Here are six business models you must be considering if you are planning on going into eCommerce.In order to stay competitive these days, business owners must be marketing savvy, updated on SEO techniques, and ready to execute on new business models with vigor. It’s no longer enough to design a stylish website, pop up products, and rely on the quality of products to sell themselves. The prospect of selecting and testing new business models can be rather daunting, but choosing the right business model is as important as selling quality products.

Choosing the right business model is as important as selling quality products.

Whether a publishing house, bookstore or media outlet, there are several new techniques that can be beneficial to implement. Below are some of the top new business models that can boost eCommerce business, and what you need to know:

Piece-by-piece: Ever since the dawn of man, we have been trading goods with each other by having simple one purchase transactions. Though piece-by-piece sales should always be the first business model to consider, in the new digital age it is not necessarily the preferred model.

Subscription: Customers like flexibility, and this is the best way to offer the freedom they desire. Whether it is for a week, month or year, the subscriber pays upfront for service, which also translates into positive upfront income. This is an adjustable model that can be applied to everything from video games to music streaming. For audio and content providers, customer options can come in the form of free/premium subscriptions.

Self-publishing: Self-publishing business model has both changed the flow of content distribution & sales, and has created new opportunity for companies to make profit. This method is fast, cheap and can reach a large audience. It is also a great starting point for budding talent. But as more unknown content creators publish e.g. ebooks, it can be hard to differentiate quality of the content.

Pay-what-you-want: Pioneered in some of Berlin’s hippest cafes, this model allows the customer to pay what they think is a fair market value for an item. A Polish startup, OpenBooks.com, has adapted this new business model with a read first, then pay what you want scheme. This can be a great way of signing up new users and getting content out there that has not yet established a brand for itself.

Bundling: Bundling offers a group of similar products, or a combination of products & services at one price. The customer receives a “bargain” by purchasing the bundle at a lower price than if purchased individually. A great example is Microsoft Office, however, it could also be bundling other commodity products into a unique bundle that will set you aside from the competition.

Club subscriptions: As a member of a club, you receive access to products and content by paying an upfront or monthly fee. Club benefits can include exclusive access to streaming services & products, discounts on purchases and community interaction. There are a few versions of Club payments you may consider. Discounts on pre-selected products, discounts on limited amounts of a wide range of products, or simply discounts on all content offered. Just like subscriptions some of the business case can rely on users not using subscription for a certain amount of time, and thus increase the margins.

We hope these six business models will inspire you in your new product development process. But remember, in order for each business model to work, you must have aligned your value chain to insure long term profitability.

At Pubfront, we are constantly striving to provide the most updated business models to implement into eCommerce platforms. We stand by our customers to help test and choose models that are right for each individual business. We are confident in providing the latest strategies to reach the top tier of sales in the digital age.