Starting an online shop selling food & drink

[anonymous-user]

I've had an idea for a little while, in it's most basic form it's selling food in the UK from other countries online.

I havent done anything like this before, I'm not sure how much demand there is so I dont wanna chuck £££ at the idea either but at the same time if I'm going to give it a go I'd like to do it properly. My main issue is what method to use to sell, I'm not sure how difficult starting and running an online store is, I did think about eBay for ease of use, payments etc but it doesn't scream professionalism and I dunno how many people tend to go to eBay for food stuff.

The rest of it seems pretty straight forward.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/pointers

[nyxster]

The quickest way to get started is something like squarespace. It has nice templates and is mostly drag and drop so ideal if you don't have coding skills. It has a fully integrated e-commerce store management and you can directly integrate stripe to take online payments etc as well as integrate a mailing list from mailchimp or someone, you can tie the blog to push to facebook, instagram, twitter.

So to get started cheaply I'd start with a simple site, then push your products with some well written content on your blog i.e recipe ideas that improves your google presence and pushes to facebook and instagram, then spend a small amount on facebook/instagram advertising to promote your content and build up a following - use squarespaces inbuilt discount voucher scheme to convert your content into sales with promo bundles for things you need in the recipes. If it goes well then set up a youtube channel with cooking content featuring your food, again linking back to your website.

At a basic level you are looking at around 20 quid for a domain, then 20 quid a month for your website, then budget 10-25 a week minimum for facebook/instagram adverts for a few months then set aside a percentage for continued promotion.

don't forget offline promo - get some branded recipe cards printed up with a time limited voucher code on and get a little stand at a shopping centre or event.

asides from the logistics the website and online is fairly simple - facebook business page, instagram, twitter, blog - the key to success is creating engaging content that captures eyeballs and builds your brand.

if you lack the abilities post a intern job at your local uni, you'll find a few marketing students who'll likely be happy to do your content and PR for a reasonable amount, and most millenial students are better able to generate significant online tribes than big agencies. Consider a tue up with a local resteraunt chef to do your recipes / videos using your food as a joint promo.

if you need funding check out the virgin startup loans page - government backed scheme and provides not just funding but mentoring and support.

[User name]

I assume you've already got the legalities and sourcing/ import etc covered?

Is the food/drink perishable?

And are there any competitors?

[anonymous-user]

nyxster said:

The quickest way to get started is something like squarespace. It has nice templates and is mostly drag and drop so ideal if you don't have coding skills. It has a fully integrated e-commerce store management and you can directly integrate stripe to take online payments etc as well as integrate a mailing list from mailchimp or someone, you can tie the blog to push to facebook, instagram, twitter.

So to get started cheaply I'd start with a simple site, then push your products with some well written content on your blog i.e recipe ideas that improves your google presence and pushes to facebook and instagram, then spend a small amount on facebook/instagram advertising to promote your content and build up a following - use squarespaces inbuilt discount voucher scheme to convert your content into sales with promo bundles for things you need in the recipes. If it goes well then set up a youtube channel with cooking content featuring your food, again linking back to your website.

At a basic level you are looking at around 20 quid for a domain, then 20 quid a month for your website, then budget 10-25 a week minimum for facebook/instagram adverts for a few months then set aside a percentage for continued promotion.

Thank you for the in depth reply. Although a lot of the items dont lend themselves well to 'recipes' as such, I can see how the blogs and social media work can still be utilised to promote the products. I'll have a look at the tools you mention, the lack of coding experience sound sup my street!

User name said:

I assume you've already got the legalities and sourcing/ import etc covered?

Is the food/drink perishable?

And are there any competitors?

Legalities wise I think initially the only thing I need to worry about is english labels. That might change if I start selling beers and wines but in the short term that wont be an issue. Although I'm in entirely sure about the sugar tax and bringing in drinks that are over that limit, might have to look into that.

The food and drink is perishable but all have a long shelf life so shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I have found a few competitors, most seem to be either extortionately priced or have a limited range of items.

Background story;

This all come about from me and my mate doing random trips to cities and towns across western Europe. We spend hours wondering around the supermarkets finding things we dont have in this country to bring home to try. Everything from cakes and chocolate to drinks and dipping sauces. After a few trips we were getting requests from friends/work colleagues, for things they miss from trips/home that they cant get over here, or can but at a vastly inflated price. After our last trip back while I was unpacking all the Currywurst Bifi snacks I though why not try bringing enough back to sell online.

Of course there's every chance that I'll quickly find out there's no demand for a lot of this stuff and it's just part of our strange trips but I figure if it's not going to cost me a pile of money to try then why not give it a go.

[leemanning]

[quote]
I have found a few competitors, most seem to be either extortionately priced or have a limited range of items.


[/quote]

Have you found out if this is because they are greedy & lazy or is there a genuine reason behind it?

In terms of ads, you could target on Facebook those people in the UK who have checked in abroad in the country of items that you sell. Also those 'travelling to XXXX' along the lines of "Order this for when you're home" etc

[anonymous-user]

leemanning said:

Have you found out if this is because they are greedy & lazy or is there a genuine reason behind it?

In terms of ads, you could target on Facebook those people in the UK who have checked in abroad in the country of items that you sell. Also those 'travelling to XXXX' along the lines of "Order this for when you're home" etc

I haven't, I think there's a degree of greed, particularly the places selling bottles drink or sauce at 4 or 5 times the price of their original price. I have found a couple of places that sell some bits for more reasonable prices but they have a very limited range and the online shop seems to be a bit of an add on to a deli or bakery.

The targeted FB ads sound like a good idea.

[jammy-git]

What type of food and drink are you looking to sell and what type of delivery method?

[48k]

You say "I dont wanna chuck £££ at the idea" so how do you plan to obtain stock and manage your inventory? If someone wants to order something online they are pretty much going to want it next day they are not going to wait for your next trip to various European countries to buy stock.

Also "perishable but has a long shelf life" is an oxymoron. Perishable means it goes off quickly, so by definition can't have a long shelf life.

Sounds like you need to get a handle on how you're going to manage your supply chain.

[Oakey]

CaptainMorgan said:

I haven't, I think there's a degree of greed, particularly the places selling bottles drink or sauce at 4 or 5 times the price of their original price. I have found a couple of places that sell some bits for more reasonable prices but they have a very limited range and the online shop seems to be a bit of an add on to a deli or bakery.

The targeted FB ads sound like a good idea.

Or there's just little market for it hence having to sell it for more? Tesco's have part of an aisle dedicated to this sort of stuff, ie, food, sweets, drinks from the US and that stuff is expensive as fk. Think £5 for a box of cereal. See here;

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/food-cu...

[anonymous-user]

jammy-git said:

What type of food and drink are you looking to sell and what type of delivery method?

Just the stuff I mentioned above, food, drinks, sweets, snacks etc and work from there. Requests from customers would be cool and I have no issues buying a case of something to see if it sells either. To start with it'll be a bit trial and error.

48k said:

You say "I dont wanna chuck £££ at the idea" so how do you plan to obtain stock and manage your inventory? If someone wants to order something online they are pretty much going to want it next day they are not going to wait for your next trip to various European countries to buy stock.

Also "perishable but has a long shelf life" is an oxymoron. Perishable means it goes off quickly, so by definition can't have a long shelf life.

Sounds like you need to get a handle on how you're going to manage your supply chain.

When I say £££ I was thinking more that I dont want to spend thousands of pounds. I'm not going to list food then going and buy the stock once someones bought it, that would be ridiculous Can you imagine, lead time of 6 weeks on a can of drink.

I expect I'll need to spend a couple of hundred quid on initial stock then go from there. As above, they'll be a degree of trial and error to start with to see what sells, no point in buying 100 bottles of a type of sauce if it's a slow seller, so I guess smaller quantities of a range of items to start with and see how it goes.

My mistake with the 'perishable' term, we use it at work (incorrectly by the sounds of it) for anything that goes off basically.

[anonymous-user]

Oakey said:

Or there's just little market for it hence having to sell it for more? Tesco's have part of an aisle dedicated to this sort of stuff, ie, food, sweets, drinks from the US and that stuff is expensive as fk. Think £5 for a box of cereal. See here;

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/food-cu...

Thats entirely possible! I cant imagine there being much demand at the price being asked though, £12 for 4 bottle of drink that are about £4 in German is a bit OTT though.

I was looking at the Tesco US section the other day, some of the stuff is bonkers price and other stuff isn't too bad.

This is why I dont want to chuck lots of money at it without knowing if it's got potential.

[48k]

CaptainMorgan said:

I expect I'll need to spend a couple of hundred quid on initial stock then go from there.

Are you actually going to buy the stock in person on one of your European holidays or are you intending to set up arrangements with suppliers in Europe and have the products shipped to you? If so, how?

I have a nagging feeling this is going to be harder than you think it is and there is a reason why the existing business charge so much for the products.

Also - and I apologise in advance for introducing the B word to another PH thread - but when Brexit happens, it's possible that these products which would not currently be classed as being imported since its an EU to EU movement, will become classed as imports giving you a whole extra world of pain.

[jas xjr]

You could give it a try with Amazon marketplace to see if the idea has legs.
Beware that if it is successful , amazon themselves might be interested in selling the same goods.

[DSLiverpool]

Start with ebay its the cheapest way, if you get traction build a site - remember to harvest email address`s from customers after purchase as you only have 30 days.

[anonymous-user]

48k said:

Are you actually going to buy the stock in person on one of your European holidays or are you intending to set up arrangements with suppliers in Europe and have the products shipped to you? If so, how?

I have a nagging feeling this is going to be harder than you think it is and there is a reason why the existing business charge so much for the products.

Also - and I apologise in advance for introducing the B word to another PH thread - but when Brexit happens, it's possible that these products which would not currently be classed as being imported since its an EU to EU movement, will become classed as imports giving you a whole extra world of pain.

To start with I'd buy in person, if it grows enough then who knows maybe I could investigate getting products shipped direct.

The only reason I can think at the moment is the people charging mega money are just chancers and the people who sell a limited supply for a more reasonable cost get their stock delivered from the suppliers that deliver their deli/bakery stuff and thats all thats available.

Yeah the Brexit thing is a big issue, until we know for sure what the deal is then I can really make any decisions based on it though. Bloody Brexit!

[anonymous-user]

DSLiverpool said:

Start with ebay its the cheapest way, if you get traction build a site - remember to harvest email address`s from customers after purchase as you only have 30 days.

Ok, that keeps things super easy to start off with too. Harvest email address's?

[feef]

Those I know that do similar stuff, aren't making loads of money it's more of a lifestyle job enabling them to travel and enjoy the delectable comestibles.

[48k]

How much would a pitch be at a local market? That might be a way of testing the market with your first bootfull of Eurpean bounty for not much outlay

[DSLiverpool]

CaptainMorgan said:

DSLiverpool said:

Start with ebay its the cheapest way, if you get traction build a site - remember to harvest email address`s from customers after purchase as you only have 30 days.

Ok, that keeps things super easy to start off with too. Harvest email address's?

Build up a database of past customers as the likelihood of repeat purchase is high given an incentive.

[Oakey]

DSLiverpool said:

CaptainMorgan said:

DSLiverpool said:

Start with ebay its the cheapest way, if you get traction build a site - remember to harvest email address`s from customers after purchase as you only have 30 days.

Ok, that keeps things super easy to start off with too. Harvest email address's?

Build up a database of past customers as the likelihood of repeat purchase is high given an incentive.

Don't forget to make sure it's GDPR compliant