In the wave of e-commerce entrepreneurship, the pet market has always attracted much attention. However, for ordinary entrepreneurs, it is not easy to find their foothold in the highly competitive pet e-commerce field. This article reviews in detail the whole process of an ordinary person starting from scratch in the pet category and gradually achieving monthly sales of 150 orders through a real case.
Sister C, 32 years old, has worked for 7 years and works as a small financial ….. in a medium-sized Internet company.
I asked while flipping through the information:
Is it bad to do finance? Stable income. No matter how bad the economic environment is, it shouldn’t affect you, are you sure you want to do e-commerce with me?
Sure, Brother Dong.
Sister C is more introverted, but she still answers me very firmly. He then added:
In fact, I didn’t think about this before, and indeed, as you said, my job is very stable.
But after the company laid off a wave of people this year, I felt very insecure.
I always feel that it is not a thing to work all the time, and I want to see if I can find a small business to do by myself.
Sister C looked honest.
Hearing this, I put down the information and emphasized to her:
How can product managers do a good job in B-end digitalization?
All walks of life have taken advantage of the ride-hail of digital transformation and achieved the rapid development of the industry. Since B-end products are products that provide services for enterprises, how should enterprises ride the digital ride?
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I explained to you in advance that if you learn e-commerce from me, I can’t guarantee that you can explode orders, I don’t guarantee that you can make a fortune, and I don’t guarantee that you can make it a career.
Then what can you guarantee Brother Dong? After listening to my words, Sister C began to hesitate.
What I can guarantee is: take you to use a very low cost, avoid all possible pitfalls, and quickly complete the small closed loop of e-commerce entrepreneurship from 0 to 1, from 0 start to stable ordering.
I paused and continued:
As for whether you can explode orders, make a fortune, and make a career in the future, it depends on yourself! Hahaha.
I am also more honest, after all, there has never been a business in this world that makes others rich, and if there is, it is also a liar.
Brother Dong, you are very real. Sister C seems to have relaxed a little:
If you say that it will be done, I don’t believe it, but I’m still willing to try. But before that, I have a few questions I want to ask you.
You ask.
Given that I have answered thousands of questions, I am open to anyone’s doubts.
Come on, please ask to your heart’s content. I spread my arms and tactically leaned back in my chair.
If Brother Dong follows you to start an e-commerce business, how much money do you need to invest in the early stage? Sister C asked.
With an investment of about 300 yuan, we can run out of a small closed loop and complete the cold start of e-commerce from 0 to 1.
Brother Dong, are you lying to me?” Others say that doing e-commerce requires tens of thousands of investment. Sister C asked.
I replied with a smile:
Investing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands is for those experienced mature e-commerce players, and for ordinary people like you who don’t know anything about e-commerce, rookies, rookies, novices, and leeks (Sister C felt my ridicule). If you can’t achieve some results by spending 300 yuan in the early stage, then investing tens of thousands of yuan is also in vain.
I spread my hands and said that I was telling the truth.
All right. Sister C is skeptical, then Brother Dong, I still want to ask, do we need to stock up?
There is no need to stock up, we place an order directly from the supplier after placing an order.
Brother Dong, I am usually very busy at work, can I only work part-time?
Absolutely yes, as long as you can make good use of your off-duty and spare time to advance.
Brother Dong, I still want to ask…..
Almost okay, right? Sister.
Sister C thought about it, and seemed to be unable to ask anything, so she decided to be brave:
Then I’ll try it, anyway, the cost is relatively low, and the loss is not big if it is not done.
Then what am I going to do next, Brother Dong? Do you want to open a store first?
NO!NO!NO! I quickly interrupted Sister C, e-commerce entrepreneurship, opening a store is not the most important thing!
Next, you and I will start to break through more than a dozen hurdles, let’s start with product selection!
【First Level】Four-step product selection method Step 1: Focus on sub-categories and complete category screening
I pulled away the blackboard and started teaching Sister C.
E-commerce E-commerce, the first job to do is to choose products, so will you choose products?
Sister C shook her head: I can’t do anything.
Very good, hehehe, I like people who can’t do anything, just a blank piece of paper.
After all, they are willing to listen to me honestly.
I continued:
When we ordinary people start a business and do e-commerce, the first and most important thing is to choose products!
There is a way to select products, and I will teach you a very simple method, which is my original, called the four-step selection method!
Sister C looked confused: What is the four-step selection method? What are the four steps?
Don’t worry, I continued, these four steps are:
Step 1: Focus
Step 2: Collect
Step 3: Classification
Step 4: Orientation
Let’s start with the first step [Focus]!
What to focus on? Focus on subcategories!
Do you have any categories you want to do in e-commerce? I continued to ask Sister C.
Yes, yes! Sister C was very excited when she heard this:
Brother Dong, I have always wanted to do pet categories, and I have 3 cats at home!
The pet category is good, I gave Sister C an affirmation, and then said:
However, pets are a big category, and there are many subcategories in it, such as cat food, kennels, dog leashes, cat snacks, dog clothes, etc……..
We can’t do everything, right? After all, we have limited energy.
So focus on a subcategory,
This is the meaning of the first step of the four-step selection method [focus].
So we want to focus on a sub-category in the pet category.
Brother Dong, are there any requirements for choosing this subcategory? I feel like I want to do many categories! Am I too greedy?
Sister C asked cautiously.
I sighed.
Alas, the biggest problem for newcomers to do e-commerce is that they don’t know their ability and feel that they can do anything.
I threw a table to Sister C: [Category Five Constraints Self-Inspection Form].
I emphasized to her:
No matter what subcategory you choose, check whether it meets these five constraints.
Only by meeting these five constraints can you do this category.
If one doesn’t conform, you can’t do it.
These five constraints are:
- Visually achievable
- Sell long cycles
- A large number of Taobao sellers + there are explosive models
- Low flow cost
- Social media can be promoted
Sister C got the form and looked confused:
I didn’t expect to have so many requirements for choosing a category, so I’ll take a look at it first.
After a while, Sister C came to me, Brother Dong, I want to do the category of [cat food], I want to sell cat food!
Cat food? I gasped, but didn’t hit her directly. Instead, it is a good inducement:
Since you want to do the category of [cat food], let’s see if it meets the [Category Five Constraints Self-Inspection] table.
First, let’s take a look at the first of the five constraints of self-inspection: visual achievability.
Can we ordinary people achieve the vision of cat food?
I listed several screenshots of cat food products, and you can see that the product pictures of cat food are basically PS synthetic pictures, which require intermediate and advanced PS capabilities.
Can you PS, can you do these product pictures? I asked Sister C.
Sister C shook her head, I will only show off Meitu simply…..
You can’t even make visual pictures of cat food products, so what do you sell?
Next, let’s look at [the second article of the five constraints and self-inspection], selling long-term terms.
Let’s take a look at the sales trend of cat food throughout the year.
It can be observed that the sales trend of cat food fluctuates greatly, and in a certain period of time, there will be large fluctuations, which is basically around 618, Double 11 and other e-commerce promotions. In inactive months, cat food sales are relatively flat.
We ordinary people do e-commerce, and we do not have the ability to participate in this kind of e-commerce centralized promotion in the early stage, and what we need more is to issue orders every day, and the obvious category of cat food in the off-peak season is not in line.
Next [the third article of the five constraints self-inspection], Taobao sellers + have explosive models.
Let’s look at the category of cat food, whether there are a large number of Taobao sellers surviving on the platform, and whether these Taobao sellers sell popular products.
This check will tell us whether small sellers can survive and stand in this category.
It is a pity that 90% of the popular products of cat food are basically based on Tmall stores and big brand stores, and there are very few Taobao sellers.
This fully shows that this category has basically lost the soil for small sellers to survive.
It is difficult for even small sellers to gain a foothold in this category, let alone a newcomer like Sister C.
Next, let’s look at [Article 4 of the Five Constraints Self-Inspection], which has low traffic costs.
I helped Sister C check the traffic cost of cat food, which directly shocked me.
The traffic price of cat food has now soared to 7 yuan a traffic, that is to say, if you advertise cat food, a consumer sees your product, click in to take a look, and 7 yuan will be gone.
Such a high traffic cost basically excludes the possibility of ordinary people doing this category. The meager investment of ordinary people cannot afford to buy traffic at all.
Finally, let’s take a look at [Article 5 of the Five Constraints and Self-Inspection], which can be promoted on social media.
Although Xiaohongshu and Douyin have a lot of promotional content about cat food, the unattainable vision, the obvious sales cycle in the off-peak season, the fierce competition of big brands, and the very high traffic cost all make this category basically exclude the participation of ordinary people.
After listening to my analysis, Sister C felt deeply hit, she didn’t expect it to be so difficult to choose a category?
Then I’ll find Brother Dong again, and she has no choice but to go back.
In the next few days, Sister C was continuously beaten by me.
Brother Dong, how about making a cat nest category? Sister C asked.
We can’t achieve the vision of this category, and the product is relatively large, and it also involves assembly. Logistics and after-sales will be very troublesome. It is recommended to give up. I replied.
Brother Dong, how is the category of scratching post? Sister C asked.
This category of traffic is more expensive, 1 traffic is 1 yuan 5, and then change, I suggest.
After Sister C was beaten back by me a few times, she collapsed a little:
Brother Dong, I can’t do this, I can’t do that, so what else can I do with e-commerce?
Don’t get excited, I comfort her:
For ordinary people, it is very important to choose products in e-commerce, but this important thing is not to let you choose a category that sells well, but to choose a category that is really suitable for you.
After all, ordinary people do e-commerce, you have no money, no experience, no resources, no ability, and you can’t do many categories even if you want to.
So I suggest you observe again: you can look for some of the more everyday sub-categories in the pet category.
Sister C listened to my advice and went back to continue searching.
Two days later, Sister C came to me again:
Brother Dong, I found a category, this time it should be no problem!”
What category?
Cat bowl.
Okay, let’s take a look at this category and put it in the [Five Constraints Self-Inspection Table] to take a look.
First, let’s take a look at whether vision is achievable.
The vision of the cat bowl is relatively simple, there are many visual solutions, we ordinary people should be able to do it.
Secondly, the sales cycle of cat bowls does not have an obvious off-peak season, and they can basically be sold all year round
Then we found that there are many Taobao sellers selling cat bowls, and there are popular products, indicating that small sellers can also survive in this category.
Next, look at the cost of traffic. The traffic cost of cat bowls is very cheap, a traffic is only 0.6 yuan, which is one-tenth of cat food, which means that you can buy traffic with little money.
Finally, looking at social media, there is a lot of content about cat bowls on Xiaohongshu, indicating that it is easier for this category to gain traffic through social media.
Okay, good! This category is good, very good, I think ordinary people can definitely do it! I give Sister C a big affirmation!
This is also the first time I have noticed this category.
Then our first level, the first step of the four-step selection method – focusing on the sub-category has been completed, let’s break through the second level!
【Second level】Four-step product selection method Step 2: Collect 100 products in a targeted manner to understand the market situation
I give new instructions to Sister C:
You open Taobao, search for [Cat Bowl], and collect all the products you see, collect 100!
Collect while recording product prices!
Brother Dong, let me confirm again, do you want to collect any products you see? Sister C asked.
That’s right!
Even if it’s not a hit, do you want to collect it? Sister C asked again.
That’s right! Collect without discrimination!
Is there a template, Brother Dong? Sister C asked.
I sent her a set of templates and told her again to record 100 honestly and not to be lazy.
I asked them to collect 100 products while collecting, while understanding the product form, style, price, size, pit points of this category, but many people regarded it as a form of work to perfunctory, which gave me a headache.
I once again tell Sister C, while collecting cat bowl products, you should understand the other situations of this product again, and whether there are any hidden pitfalls.
Sister C nodded desperately, and a day later, she delivered me 100 screenshots of the cat bowl product and counted their prices.
The logic is clear, neat and beautiful, I looked at the collection table and asked Sister C again, how do you feel about the category of cat bowls now?
Brother Dong, I feel that this product is indeed easier than cat food and scratching posts, not so difficult to make. Sister C also felt its low threshold.
Very good, then let’s carry out the four-step selection method – the third step, classification!
【Level 3】Four-step product selection method Step 3: Classify 100 products and sort out the product style
After collecting so many cat bowl products, let’s categorize them and find a direction to cut into!
I made new needs for Sister C.
How to classify? Brother Dong. Sister C was a little confused.
So many products, densely packed, I’m a little messy, is it classified by material?
No, no, no, I waved my hand and said:
For such daily categories, we can classify them from the appearance style, because it is very intuitive.
I don’t really understand… Sister C is still a little confused.
Alas, I patiently guided her:
You see these cat bowls, there are cute, simple, cool, we want to classify the same style of products together.
Because consumers’ first impression of cat bowl products comes from the appearance style.
According to this idea, Sister C quickly classified the cat bowl.
So let’s take a look at what styles are classified in cat bowls.
First of all, there is a type of cat bowl style that is modeling, focusing on various creative shapes.
There is also a type of cat bowl that is a solid color simple style, which is relatively ordinary, all solid colors, and there is no flower head.
There is also a type of cat bowl that is cute pattern style, printed, with some patterns, which has a certain degree of recognition.
After classification, you will find that a small cat bowl actually has so many styles.
After the classification was completed, I said to Sister C:
Our energy, resources, and money are limited. It is impossible to do all styles. So after sorting, the next thing to do,
It’s just to choose a suitable category and cut in!
This also enters the fourth step of the four-step selection method – orientation. It has also entered our fourth level!
【Level 4】Four-step selection method Step 4: Oriented style cutting and building a product selection framework
Sister C was still a little puzzled about cutting into a style, she asked:
Why do you have to choose a style of product?
Shouldn’t it be the safest for each style of product? Isn’t it good to have more products?
I lit a cigarette and continued to patiently enlighten her:
Go outside and go to the restaurant. If there is a hot pot restaurant that makes Chaoshan beef hot pot, Chongqing hot pot, and old Beijing mutton hot pot, will you go to this hot pot restaurant to eat?
Sister C thought for a while, shook her head and said: I won’t eat it, because I will feel that this restaurant is not authentic.
Very well, I am sure of her answer.
The same is true for us to open an e-commerce store, we must focus on a style in the early stage, so that the vision, product selection, and copywriting will be built around this style, and the store will have a strong unity.
Do whatever style you want, and your store is like a grocery store.
Sister C seems to understand a little.
I went on to add:
At the same time, making a style will also attract a precise crowd!
For example, the simple style cat bowl, it is more popular, attracting the public cat people, and the cute style cat bowl attracts people who like cuteness, such as women, such as cute girls, such as teenagers.
The more focused the product style you make, the more accurate the crowd you will attract!
The more accurate your crowd, the more accurate the platform will push more accurate users to you, the higher the conversion rate, and the easier it will be for you to place an order!
I didn’t expect to focus on a style with so many benefits?
Sister C was very excited after hearing this. Directly said:
Brother Dong, I choose a simple solid color style, let’s do this style!
I looked at the picture and dismissed her:
I don’t recommend doing solid color styles.
Why? Brother Dong, according to your logic, we focus on making solid color style cat bowls, which should attract many mass users. Sister C expressed confusion.
That’s right, I added:
But the problem is that the solid-colored cat bowl is too ordinary, it is not easy to differentiate, and it is not easy to draw.
You see, this solid color cat bowl is not much different from the solid color cat bowl of another family, everyone looks similar.
So we can’t differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
In addition, if you look at the solid color cat bowl, because it is too plain and too ordinary, so it is difficult for us to highlight its beauty when we do visuals, it is not beautiful, not good-looking, it will not impress consumers, and no one will pay for it.
Sister C seems to understand a little:
Therefore, we must not only focus on the style direction of a product, focus on resources, and attract precise people.
At the same time, the style direction we cut into also creates favorable conditions for subsequent competition, such as easy to differentiate and make beautiful pictures.
yep！ I affirm.
Then I choose a cute pattern style! This style should be fine, but Sister C changed direction.
Okay, I think this category is okay too.
Is the price band counted? I continued to ask.
According to statistics, the mainstream price band of cat bowls below 30 yuan is below.
Okay, that’s it, our [product selection framework] is officially built!
I began to draw conclusions about Sister C:
We focus on the cat bowl category, mainly making creative pattern style cat bowls, and the price range is concentrated below 30 yuan.
For the next selection, we must follow this selection framework!
Okay, Brother Dong, can we start selecting products now? Sister C was a little excited.
Not yet, I held her excited hands, and then we will enter the most important visual level!
The first step of vision: find visual benchmarking and finalize the product visual plan
From the very beginning of this e-commerce project, Sister C never understood that we were shooting visuals by ourselves, and kept asking me:
Brother Dong, I still don’t understand, why do we want to take pictures ourselves? Why not just use the net map, the supplier’s map?
I took out my mobile phone, searched for cat bowls casually, and found a popular product that sold 20,000+
Then I searched for the same style and showed it to Sister C.
You can see that this popular product that has sold 20,000+ is sold with dozens of the same products, all using the exact same pictures.
I pointed to these same paragraphs and said:
You think you are a “big smart”, others also feel that you are a “big smart”, and the big smarts use the supplier’s network map, and the result is that everyone’s products are the same.
The big smarts have become big mentally retarded.
Because since everyone’s pictures are the same, it means that the products are the same, so why should consumers buy your products?
Is your product cheaper than someone else’s? I spat and spurted.
Sister C shook her head.
Is your product better quality than others?
Sister C shook her head?
Your products are the same as others, not cheaper than others, the quality is the same, the sales are not as good as others, there is no evaluation, and your store is very weak.
Then I said, “Excuse me”, and I emphasized the tone of asking:
So why should consumers buy your products?
What drives your product to make consumers buy?
Sister C suddenly realized:
Brother Dong, I understand! Therefore, the purpose of our own visual shooting is to create a differentiated vision for homogeneous products, so that our products can stand out from the homogeneous competition, so as to gain a certain competitive advantage!
Yes, I added: so we must not only do our own vision, but also be competitive, surpassing the vision of suppliers, in order to truly survive.
Good! Sister C gears up:
So what to do next?
Next, we need to develop a visual plan for the cat bowl!
I need you to find 5 competitor visual examples as our visual benchmarks.
If you are looking for a case, you must find a case with high sales, and the product is in a cute pattern style.
What is the purpose of finding these visual benchmarks? Sister C entered the usual confusion.
Of course, imitating them! “Plagiarize” them! Learn from them!
We do vision, imitate them, and we stand on the shoulders of successful people to execute.
Because their vision has been verified by the market, we only need to copy and strengthen, which is very time-saving and labor-saving!
Sister C was understood by me, and quickly found some visual cases for me to review.
Sister C and I constantly screened and eliminated, eliminating ugly visuals, complex visions, and unfilmable visions.
Finally, we chose a visual case of a popular product with sales of 6000+ as our visual solution.
After the plan was finalized, Sister C and I began to prepare for the visual shooting.
【Sixth Level】Visual Step 2: Analyze the benchmarking pictures and purchase props to make preliminary preparations
Readers who have read my articles should know that I always emphasize:
In the early days of ordinary people’s e-commerce business, the importance of vision is far greater than product selection.
Because for most ordinary people, any product you choose, there must be a lot of the same model on the market, it will not exist, there is a very high-quality product quietly hidden there, and then suddenly you are dug up by yourself.
When everyone sells the same products, the importance of vision is highlighted.
Because whether it is Taobao, Pinduoduo, Amazon, AliExpress, as long as it is a shelf e-commerce, it will involve a problem:
How can consumers tell if your product is good or bad?
He will judge by sight, by your pictures.
The better your vision, the better the product will be found by consumers; Your vision is very poor, the picture is ugly, and you are the same as others, no matter how good the product is, consumers will not recognize it.
So there is a saying in e-commerce that we are not selling products, but pictures.
The sooner you understand this sentence, the faster you can get started with e-commerce.
Then let’s continue to return to Sister C’s products.
Brother Dong, the visual plan is OK, how to implement it next? It feels hard to start, I never take pictures.
Sister C was a little apprehensive.
Don’t be afraid, I waved my hand, let’s come step by step.
First of all, we need to match our props according to the benchmarking pictures.
Then let’s analyze what props this picture has!
Sister C quickly gave a picture analysis.
This picture has 1 candlestick, 1 card, 2 foreign book props, and 4 cat bowls.
Okay, since we’ve analyzed everything, let’s go buy these props!
In order to save costs, I told Sister C to go to Pinduoduo to purchase, and even made a prop purchase form.
Doing e-commerce is also very magical, I took Sister C to open a store on Taobao, and then went to Pinduoduo to buy entrepreneurial props………
I calculated that it cost a total of 29.96 yuan to purchase props, not even more than 30 yuan……
Readers can see that Sister C’s e-commerce project has only begun to have money investment at this point, and in the previous market analysis, in fact, no money was spent.
After purchasing the props, I took Sister C and started analyzing the picture shooting.
Shooting products like this is actually very simple.
First of all, you can take pictures with your mobile phone, such as an Apple phone, or a more advanced Android phone. There is no need for a camera at all.
Secondly, through visual benchmarking, the shooting angle of such a product is also very simple, and after setting up the scene, you only need to shoot from the top.
Then this vision does not require high light (I also passed the visual solution with high light requirements).
You can shoot with natural light, and you don’t need to do professional lighting.
Sister C’s house also happens to have a balcony with better lighting, so everything is ready, just wait for the shooting props to arrive and start executing!
【Level 7】Visual Step 3: From shooting to retouching, painful visual execution
Next, we entered the seventh level, which was also the most painful level, and Sister C began to take pictures and perform visual shooting.
When some of the props arrived, Sister C built a small scene at home and carried out the first round of shooting.
What I like more about Sister C is that although she is often confused and a little clumsy, her execution is very strong.
In the field of e-commerce, the requirements for IQ and mind are not high, and the highest requirement is execution!
After all, no matter how much you analyze, no matter how much you think, if you don’t implement it, it will be in vain.
Sister C quickly handed over the pictures taken in the first round.
Forehead…… After looking at the picture, I began to guide her to optimize.
First of all, from your perspective, there is no problem with composition or anything, it’s space, are the props not ready?
Sister C replied: Yes, there are still some props that have not arrived, so the picture seems empty.
I still have to continue to add some props and fill the picture more.
After waiting for another two days and more props arrived, Sister C conducted the second round of shooting.
Brother Dong, this time the props are all here, I have also added some new props to make the picture fuller, do you think it’s much better?
I had a headache after seeing the picture, continue the guidance:
This time the picture is indeed much fuller, but your composition is a little wrong, and the cat bowl you took is all off!
Through comparison, it can be found that the main body of the cat bowl in the left benchmark picture is clear, and the picture taken by Sister C and the cat bowl products have run to the edge.
None of your pictures highlight the cat bowl body! Center the cat bowl composition! I roared.
Sister C went back to practice for two more days and submitted the third round of shooting pictures again.
This shoot added nearly 20 more than 20 props, such as bouquets and cards, and at the same time, the staggered and irregular placement of props was used to make the picture more flexible.
At the same time, it solves the problem that the main body is not obvious enough.
The visual of this cat bowl is indeed relatively easy to photograph, and it is basically very feeling. It is indeed quite suitable for ordinary people to enter the category.
I think it’s okay to shoot like this, and then let Sister C start retouching the pictures.
This picture is dark, you go to P to make it brighter and fuller.
Sister C was confused again: Retouching? Brother Dong, I don’t know how to PS, how to fix it?
Use your sister PS, you can use Meitu Xiuxiu to repair!
Sister C: I don’t know how to fix Meitu Xiuxiu, I am a straight girl of steel, and I rarely take pictures……
Alas, I covered my forehead and felt melancholy, and taught Sister C how to P picture.
First of all, give the picture as a whole + [brightness], don’t add too bright, just add a little,
secondly, + some [natural light] to make up for the lack of light on your balcony;
Secondly, + [saturation], bring some luster to this product,
secondly, + [Contrast], to increase the impact of the picture;
secondly, + [dark light], brighten the dark places as well;
Add + [Color Temperature] to make the picture a little warmer and increase the warmth.
Then + [Clarity], make this picture clearer,
Finally, adjust the atmosphere parameters to blend the whole picture….
After tuning, is the light perception of the picture much better, and the product is also full of gloss?
Sister C sighed: It turns out that just use Meitu Xiuxiu, I thought that PS must be used for retouching.
I transformed into Brother Chicken Soup and began to pour chicken soup for Sister C:
In everything we do, we must learn to find simple ways to achieve our goals, and don’t stop because there is a slight threshold.
After grinding for about two weeks, I feel that my vision has finally been polished into the style I want, which is not much different from the competition.
I solemnly announce to Sister C: The visual barrier has passed!
Next, you can start the official selection!
【Level 8】Formal product selection: Use data plug-ins to analyze 1688 product data
Finally, the selection was closed, and Sister C was a little tired, and I encouraged her that victory was just around the corner.
Brother Dong, how many products should we choose for the first time on the shelves?
Choose 10 in the early stage, don’t you go up more?
If you can sell 10 well, or if you can sell 1 product well, it is already very good! Don’t think so much in the beginning.
Oh, Sister C has some regrets.
Remember our selection framework?
Remember Brother Dong, cat bowls under 30 yuan, creative pattern style.
Very good, then let’s open 1688 and start looking for products that meet the selection framework
If it does not conform to the product framework, no matter how much it sells, we will not choose.
For example, the following products, I pointed to the screen:
Although they all sell well, they do not meet our product selection framework, so no matter how good they sell, we will not choose!
Understand, Brother Dong! What other points should be paid attention to in the selection of 1688 products? Sister C continued to ask.
A lot! I broke my fingers and taught her.
For example, if you choose this product, you should first see whether the supplier is a [gigafactory] or a [powerful merchant].
We give preference to suppliers with these labels, as their products are correspondingly of higher quality.
Secondly, we need to look at the launch time of this product, the more recently the product on the shelves, the better, because it represents the latest model in the market;
Then look at the daily sales of this product in the supplier, if this product is stable, it means that the market demand for the product is very sustainable;
Then check which specification of the product has the best sales, a cat bowl has 30 colors, we can’t sell each, we have to check which color is the best, and give priority to purchasing this color;
Brother Dong stopped! Stop, Sister C interrupted me.
Where can I see these data? How do I know how much a supplier sells per day, when it is on the shelves, and which specification is best?
Sister C asked with a crying face.
Oh yes, you haven’t installed the 1688 plugin yet. I quickly added:
We choose products from 1688, one is to use our own product selection framework to find products, and the other is to use some external tools, such as some data analysis plugins.
With these plugins, you use 1688 and someone else uses 1688 are completely different pages.
For example, as you can see from the picture below, there is no plug-in on the left, and a lot of data is missing.
If you install the plugin on the right, you will have a lot of data. This data can help us choose products better.
I helped C Sister install the product selection plug-in, and then after some careful selection, we finally selected 10 products and did a simple market analysis.
After all the selections are selected, then buy them back and take pictures! I made new demands.
Sister C’s cat bowl career has finally taken a big step forward.
[Ninth level] Create basic transformation: prepare for promotion and do a good job in product transformation
Over the next two weeks, Sister C photographed 10 products and retouched them one by one.
After all the pictures were taken, Sister C registered a Taobao store and began to upload products.
I originally thought that I would have to pay a deposit of 500 yuan to open a store, but now Taobao is 0 yuan to open a store, and there is no need to pay a deposit, so this money is also saved.
It can be seen that the cost of e-commerce entrepreneurship for ordinary people is getting lower and lower.
Let me emphasize once again that for novices to do e-commerce, opening a store is always the least important thing.
After solving all the products and visuals, it is completely too late to open a store.
You can’t even solve the product vision, so what’s the use of just opening a store?
Sister C was a little timid and kept asking me:
Brother Dong, I am a new store with 0 fans and 0 sales, can I still do it now?
I watched a lot of Douyin videos saying that Taobao’s new store can’t be done anymore…..
Instead of answering her directly, I told her:
Your question is very good, and I want to answer you after the results come out.
Next, we started to do various transformations of the new store.
Sister C: So what exactly do you need to do?
Start by giving your store a good name. I made a request, that’s no problem, I thought about Brother Dong, just call it Claw Claw Bowl Shop, what do you think?
I don’t think it’s possible, my advice to you in doing business is:
Business can be small, but the name must be loud.
Bowl shop? Bowl shop? Bowl shop? It’s a bit like the grocery store opened by the old lady downstairs in my house,
You might as well name it a little more atmospheric, just call it XX pet!
Sister C changed the name of the store to XX Pet, and at the same time made a tall LOGO.
Next, I took Sister C to do the transformation of goods.
I asked Sister C to do 1 buyer show and 1 text evaluation for each product.
The buyer show is the most important part of conversion, and the conversion rate of products with and without buyer show is several times different.
At first, Sister C was very perfunctory about the buyer’s show, hastily took a few pictures, wrote some copywriting, and gave it to me for review.
I said that you are so perfunctory, it is difficult to do a good job in e-commerce!
Buyer shows and review copy are the key to conversion, and you must think about what kind of evaluation content to arouse user empathy.
Sister C didn’t understand a little: Brother Dong, what can be optimized? Isn’t the buyer show just a normal product display?
No, think about it. I continued to guide Sister C:
Who is using your cat bowl? If you add a user’s picture to the buyer show, will it make consumers more empathetic?
Brother Dong, you mean that there should be a cat in the buyer’s show of the cat bowl, and the conversion effect will be better?
Oh, yes! Do you think consumers themselves are cat owners, and when they see the products in the buyer’s show, other people’s cats are also using them? Isn’t it more empathetic? You have to be careful in this regard!
Don’t you have a cat at home?” Just be a model for the buyer’s show!
Sister C rearranged the shooting of the buyer’s show, focusing on the use of cats in the picture, and restrained some in the evaluation copy.
After picking up inside and out, the store put 10 products on the shelves, and made a good LOGO, a store name, and a good basic transformation of products.
Let’s finally take a look at the overall visual of Sister C’s store after the product is put on the shelves.
Through her nearly three weeks of photo shooting, I think the vision has reached a very professional level.
The store is finally open! Sister C was also more excited.
I also lamented again and again that it was really not easy.
So what’s next? Sister C asked?
In the next step, let’s start testing and find the most awesome one among the 10 products!
【Level 10】Formal testing: Build a testing plan and dig out popular products
Okay, next is the test session that readers like very much.
I emphasize again:
Ordinary people do e-commerce, and only after the product vision and transformation reach the basic level, can they enter the testing process.
If you can’t even do the visual of the product well, are not competitive, or don’t even do basic transformation,
Then there is no need to test the money, because there will be no effect at all, and it is a waste of money.
For ordinary people, 10 products are actually a lot, and ordinary people can make a product in the early stage of e-commerce entrepreneurship, which is already very powerful.
So we need to find the best-performing product among the 10 products through the test, and concentrate resources to make it explode!
On May 31, 2025, I took Sister C to build an advertising testing plan step by step.
In view of the fact that ordinary people have little money, the test budget I set for Sister C is only 30 yuan per day.
Please note that this number is very important, only 30 yuan a day, which is equivalent to a cup of coffee a day.
Then let’s take a look at what Sister C’s product and vision are like.
Whether the product selection is good, whether the vision is good, whether the conversion is good, everything will be verified with data!
June 1 Day 1 Advertising cost: 0.38 yuan Most products have no data
On June 1, 2025, the test officially began.
Please close your eyes when it’s dark, so let’s take a look at what happened on the first day of testing.
On the first day of testing, 10 products were put on the shelves, 9 products had no data, and only product No. 7 had 2 clicks, spending 0.38 yuan.
On the first day of testing, it is normal to have no data, after all, the advertising plan needs a cold start, and we continue to observe.
June 2 Day 2 Advertising cost: 25.34 yuan Multiple products have additional purchases!
On June 2, the second day of the test, today’s advertisement directly spent 25 yuan.
This means that the advertising system has accepted 10 products of Sister C and is fully promoting.
Excitingly, on the second day of the test, many products had [add shopping cart], of which product No. 4 got 3 [add shopping cart] at once!
I am very excited, having [add shopping cart] data not only means that the advertising system has pushed the product to the correct crowd, but also means that consumers are interested in Sister C’s products!
Because for consumers, being able to add this product to their shopping cart itself represents a high recognition of the product!
I excitedly said to Sister C: If this data can be maintained, your product is likely to be popular!
Sister C was very excited, and we continued to observe.
June 3 Day 3 Advertising cost: 28.96 yuan Today’s data is poor, and there is no additional purchase of all products
The test was carried out on the third day, and today’s data was very poor, and all products were not added.
Yesterday, I was able to get 3 additional purchases [No. 4 product], and today it is only the largest traffic, but there is no 1 additional purchase.
Sister C was a little sad when she saw today’s data:
Brother Dong, didn’t you say that my product is going to be popular? Why is there no additional purchase today? Is the product not very good?
Don’t worry, okay? I comforted Sister C:
When we measure the model, we are not anxious because of the bad data of one day, but we have to observe the data for several days.
It is very normal for e-commerce advertising to have bad data in a day.
Because advertising is volatile, you still have to be patient.
Let’s keep watching!
June 4 Day 4 Advertising cost: 30 yuan The store officially issued an order! Two orders in a row!
The test has entered the 4th day, today the advertising cost is 30 yuan, the daily advertising budget has been spent, but the most exciting thing today is that the C sister store has officially issued an order!
And it’s two orders in a row! Product 1 and Product No. 5 both issued 1 order.
Product 1 not only issued 1 order, but also got 3 additional purchases.
The test went smoothly beyond my imagination, and I was able to get multiple additional purchases on the 2nd day, and I was able to officially open two orders on the 4th day, which shows that Sister C is very good at selecting products and visually executing them.
Sister C couldn’t believe it:
Brother Dong, is this an order? So easy?
What is not to believe, I explain:
As long as the product is good, the vision is good, the price is OK, the conversion is in place, and consumers have demand, they will definitely place an order, what a logical thing.
However, we must continue to observe, because the initial orders will be accidental, and only continuous orders can prove that the product is OK.
June 5 Day 5 Advertising cost: 29.54 yuan No order was placed today, and product No. 4 got 2 additional purchases
On the 5th day of the test, there was no order today, but product 4 got 2 additional purchases.
Sister C began to understand that advertising data is volatile, so even if the data is not good today, there is no anxiety, but knows to be patient.
Then let’s continue to observe.
On June 6th, the 6th day of the test Advertising cost: 29.28 yuan 4 orders in a row and got 8 additional purchases!
On the 6th day of the test, Sister C’s store issued an order again! And it’s 4 orders in a row!
Product No. 1 has 4 orders in a row! And got 8 plus carts!
Sister C couldn’t believe it, she actually made 4 orders in a row!
I am also very excited, and the continuous orders prove that the orders are not accidental.
Instead, it represents the product, visuals, and advertising to a very accurate level.
And the product not only issued an order, but also got 8 additional purchases in one day, which means that the product is very good!
On June 7th, the 7th day of the test Advertising cost: 29.82 yuan 8 orders in a row! Get 12 add-ons!
Product No. 1 exploded!
On the 7th day of the test, product No. 1 issued 7 more orders! Get 7 add-ons.
Product No. 4 also issued 1 order!
The situation is already very clear, no need to test anymore, product No. 1 is the brightest boy, it is the explosive product that we want to concentrate resources on!
After 7 days of testing, a total of 173.72 yuan was spent, 14 orders were traded, 46 additional purchases were obtained, and a potential explosive product was tested.
Is it worth it to test a popular product for less than 200 yuan?
Well worth it!
So does it cost a lot of money to do e-commerce? I asked Sister C: Do you need to invest tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands?
Sister C shook her head desperately: No need, no, I have been fooled by short videos before.
[Eleventh level] in-depth optimization level: conduct a comparing duel to comprehensively optimize products
What to do after tapping into potential explosive products?
Start deep optimization,
Because the test has proved that product No. 1 is a potential hit.
Then we must do the best at all the conversion points of this product in order to continue to blow it up!
I took Sister C and began to comprehensively optimize product No. 1.
This optimization is not aimless optimization, but targeted optimization according to the situation of competitors.
You quickly collect the same model of the No. 1 product on the market, the best-selling competitors, let’s see where the gap is with the competition, to determine the optimization direction.
I made new needs for Sister C.
Sister C quickly found the same model that sold better on the whole network and No. 1 product.
Next, let’s check what competitive advantages and disadvantages we have compared with these competitions!
Start by looking at five images.
There are 3 competitions that use network maps, supplier pictures, and serious homogenization! We took our own original pictures, and they looked better than them! We have a competitive advantage!
Sister C was a little puzzled, Brother Dong, there are two competitors who also took pictures by themselves, why are the sales very poor?
Because although they took pictures themselves, they did not differentiate their style from the network map.
The network map is a simple style, and the two companies are also simple to take pictures of themselves (readers can take a look at the picture examples, the left side is a number of common network maps, and the right side is the pictures taken by other competitions. ）
It is equivalent to everyone spinning in one style, which does not make differentiated competitiveness at all.
The purpose of our visual is not only to make originality, but also to make visual style to capture a more subdivided group of people.
Although our pictures are not as professional as theirs, we have stepped out of the cute and cute style,
They grab simple people, we grab cute people, don’t you think there is room for competition and differentiation?
The test data also proves that our strategy is successful!
Next, check the video, there is a video in the competition, we don’t have it, you hurry up and make up for it!
Next, check the freight insurance, compete for freight insurance, we don’t have it, you hurry up and add it!
There are many buyer shows, and we will continue to make up for buyer shows, and make up for 10 more buyer shows! Mobilize all your cat friends around you and ask them to help you shoot a buyer’s show!
The competition has put a coupon, and we also want to add a coupon!
Sister C said good, okay, while recording! So much to do………
Next, what are the selling points of the products, and see if the marketing selling points of our products are not enough? All have to be added.
I made a new request.
Sister C is confused again, Brother Dong, how to analyze the marketing selling points of the competition?
You disassemble their product detail pages and find out what selling points are in their product detail pages, don’t you know?
I took Sister C to disassemble the business details page of the competition, counted several major selling points, and added them to our products.
After dismantling several product detail pages, Sister C excavated the nine major selling points that Cat Bowl wanted to highlight, and added these marketing selling points to our products.
Well, now we also have an advantage over the competition in terms of marketing selling points, we have 9 selling points, and they only have 4 selling points.
In addition to the fact that sales are indeed not as good as the competition, we have an advantage over the competition in all areas.
Sister C asked at this time, Brother Dong, do you want to adjust the price, and sell it for 19.9 yuan.
Okay, I waved my hand, we sold 21.9 yuan, 2 yuan more than the competition!
Brother Dong, how can we sell more expensive than others? How can this compete with them? Sister C looked puzzled.
You have to study the psychology of consumers. I started teaching Sister C again.
Our visual cuteness, cute, and cat users who can buy our products must be some consumers who are gentle in their hearts and more concerned about cats.
We do a good job in visuals, and the selling points are complete, which is enough to impress them, since we can impress them, is the consumer difference of 2 yuan? It’s not bad at all. Is 2 yuan still called money now? It’s not enough to buy an ice cream.
And we are 2 yuan more expensive than other competitors, which can prove that our products are better.
Some people shop around and only buy cheap, some people buy things, they will pursue better products within a certain budget, buy a peace of mind, spend 2 yuan more to buy a peace of mind, they are willing.
With 2 yuan more, we will spend more money to catch up with the competition as soon as possible.
Sister C said that she learned again.
Get the first 100+ sales
After the in-depth optimization was completed, I took Sister C to build multiple advertising plans and began to focus on promoting product No. 1
Under multiple efforts, product No. 1 quickly got the first 100+ sales
It is rapidly moving towards monthly sales of 200+.
I asked Sister C, do you remember the question you asked me at the beginning?
Sister C: What is the problem? Brother Dong, what’s the problem?
Wipe, she had long forgotten the question she had asked.
You asked at the time if you can still do Taobao, a new store, 0 fans, 0 foundation?
I helped her recall.
My answer now is:
As long as you choose the category well, do a good job of vision, do a good job of transformation, do a good job in product selling points, and do a good job in measurement, you will always have a chance.
Because the shopping logic of consumers will never change, the logic of business will never change, as long as you keep doing logical things, you will never worry about the ebb and flow.
Rather than blindly pursuing any market dividends, it is better to honestly do a good job in the basic skills of e-commerce.
That’s my final answer to this question.
Full text summary
Then let’s summarize the whole process of Sister C’s entire e-commerce light entrepreneurship from 0 to stable orders.
First of all, the pet category is a category that many people like very much, but from the perspective of e-commerce entrepreneurship, many sub-categories, such as cat food, dog food, cat nests and other products, basically exclude the participation of ordinary people.
They are expensive in traffic, fierce in competition, and full of big brands.
Therefore, ordinary people still have to try to cut in from some segments, more down-to-earth, and products with lower unit prices to have a chance.
No matter what category you do, vision is always the most critical part of ordinary people’s e-commerce entrepreneurship, you can’t make high-quality vision, even if you choose a good product, there is no competitiveness,
In terms of choosing product style, it is necessary to give priority to style products that are easy to draw and visual, after all, consumers are visual first at this stage, and will give priority to judging whether the product is OK through visuals.
In 1688 product selection, you must learn to use plug-ins and judge the quality of suppliers and goods through some labels.
After the product is put on the shelves, it is necessary to carefully arrange the basic conversion actions, store name, LOGO, product detail page, evaluation, and buyer show, because these will play an important role in conversion.
Ordinary people must learn the basic operations of e-commerce promotion, because if you know e-commerce promotion, you will scientifically test the model, and only by being able to test the money can you find the best quality products and find the point where resources are concentrated.
After finding a high-quality product, it is necessary to carry out in-depth optimization, comprehensively compare with the competition, and have a competitive advantage over the competition as much as possible in multiple links, so as to have the opportunity to explode this product.
Don’t worry too much about whether the competition in e-commerce is fierce now, whether it is easy to do, and whether there is still a chance to start a new store from 0.
With these efforts, it is better to pay attention to products, vision, conversion, consumer psychology, and competition.
Okay, then today’s full text has been all explained, thank you for reading,
