The e-commerce platforms and global marketplaces are now making great waves in the food industry. Anyone can now order food online. The pandemic has triggered digital innovations making life easier. Ordering products and services online is no longer a luxury but a basic requirement.
Our article will take you through everything you need to know regarding bagels and e-commerce, understanding the food laws and regulations, choosing the best platform, and market the bagels as well.
By the time we are concluding, you’ll be in a position to practice what you learned, a vivid idea of how to sell bagels, and be able to create an eCommerce platform. It’s time to dig deep and make your dream come true.
Know the Food Regulations and Laws
One thing you have to understand is that the food laws vary from state-to-state. Therefore, they tend to be different depending on your state. The state differs regarding licensing requirements, food laws, and other industries, such as alcohol and dairy, to additional rules.
Numerous rules govern the food industry; failure to comply will land you into great problems. Some regulations require one to list the allergens in the ingredients you use, indicating a ‘use by date’ on the package.
You have to check on the relevant legislation in your market niche and stick to the rules given. Besides listing ingredients in your package, also ensure to include the ingredients of the bagel on your site.
It is advisable to consult your local government and lawyer for more information on your region and industry laws. Let’s begin with the basic laws and regulations behind bagels and eCommerce:
- The health department does yearly kitchen inspections.
- A zoning permit from health or agriculture.
- A valid business license
- Proof that the bagel store meets sanitary rules.
- No pets are allowed in your kitchen or house if you use a home kitchen.
Whether you use a commercial or home kitchen, it doesn’t matter. All you need is to familiarize yourself with the regulations in your state. If you sell bagels via a supplier, do research their supply chain to ensure the ingredients you use are of a great standard.
Find Your Business Niche
Don’t assume that people will love the bagels that you make. This is a huge mistake that most food vendors, especially the new ones in the food industry, make every time. They will feel that people will enjoy the bagels. For bagels and eCommerce, it’s a huge requirement to know your niche. This includes market research and your target audience.
Success follows after defining the target audience before you even start selling. This will guide you on the necessary arrangements that you have to meet to fulfill their desire.
If you want to sell bagels in e-commerce, nail your business niche first. You have to research the food trends. Know the current hot topics to help you have a hint of what ingredients are needed the most by internet users.
You have to understand your position in a crowded market. Despite selling mouth-watering bagels, you should ensure your prices are affordable and consistent. If they are gourmet luxury, it might be quite challenging.
Also, ensure there is a market for the bagels. In case of a saturated market, make your bagels stand out using a secret ingredient that focuses on clean-eating health.
Find a Known Supplier
Bagels and eCommerce can work out well if you have a reputable supplier. However, you are starting to sell your bagel ingredients. For this, it can be a bit challenging to get the right supplier and establish their legitimacy.
The food industry is known to have shady industries that fail to deliver what you order. This became a huge turn-off to clients and tarnished the brand image. To be safe, track their supply chain before committing to a specific supplier.
You can check on google reviews. It might assist you in sourcing suppliers who have expertise in the ingredients required for your bagel. Once you have a list of suppliers who match your requirements, ask for references, certifications, and supply chain.
Making some connections is the greatest part of getting a supplier; however, you can ask for references and browse them to know if they have proper certifications.
Create the Brand, Labelling, and Packaging
At this point, you already have a clear idea that your product you want to deal with is a bagel and who will be your supplier. You already have an idea of how you want your brand to look. Now, let’s put the decision for bagels and eCommerce into practice.
We already gave you some regulations to adore; however, we have more in the store that you should comply with. Labeling is a crucial section that makes your brand trustworthy. You should ensure to label your bagels accordingly and s per the laws.
According to state law, the bagel you are selling online should be labeled and disclose the ingredients used to make it. Include the overall weight of your ingredients and net quantity. Mention all the names and the location of the producer (notably the supplier and your company.
Those as mentioned above should be labeled in the online product description and on the bagel packaging. Following these rules keeps you away from clients with multiple questions regarding your brand. It’s also a strategy to create a great reputation for your brand.
This way, you’re following the law, and your customers won’t keep asking questions. Bagels and eCommerce can be challenging since tasting the food cannot only make your brand stand out. Therefore, branding is essential in every food industry. The package design carries the brand weight too.
You have to put a lot together to tell your bagel story and make clients imagine your product’s taste. For a client to have a taste of the bagel, it should have attracted you.
Packaging can be extremely critical, and you can consider hiring a professional designer to hand in your needs. To be successful in bagels and eCommerce, you have to select your identity and name. For instance;
Business Name: For a business name, you should think outside the box. Get creative as well as ask people their opinions. If you are selling the bagel internationally, come up with a name that is not translated wrongly or misrepresented. It should go beyond the bagels, and it shouldn’t restrict or limit future business expansion.
Brand color: A color is an emotion, not just a shade. Your choice of color makes you feel some way. It makes your brand look inspiring and bold, passionate and heated, or innovative and cool. Your brand’s colors will be synonymous with your branding strategy. If you think colors aren’t imperative, think again. The colors you select should be appealing to your niche. Understand the color theory and how they are perceived.
Product Imagery: the image of your bagels and eCommerce should impress your clients. Product image is the first point of food contact with them, and first impressions matter. It is recommendable to pay for professional bagel imagery to help make the food jump off the web page into your customer’s cart.
Figure out the Pricing Strategy
Let us figure out how you are going to make money via bagels and eCommerce. However, pricing your product is hard. Ultimately, no magical pricing formula will work for everyone. All you do is know your bagel cost; keep on adjusting until you are right with pricing.
However, you shouldn’t just get a price out of thin air; factor in all the business and operational costs to ensure you do it profitably. Also, factor in the pre-defined niche in the pricing strategy. Have a formula that will drive e-commerce conversions. Bear in mind the kind of storage you settle for will increase the business expenses, especially if your refrigerator is required. It drives the costs up.
Set Up an Online Store
Bagels and eCommerce should be executed. It is the fastest and easiest way to jump on the online bandwagon. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to set up a site. Places like BigCommerce, Shopify, and Volusion are well equipped for you to launch a site for the bagels. There are two different ways to sell your bagel on e-commerce. First, selling via online marketplaces, such as Amazon or Etsy, and on the other hand, selling via your online platform.
For the marketplace, you are required to meet intense regulations put in place to protect the clients and the seller. You have to ensure your company is approved to sell via the marketplace by complying with certain standards.
At this point, you don’t take responsibility to manage a site, and you’ll reach a wider audience if you settle on the marketplace. Unfortunately, you’ll lose credibility and control with this approach.
Building your bagel e-commerce website from scratch is much preferred. It takes a lot of your effort to set it up and start running, though it provides control and credibility to the brand.
Marketing For Bagels
Your bagels and eCommerce are now ready, but it’s not the end of things yet. We are getting started. This part turns out to be a nightmare to most newbies. It takes a lot of effort and learning the various ways you can market your business online.
Note that these days, people are purchasing everything online in the comfort of their homes. Even food! Eating is not revolutionary; you all have to eat. Some people emphatically state eating is their favorite hobby.
Therefore, marketing the eCommerce food company isn’t as complicated as you thought. You are not required to educate your client about your product or explain your new ideas. Just get them hungry enough and make them open up the wallets. Simple, right?
The key points of a successful marketing strategy in the e-commerce bagel business involve knowing your target audience, disseminating images, and exposing them to relevant content.
Enticing clients to buy our products online
Building a relationship with the customers is one of the strongest pillars of online success. Marketing is an interesting way of putting your products and brand out there. The rapport makes the buyers feel that they are part and parcel of the business vision.
There are various ways to portray your information to the public, from blogging and social media marketing to using influencers and SEO. Those are some of the impactful things to do consistently.
However, online marketing can start with email listings. This type of marketing helps you grab clients’ information from the start. Also, you can launch a recipe or food blog and consistently share relevant content like recipes that clients can use to try to make bagels with the ingredients that you sell online. You can now send a link to the site to your contacts. Invite and tell them to follow you on your social media pages
Be consistent and make clients stumble upon the recipes and content by chance. It gets your word out there. Note that marketing strategies change every time, and you should be up to date with the trends. The strategies will adjust at any given time. If the marketing approach is derailing you and your results are lackluster, end the campaign before you are taught a tough lesson.
You can switch midway and put in resources on the effective methods. Every business has its niche and never feels discouraged if your marketing niche takes longer.
Let’s Sell Bagel Online!
We have learned the rules, regulations, laws, permits, and design aspects. Bagels and eCommerce are now the way to go. You have to get creative online to make more money. No more asking, “Are Bagels Healthy?”
Now, the food industries are booming like never before. Though food can be a challenging and daunting business, if you make it exciting and fantastic, it will bring you success if you are passionate about it.
Bagels and eCommerce can be an extensive topic to discuss; however, keep your eyes open we will update you here with the current information.