What you need to know to start selling on Ozon
Today, the online trading market has a situation in which it is extremely difficult for representatives of small stores to move to the top of search engine results. This is due to the fact that today large online hypermarkets, price platforms, and expensive advertisements have firmly occupied positions here. And it is very, very difficult, one might even say unrealistic, for small stores that are not ready to invest huge amounts of money in promotion to get a place here. But at the same time, the majority of the consumer market finds the goods they need directly on the sites presented in the TOP of search results. Basically, it's not even the top ten, but the first 5 positions.
What to do in this situation? How to make even small online stores visible to a wide segment of the consumer market? How can a small online business survive in the face of fierce competition for the top positions in search results? One of the best solutions in this situation is to open your own representative office on one of the marketplaces. There are already quite a few options here today. So, if you are interested in Amazon, you can read more about it here. But now we will focus on such a trading platform as Ozon.
As part of today's review, we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of trading on this platform. We will tell you which products can be sold here and which are prohibited. Here are some tips to help you choose the most suitable products for trading on Ozon. We will describe how to start working with the platform for individual entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals, what cooperation schemes are provided here today. The information provided will allow you to navigate the possibility of launching your own representative office on the Ozon marketplace and understand how to do it most correctly.
What is the Ozon marketplace
Today, Ozon is one of the extremely popular marketplaces among consumers, where you can buy a huge number of different products. Today, it has a large number of both sellers and buyers. This means that if you pay due attention to the promotion of your product cards, you can get quite high sales figures.
The latest statistics show that for several years in a row, Ozon has been ranked second in Russia in terms of the number of online stores and, accordingly, in terms of sales. Over the current year, over a billion orders have been placed on it, and the turnover has increased by more than 70% compared to the previous year. The sales leaders today are electronics, clothing and footwear, household appliances, and home and garden items. At the same time, the largest check is for electronics and household appliances.
Today, the platform has over 35 million regular customers, 25 thousand points of issue of products throughout Russia, one of the most developed logistics networks, covering more than 50% of the territory of Russia. That is, if you are thinking about transferring your business to the marketplace or at least expanding your trading capabilities, then you should think about working with the Ozon platform. And to make sure that you have made the right decision, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of organizing trade on Ozon.
Advantages and disadvantages of organizing sales on the Ozon platform
The main advantages of the Ozon platform in comparison with a number of other marketplaces operating in the modern market include:
- The ability to work with direct suppliers of goods. In this case, the platform plays the role of a retailer. Various wholesale bases, direct manufacturers of goods, and even small online stores can act as suppliers here. Direct supply contracts are concluded with each of them, which eliminates any problems with logistics.
- The platform allows you to trade your own goods. This solution is perfect for personal brands, for those who independently produce this or that product in small quantities.
- If you are ready to open a pick-up point in your city, then Ozon will be happy to provide you with such opportunities. At the same time, you receive very good financing.
- A profitable referral program that contributes to the fact that many business representatives are happy to become partners of the Ozon marketplace.
- A special approach to commissions. They are charged only after buyers pay for their order and it is delivered to them. That is, no one will take any fees from you for your presence on the site. In turn, this aspect makes the site interested in the efficiency of your business.
- The presence of a fairly impressive set of analytical tools that allow you to track the efficiency of your business and make timely adjustments. There is also a transparent system of ranking cards, which will allow you to take the right steps to promote your business. Internal and external advertising also works here.
- If you wish, you can also take part in tenders, attract additional investments in your business.
- Very high traffic rates make your products visible to a huge number of users. And this means that the likelihood that your products will be noticed by buyers and they will place an order increases several times.
- Simplicity and convenience of the start. Ozon has one of the most detailed instructions, after studying which you can start working with the platform without any problems. It has everything, from the nuances of cooperation to how to draw up accompanying documentation. Moreover, free courses and seminars for sellers are constantly held.
You only have to try working with this marketplace to personally see how much effort the platform puts into attracting new sellers and organizing the convenience of work. Thanks to flexible terms of cooperation, you can easily adapt almost any business to working with Ozon.
If we talk about the disadvantages, they are very relative and will not be relevant for everyone. In particular, the commissions here are still quite high, namely up to 40% of your profit. But given the fact that you do not pay anything for simple use of the site, perhaps this figure is not so significant. But you should also understand that sellers are subject to quite strict requirements here. In particular, only individual entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, and companies will be able to trade here. For many, the stumbling block is the need to work with electronic document management. But as we have already said above, there are detailed instructions here, following which you can easily understand all the nuances yourself.
Now all that remains is a small matter: to understand whether Ozon is right for your business and whether you want to start working with it. If so, then we can move on to a detailed acquaintance with what products are allowed to be sold here.
Products available for sale on Ozon
Ozon has its own rules regarding what products are allowed for sale and what are not. And these points must be taken into account without fail in order to organize the most effective trade without any problems and difficulties. If you are interested, you can get acquainted with what marketplaces in Vietnam are available for sellers from the Russian Federation and consider the possibility of working with them.
But let's get back to Ozon. It will be possible to sell such product categories as:
- Electronics and any types of household appliances. These can be tablets, smartphones, laptops, computers, office equipment, various accessories for them, as well as photo and video equipment, small household appliances and much more.
- Clothing, footwear, household items. This category can include products for men, women, children. Accessories are also allowed for sale: hats, scarves, caps, bags, belts.
- Children's toys, sports and recreation goods, various sports equipment, including exercise machines, goods for recreation and fishing, tourism.
- Furniture, home textiles, tableware, interior items, souvenirs and many other goods for the home.
- Stationery, magazines, books, postcards, calendars, posters.
- Everything for cars: cosmetics, oils and other technical fluids, tools, accessories, car seats, wheels, tires.
- Beauty and health products, including cosmetics, perfumes, hygiene products, household chemicals, vitamins and dietary supplements, sports nutrition, medical devices and optics.
- Food products, including dairy products, frozen foods, confectionery, nuts and dried fruits, drinks, healthy food, baby food and much more.
As you can see, the range of products that can be sold here is very wide. But there are still a number of goods that you cannot sell on Ozon. In particular, these are the products that are prohibited for sale at the legislative level in the Russian Federation, as well as explosives, weapons, ammunition, precious stones, including in products. It is also forbidden to sell on this marketplace medical and medicinal products, tobacco products, plants, seeds, animals, products marked "Not for sale", radioactive components. As you can see, all these categories are quite specific, that is, they are not available for sale in every online store. Therefore, we can confidently say that in this case you are provided with quite broad opportunities for trading on the marketplace.
How to choose the most suitable category for sales on Ozon?
It's one thing if you already have your own business and, accordingly, all the products that you would like to offer to the consumer market through the Ozon marketplace. It's a completely different matter if you are just planning to try yourself in such a business. In this case, you first need to choose the most suitable products for sale. The success of your trade as a whole largely depends on this. Here are a number of recommendations that you can use to choose the product for sales that will best meet your wishes and be in demand on the market:
- Bet on a specific target category. That is, think about who you want to work with and outline the products that will be constantly needed by this market segment.
- Study what supply and demand ratio in your chosen niche is relevant today. This way, you can discard unprofitable products.
- You should bet on products with high margins, which will increase profits while minimizing costs.
- Be sure to take into account the seasonality of the product. It may turn out that your products will be in demand only during a certain period of the year or on the eve of some holidays, and the rest of the time they will be completely unclaimed. Is this option suitable for you?
- Check the competition for a particular product directly within the marketplace. Assess your ability to withstand competition. The more unique the product is, the greater your chances of getting buyers.
- Evaluate the supplier market, rely exclusively on reliable and proven brands and companies. This way you can minimize the likelihood of receiving low-quality products.
- Constantly monitor trends and new products that appear in your niche. If you get your bearings in time and offer customers the most relevant product, this will significantly increase your chances of selling it profitably and making a very good profit.
Even if you have already decided on a particular product, do not neglect the opportunities that another market segment provides you with. Ozon provides a lot of opportunities for experimentation, analysis, which will allow you to choose by trial and error exactly those products that will be in the highest demand in the consumer market. And just put yourself in the buyer's shoes, think about what you would like to buy on the site, what terms of cooperation would be most attractive to you.
Who can trade on Ozon
The last point that we would like to consider in more detail in our review is who can trade on Ozon. The following categories are possible here:
- Individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. They can sell absolutely everything that is allowed by the site. In this case, the marketplace itself will issue receipts to buyers, which will significantly simplify work with accounting reports. The tax rate in any case will depend on what goods you sell and what tax scheme you work under. On average, the tax is 10, 15, 20%. The simplest solution is a simplified system, since it will require a minimum of documentation.
- Self-employed individuals. This category of sellers will be able to sell through Ozon only those goods that they have produced themselves. Receipts will also be issued by the marketplace, but you will have to duplicate them in the My Taxes application. And so with absolutely every receipt. Based on this information, the system will automatically calculate the required amount of payments. The rate in this case will be 4% for individuals and 6% for legal entities. If the income level exceeds 2.4 million rubles per year, then an individual will need to register as an individual entrepreneur.
Also, before starting work on Ozon, it will be important to decide on the delivery scheme. You can store your goods in a warehouse and delegate all work related to its delivery and packaging to Ozon (FBO scheme), store them in your warehouses, but transfer delivery to the marketplace (FBS scheme), or completely take on all these responsibilities (RealFBS scheme). In the latter case, the platform will act only as a showcase for your goods.
Let's summarize
We hope that now you have enough information to understand how the Ozon marketplace works, what are the advantages and disadvantages for selling goods here. Now you can definitely decide on the advisability of starting your own business here. But in any case, we want to draw your attention to the fact that the work will be quite painstaking and constant. An additional connection to mobile proxies from the MobileProxy.Space service will significantly increase its efficiency and minimize all possible risks.
To understand how technologically advanced, effective, and easy-to-use the tool can be at your disposal, we suggest following the link https://mobileproxy.space/en/user.html?buyproxy and familiarizing yourself with all the nuances characteristic of it. You can also evaluate the availability and loyalty of current tariffs, the professionalism of the round-the-clock technical support service. Before starting to work with the service, it will also be useful to study the available geolocations, payment terms. This is what will allow you to evaluate the use of mobile proxies in practice.