You have to put in the maximum amount of effort, and if you do that you will split some return

May 11, 2016 - PRLog -- Michael runs Kenco Spares and been operating since 1960 and since then started an eCommerce business in 2002 selling on multi-channel platforms such as eBay and Amazon. As well as having an online eCommerce store Michael also has a bricks and mortar store also called "Kenco Spares" in Belfast that has everything to do with domestic spare parts for most appliances such as Kenco and Dyson, dish washing machines, dryers etc.

Hi everyone, Michael from Kenco Spares shares his incredible journey on SellingOnlineToday!

Some thoughts from the interview
"As a business we have been operating since 1960. We have had a bricks and mortar store since then."

"We started selling online in about 2002. We started pretty early and I wish we knew what we know now back then. We have learned a good few things along the way but if I had that back in the beginning it would be a lot easier."

"It was never as big as part of the business as it is now. It was a sort of side project, that if it sold a few things every other day it's no problem but it grew and grew and grew over time until it is a large portion of the business now."

"I think in 1997 or something we made a website, now you couldn't buy anything on it because that wasn't a real thing back then. We had just a little splash page saying who we are and where we were and I think we were one of the first ones to have a website like that just because it was something that interested me."

"Originally we went on the eBay in early 2003/2004. We started selling on there. An extension of that was like eBay charges fees which makes prices difficult to manage sometimes but we were like if we have our own website we wouldn't have any fees."

"Around 2005 we built our first website. There are all sort of fun and games surrounding that."

"Every 6 months you have got to do something different. You have got to keep adding on as new technologies come."

"By adding PayPal as a payment option to your website we found that customers were a bit more relaxed."

"It's all about convenience. I mean, price is one thing but you have to look after the customer. If a customer goes on to the website and it is difficult to purchase something they're just not going to do it."

"I know all the details about the products we sell, third party business don't so you end up doing a lot of the work for them"

"You can help out a customer using a little bit of technology in your hand"

"Communication with the customer is always key."

"We have conversed back and forth with customers through the Facebook page, through direct message and that has been the most use we have got out of it but in terms of advertising and getting actual sales in it hasn't been the most helpful for us."

"The easiest way to get sales is to be the cheapest. If you are the cheapest by £20 you are more likely to get the hits from people, they are more likely to buy of you. There is a statistic with Amazon that 85% click the buy it box and 10% of people don't even look at the third party seller. Only 5% actually go on to the third party seller and check it out because sometimes you can be the buy it box and not be the cheapest."

"There is always the temptation to cut the price but you always have to mindful of the fees which are quite considerable. EBay works out at about 13% and Amazon works out at 7% or 15% depending on what the particular item you are selling is. That is a big portion and the thing people don't realise that it scales so the more expensive it is the bigger that fee is."

"There is a fine line between being competitive and being foolish and at the end of the day it is a business and you need to make some money."

"If you do it well it works out, but if you do it poorly it effects your business, they will leave a bad review and never come back."

Best Advice: "You are only going get out what you put in, so if don't put in the maximum amount of effort you not going to get anything out of it. You can put up 500 items with the worst detail possible and you won't get a single sale because the customer is going to think it is dodgy and leave it."

What do they offer?

As Ireland's largest distributor, Kenco Spares has an extensive stock of domestic and commercial appliance spare parts.

Listen online: http://www.sellingonlinetoday.com/podcast-interview/kenco_spares/

Listen on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/sellingonlinetodays-podcast/id980276311