Ghost Commerce: Trending

There’s a relatively new trend in the digital world called Ghost Commerce. This is all about starting an online store with someone else’s products or services. It’s a great way to get on the online store bandwagon without manufacturing items yourself.

Take Uber Eats as the perfect example. Uber Eats has taken dining to a whole new level. Now you can choose from various restaurants and cuisines and order meals that are delivered hot to your home. This online service delivers your favourite meal to you, without having a kitchen!

Best of all, if family members prefer different cuisines, that’s no problem either. You can order dishes from selected restaurant menus and have these delivered to your home simultaneously.

The taxi service Uber does much the same as Uber Eats: they have a team of drivers who either own their vehicles or use Uber’s, and take you wherever you want. Often this taxi service is provided without owning a single taxi! Yes, it’s ingenious, but if you think out of the box, you too could provide Ghost Commerce to the public.

Let’s delve a little deeper.

Why Ghost Commerce is Popular

We’re not talking about this as a new marketing strategy taking over; it’s more about the fact that businesses want to make money from ecommerce, and with so many online stores out there, we need to think of new ways to attract customers. Read our blog on Marketing Ecommerce Essentials to Make Your Business a Success.

Statistics on Shopify reveal that ecommerce is currently worth in the region of £5 billion. And that’s why companies want to get on the bandwagon. 

Let’s take a look at how Ghost Commerce works. Perhaps this will inspire you to start your innovative marketing strategy!

What Ghost Commerce Involves

We’ve already explained that it’s about selling another company's products or services ingeniously, like Uber or Uber Eats. You, the entrepreneur, are the ‘ghost’, who doesn’t manufacture anything or own the materials required to provide a service, much like Uber Eats doesn’t own restaurants. You provide an online service, offering products or services you ‘rent’ from another business.

As a ‘ghost’, you don’t exist except in the digital sphere – hence the name. You don’t own a lot of kitchens that you need to maintain to health standards, or a staff of chefs. You don’t manufacture any products.

But you offer a unique service using other people’s products and services, and that’s where your innovation comes in. If you can find something unique and provide it to potential customers using someone else’s products and services, that’s brilliant! All you have to do is come up with the idea, brand your Ghost Commerce business, market it, and sell whatever you offer.

Of course, it’s important to find something so unique that it will sell out. 

Ghost Commerce in the UK

Ghost Commerce is already operating successfully in the UK. Examples include:

• DoorDash:Like Uber Eats, customers can order ready-made meals from selected restaurants and have them delivered.
• Deliveroo: Fast grocery deliveries are becoming extremely popular, so this company offers a choice of restaurant meals or groceries delivered to customers’ doors. Various businesses provide fast grocery delivery; this sets them apart from their competitors. Customers choose the one that delivers faster than the others, and whose service is exceptional. And some, like Gopuff, offer more than just groceries: you can order alcohol and snacks, too.
• Cazoo: Sell your car online with a little help from this online used car sales business. There is no showroom; the vehicles all appear online.

The Difference Between Drop Shipping & Ghost Commerce

• Ghost Commerce focuses on building a specific brand to cater to a defined customer base. Drop shipping businesses don’t create a brand; their main focus is selling products.
• In Ghost Commerce, the business doesn’t concentrate on inventory management. With Drop Shipping, the company uses a third-party supplier.
• Shopify is a Drop Shipping Company: It offers a selection of features that make it easy for entrepreneurs to manage an online business. These include creating a user-friendly online store setup, marketing the business, and providing e-commerce tips.
• You should choose from these two different types of businesses, depending on your resources and goals.

How Ghost Commerce Platforms Work

1. Choosing Suppliers: When you’ve settled on your Ghost Commerce business plan, find the suppliers you would like to provide you with the products you want to offer your customers.
2. Finding the Right Products & Services: When you’ve chosen suppliers of these products or services, you need to create content for your online store that lists these, describes them, and shows that your pricing strategy is more competitive than a physical store.
3. When a Customer Places an Order: Your website will take note of order details. Before you process and deliver the item, the customer has to pay for it. The order will include a typed description of the products or services paid for, the customer’s address, and shipping details.
4. Paying Your Supplier:Once you receive payment, you pay the supplier for the product and send them details of where to deliver it.
5. Processing the Order:The supplier then processes the order; they select it, pack it, and ship it to the customer. If you are collecting and delivering hot food, someone will pick it up when it’s ready and deliver it fast so it stays hot. To speed up the service, someone in the kitchen informs the delivery person when the food is prepared. It’s also the supplier’s job to ensure the package reaches the customer safely.
6. Delivering the Package: When they receive the package, the customer may not be aware that a third party assisted. They believe your business delivered the product to them. 
7. Customer Service: As you’re responsible for customer service and support, you must ensure you deliver the product on time for guaranteed customer satisfaction (i.e., the customer is happy with the purchase). You will also have to process returns or refunds. 

Pros & Cons of Ghost Commerce

Pros

• When a third-party supplier produces the goods, the entrepreneur can request a wholesale price and then sell the item to the customer at a more competitive fee.
• With a niche market, Ghost Commerce offers its customers quality, rare products and excellent service. Read all about niche markets here.
• It’s less expensive to start a business that doesn't manufacture products and only operates digitally.
• This type of business can choose which products it offers its customers and only select best-selling items.

Cons

• You won’t be the only business offering your service, so you must ensure your service is the best.
• It’s not easy to get a share of this market when you’re a small business, as you’re competing with the likes of Amazon and Etsy.

5 Tips for Building a Successful Ghost Commerce Strategy 

1. Choose Products & Suppliers With Care

Select niche products that will offer your target audience exactly what they want. These products must be unique, and offer something nobody else is giving them, so choose carefully. Ensure the items will sell themselves.

Fashion clothing and accessories can be popular if you choose the correct ones. Niche items will also have a great following – look at tech and electronics for those. Whatever you choose, delivery must be fast and efficient, and the products must be of the highest quality.

2. Careful Costing

It’s important to price your products carefully. The more competitive your prices are, the more likely you will succeed. As you intend to purchase these items from a manufacturer, who will become your supplier, you can request a discount.

Use that discount to give your customers competitive prices. One way to increase your profit is to offer your customers special discounts, VIP offers, and other exciting offers. 

3. Take Marketing Seriously

It’s crucial you build a strong online presence and make customers aware of your business. And this is where a good content marketing strategy comes in. Take care when creating your website and with the content you upload – using SEO and other marketing tools will be a great benefit.

Ensure you’re communicating with your customers in every way possible: on Social Media, via email, and through informative, educational blogs. Another great marketing tool is to provide testimonials from happy customers. This works wonders!

4. Offer Great Customer Service

If you care for your customers and make them feel special, they will return to shop with you. You will maintain good customer service by looking after your customer through every step of the ordering process, from making it easy for your potential customers to see what you are offering, to giving them great prices on products, ensuring delivery is efficient and fast, and that if they need to return something, it’s an effortless procedure.

Ensure they can communicate with you through live chat, by phone, and email marketing. Your customer support team must be top-notch to handle queries and problems in real time with aplomb.

5. Shipping & Delivery

Make the entire purchasing process as simple and easy as possible. The easier it is to buy something and have it delivered, the more likely your customer will shop with you again. Offer them several delivery options, including express delivery and cheaper alternatives. Keep the costs of shipping and delivery affordable, too.

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