Commodity trading is a term used frequently in the investment world. Aside from equities, markets also trade a variety of commodities, which can help you diversify your portfolio and increase profits. Commodities, due to their fluctuating prices over time, can produce good long-term returns if invested wisely. What are Commodities? Commodities are the primary raw materials used to make everyday goods. Commodities, which include products like oil, sugar, metals, and so on, are the foundation of a global economy. There are four basic categories of commodities traded in India (see table below). Commodity Category Energy – Oil and Natural GasBase Metals – Copper Aluminium, Zinc, LeadBullion – Gold and SilverAgriculture – Cotton, Black Pepper, Rubber, Cardamom and Oil. Gold, corn, crude oil, coffee, wheat, and other commodities are among the most widely traded worldwide. The change of one commodity’s price has an impact all across the world. When crude oil prices rise, for example, the effect is felt all around the world. How To Start Trading in Commodities? To begin with commodity trading, the first step is to know about the types of commodities that exist (mentioned above). Then you need to: Open a Demat Account with a Reputed Stockbroker You’ll need a demat account to trade commodities, just like you’ll need one to trade stocks. While there are numerous brokerage houses where you may register an account, it is critical to choose a reputable organisation that can provide you with important trade suggestions. To navigate the commodity market maze, you’ll need the right information and advice. It’s also critical to choose a brokerage with competitive prices. Selecting a broker with a high brokerage fee can reduce your profits. Examine the services provided by the broker through its platform. A full-service broker is best for you because they have a team of professionals who provide in-depth research and recommendations on a regular basis. Deposit an Initial Amount You must make an initial deposit after you have opened an account. The deposit amount varies depending on the commodity you are trading and ranges from 5% to 10% of the contract value. This information can be found on the brokerage firm’s official website. You must keep a sufficient cushion to cover any potential losses. Commodity trading plans that help you better understand markets and your risk appetite are also vital. In terms of risk preferences and cash flow, each trader is unique. You make a decision based on your financial situation. Different Ways to Trade in Commodities Direct Investment It is the most prevalent method of commodity investment. You can, for example, acquire gold and silver coins and jewellery immediately. Direct investing in these things, on the other hand, has a significant transaction cost. There are also concerns about storage and purity. Purchase Stocks This is another method of commodity trading. You can acquire stocks in an energy company, for example, if you want to trade energy. The price of energy will be clearly indicated by the stock price. If you invest in commodities through direct stocks, you can make money even if the commodity isn’t performing well. For example, if you buy shares in a well-established energy company, even if energy prices fall, you can still profit due to the company’s strong fundamentals. Loading… Commodity ETFs and Mutual Funds Commodity-based ETFs and mutual funds are many. If you wish to invest in gold or silver, for example, you can buy gold or silver ETFs. Because ETFs are maintained electronically in your demat account, there are no purity or storage difficulties. Bottom Line Commodity trading can be profitable provided you understand the fundamentals and appropriately determine your risk tolerance. To get...

While it is a platform that has been around for many years since the internet started to take off in popularity, eBay continues to be a hugely profitable and useful place to do business. However, there are plenty of other people who have realised exactly the same thing, so you need to be on top of your game to ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Here are a few tips that you can put into practice: Decide What to Sell It may seem like a very obvious starting point, but it is certainly worth mentioning nevertheless. You need to have a clear idea of what you are actually going to be selling in the first place. Obviously, you need a product that works for you – one that you can easily source and ideally know something about. Don’t forget about logistics here. You need to think about where you are going to be placing the product and consider eBay shipping at Shiply as well. Also, check out if there are any restrictions regarding what you can actually sell online. If you are stuck for items to sell, it is worth researching popular products online. You may well find that there is something out there that proves to strike you well. Set Up Your Store Account The store account is going to be the hub of your business, so not only do you need to ensure that it is properly set up and established, but you should also make sure that you know about all the ins and outs of how it works from a technical standpoint. There are plenty of different packages here, so you need to work out which ones suit you the best. Remember, you want this to be right from the start as people are going to start leaving reviews, and you want to get your scores up as high as possible right from the offset. Make the Business Official The business also needs to be official from a legal standpoint as well. This means that you need to check out the legal structure and work out which one is most appropriate for your company. For example, whether you have the sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, etc. Again, it is worth checking out the ins and outs of what each and every one of these actually mean. Start Selling Now the time has come to start selling your goods on eBay. You should take a moment to understand the fees that you are going to be expected to cover, as well as determining the payment method that you are going to accept from your buyers. You can then create your seller account and your listings. Everything needs to be priced accordingly, and it is a good idea to check out what sort of competition is out there. There you have a few top tips that will hopefully start off your eBay selling journey in the best possible manner and put you on the route to...

The success of your eCommerce website is usually pegged on whether customers can buy the products they need quickly and efficiently. If there are any hiccups in this process, customers are likely to leave and you will lose a sale. To ensure this does not happen, it pays to improve your customer experience. This has the add-on effect of increasing sales and profits. Below, we will look at a few things you can do to improve your e-commerce website. Use Clear, Legible Fonts Even though most e-commerce websites are not text-heavy, people still need to read descriptions, directions, and texts like on your privacy page. Improvements in this area come from selecting the right font. You want a font that is not too thin or bold, one that is not too fancy, and one that is easy on the eyes if you have a lot of text on your website. Also, ensure that the font is at least 16 pixels in size as this has been showing to be the best baseline font size. Make Your Website Responsive Mobile visitors have overtaken desktop visitors on most websites, and this might be true for your e-commerce website. If your website is not responsive, these users will have a hard time navigating the website. A simple test is to visit your website on your phone and see how easy it is to navigate. If it is not for you, it might also not be for your visitors. There are also lots of online tools that can help you know if your website is responsive and easy for mobile users to navigate. If it is not, use the reports generated by these tools to make the necessary changes. Make the Checkout Process Easy No one wants to jump through hoops when they are trying to buy something from your website. If you want customers to have a good experience when checking out, make the process as simple as possible. Collect just the amount of data you need to complete the sale and no more as people hate filling forms. You should also ask your web developer to make sure any errors that occur as the user fills the checkout forms are displayed immediately and not after a reload. Diversify Your Payment Options Everyone has a preferred way of paying. Some like paying using their credit cards, some their bank accounts, and others using platforms like Stripe and PayPal. To accommodate everyone, try to use as many payment options as possible. Users who might want to pay using a method you do not support will usually leave without making a purchase. If you do not want to add all these options, at least accept credit cards and PayPal. Reduce Banners and Popups Banners and popups are a big inconvenience for a lot of people. This is because they slow customers down when a business is running a flash sale or other promotion and make them feel like they are losing out on the deals they came for. Although these banners can help alert users to promotions and sales you are running, using too many of them can ruin customer experience. Try to use as few of them as possible. Business owners who want to increase sales on their e-commerce websites should start by improving the customer experience on their website. If you make things as simple as possible for customers, they are much more likely to purchase from you and even become repeat...

Why is it sheer brilliance to invest in an e-commerce store   Picture Courtesy : Pixels.com From Walmart and Target, the world has moved on to Amazon, eBay and Alibaba.  As the Internet conquers the world, people are ditching brick and mortar and are moving towards shopping on a click. During 2018, people shopped worth $2.86 trillion on the web, and this figure is expected to reach $4.8 trillion by 2021, which is huge. Get your 5 day 4 Night Mexico Vacation (a $1,720 value) for anyone who signs up for the Travel Agent program for $199 Brick-and-mortar, on the other hand, is losing its charm. This can be seen from the fact that Circuit City, Kmart and Radio Shack have all filed for bankruptcy. Moreover, whatever is left of the brick-and-mortar is also digitally influenced, which is why they are going mobile. JD.com, the world’s second-largest e-commerce business has partnered with Walmart to create a new retail concept, 7Fresh. At 7Fresh, you need an app installed on your phone because you need it to scan the products and make the payment. Given that the entire world is shifting towards e-commerce, it only makes sense to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon if you are looking to invest in a business. If you are not yet convinced why e-commerce is a good investment opportunity, then here are some reasons that might help. 1.    The world is shopping online The most convincing reason is perhaps that the world is now shifting towards online shopping. People now have a lot of options in terms of variety and pricing at the click of the button. Forecasts show that by 2021, around 2.14 billion people are expected to shop online, up from 1.66 billion in 2016. 2.    Easier to build Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and all our favorite brands have been there in the market for many years. They have invested a lot of time and money to be where they are today. With e-commerce, however, the process is quicker; with the minimal investment, you can grow by leaps and bounds. The online retail giants are the living proof that the online world is full of possibilities. Amazon started as a mere bookseller, and today it has more than 12 million products. Moreover, e-commerce tools today are a lot better and less costly. The selling platforms and marketing tools have made it easier for an inexperienced person to start a business online. The only hurdle that you may face is deciding the product that you have to sell and whether you have to sell a range of products like Amazon or focus on a single category. Selling everything and anything may seem appealing. However, it comes with its own set of problems. Amazon did not get there in a day. Hence, we recommend you focus on a narrower range of products. 3.    Location doesn’t matter The biggest drawback of brick and mortar is that you need a good location to generate sales. Your store has to be located where your target market lives. If you are selling a premium product in a middle-class area, chances are your store will close down in a few days. Other than that, you have to keep several factors in mind, such as parking issues. With e-commerce, you do not need to worry about all of this. You can sell to anybody who wants your product. Moreover, it is easier to establish your sales internationally, as well. 4.    Easy to keep a tab on customers With an e-commerce store, you can easily see what your customers like and don’t like so you can update your offerings accordingly. You can see...

8 Ideas For Profitable Ecommerce Niches Image credit: Pexels Choosing profitable ecommerce niches can be very difficult, but if you can find the right one, it can prove extremely profitable. There are hundreds of potential niches out there and millions of products that you could sell, so you need to commit time and attention to finding one or two to focus on. Prioritization is essential for entrepreneurs. Niche products are easier to market than general products because you can target a very particular group of people with less competition to contend with. You see fewer leads overall, but the vastly-improved conversion rates more than make up for that. Read on: 22 Ways to Collect Customer Feedback — The Ultimate Guide from Replyco that helps you centralize and organize customer emails across marketplaces and stores. Source: ecomdash Not sure where to start? Here are 8 ideas for profitable ecommerce niches that you can use for inspiration. Athleisure wear The word ‘athleisure’ first entered common parlance a few years ago, and it looks set to stick around. Athleisure wear, as the name suggests, encompasses items of clothing that are suitable for both athletic and leisure activities: if you’ve ever been out to brunch in your gym gear, you’ve rocked the athleisure look. Within this category you can sell everything from yoga pants and sports bras to running shoes, all in a wide variety of colors and prints. Athleisure wear interest levels. Source: Google Trends Millennials are the usual targets for athleisure wear, with a fairly even customer split of 60% women and 40% men. Because the products are centered on fashion, visual channels such as Facebook, Pinterest and especially Instagram are excellent platforms to grow your brand. Buy it for life (BIFL) People are growing tired of buying cheap, low-quality products, and are getting interested in conscious buying — something targeted through buy it for life products. The emphasis here is on high-quality, durable items that aren’t cheap but will last for a long time. As we become aware of the negative impacts of consumerism in our throwaway culture, we are finding ourselves more willing to spend money on things that won’t break within a few months. Source: The Good Human While the buy it for life niche automatically means fewer return customers and fewer products sold overall, selling premium products offers a better margin. In addition, buy it for life offers the valuable opportunity to build your brand with a great story, which will help you connect with customers and keep them loyal. Night masks Night masks are a good niche to target because they offer a solution to a persistent problem: needing to block out excess light so you can get a better night’s sleep. Night masks can be broken down into three main customer segments: sensitive sleepers, travellers, and beauty fans. This means you can sell related products alongside them, such as relaxing lavender oil, travel pillows, or skin care products, depending on which group you are targeting. Night masks Source: Google Trends  Good sleep is very important for a variety of reasons, and always will be, so this is a niche that isn’t just a passing fad. Shapewear It has been reported that the shapewear market is expected to leap to $5.6 million in sales by 2022, so now is a great time to start establishing your brand within this niche. Shapewear is worn underneath your clothes and creates a sleeker and slimmer silhouette. For many years it has been associated purely with lingerie, but there are now many different cuts and styles that can be worn under everything from cocktail dresses to pairs of jeans and t-shirts....