seller receives the payment when the Shopee product is delivered or when the customer confirms that they have received the order.
Shopee will release your payment to your Seller Wallet once the buyer completes the order. If the order is completed when the buyer clicks on "Order Received" or Shopee's money-back guarantee ends, the buyer has to wait for their money. Once the money has been received in your account, you can withdraw it.
From signing up to listing products to shipping the order, the entire process can be hectic. You know what you want to sell on Shopee. But while many things may be allowed in the Shopee store, some aren't. So you should know the ground rules Shopee has for sellers.
It's a must to follow a country's laws and governmental organizations when selling products. Shopee has a prohibited and restricted items policy. Generally, you cannot sell any of the following products in any of the countries:
According to Shopee's rules mentioned in their policy, the prohibited products are discussed below:
Check out the entire list here
Just listing products in the store isn't enough. You need to ensure that you are making profits. Marketing plays a massive role in any business. On Shopee as well, you need to promote your products.
If you are a Shopee seller, you can use Shopee’s promotional tools to increase sales and exposure. Luckily, Shopee provides many tools that sellers can use to increase sales and exposure. All you need is to learn how to use them effectively.
Shopee My Ads is an excellent way for sellers to engage more with their customers. With promotional ads that pop up on the most visible parts of the site, sellers can get closer to shoppers who might not have otherwise discovered them. Another advantage of Shopee My Ads is the keyword engine that makes it easy for sellers to find new keywords for their products.
Use add-on deals to turn your best sellers into a money-making machine. This powerful tool lets you offer complimentary items at a discounted price when buyers purchase what they are eyeing. The concept is that if a buyer buys a complimentary item, they will get it for a discounted price.
Bundle deals are the perfect way to encourage your buyers to buy more of your products. The critical difference between a bundle and an add-on deal is that customers must accept all the products on offer to receive the discount.
For example, if you offer a product bundle deal of "Get 4 for 30% off each", the customer must buy all four products to receive the discount.
Hyped-up customers are most likely to purchase during campaigns and holidays. Brands can take advantage of this by using add-on deals to increase sales. You can easily create bundle deals on Shopee.
Besides these promotions, you can also run Discounts and shipping fee promotions on Shopee. You just have to visit the Marketing center in the Shopee seller center. You can earn new customers through these promotions, but you also maintain loyal customers.
Offsite marketing is also an option with e-commerce websites like Shopee. You can promote your products on various social media platforms like Facebook and increase your reach. Facebook marketing has been enabling sellers to boost sales.
Facebook is the perfect place to start with your offsite marketing. Your customers are never logging into Shopee, so it's important to post updates on social media when you're running discounts, promos, and competitions.
Aside from that, if your customers gradually see your posts on social media, this will create a sense of familiarity. They'll be more likely to purchase from you when they come across your page. Instagram is another popular social media platform you can leverage in your marketing campaigns.
The key to successful Instagram marketing is to, of course, create valuable content and messaging. But, it's not just about attracting people-you also need to capture their attention. The data you'll get from Instagram will allow you to enhance your other marketing strategies. Make sure you have a business account instead of a personal one.
Shopee is the best place to sell if you are from Southeast Asia. The Shopee team makes the entire process of selling easy as a pie. If you want to market your products on various platforms, there is no better way to use video marketing.
Don't know how to make videos for social media?
Here is a way to help you out - How to make videos for social media? Offeo is a simple yet powerful tool that can help you create fantastic brand videos for social media.