You’ve probably heard the stories about people making lots of money online. Maybe you’ve even seen some of these stories yourself. But, you’ve probably also seen the many (probably too many) reasons why you may not be able to make money online.
If you’re wondering whether or not to take the plunge and try to make money online, check out these 10 reasons why you can’t make money online and why you should probably pass on this opportunity.
1. Product Demographics Are Changing
If you’ve been around long enough to remember when QR codes were first introduced, you’ll know that they’re not exactly suited for every occasion. But for whatever reason, people have stuck with them and now every business, brand, and individual is on a quest to add more and more pictures to their QR codes until they no longer work. Unfortunately, this is one trend that is unlikely to reverse itself. This is mainly because today’s consumers have grown accustomed to using their phones to access everything from news articles to videos. For this reason, if you’re looking to sell affiliate products, now might not be the best time to do so.
2. Consumers Have Evolved
A lot has changed in the past few years, and not just in terms of technology. When smartphones were first introduced, many people didn’t have them; and those who did often used them for texting and calling rather than looking at images on their screens. Since then, people have gotten more and more used to using their phones to access the websites and information they want. If your target audience doesn’t use social media, then Facebook Ads aren’t going to work for you. For this reason, if you’re looking to make money from home, now might not be the best time to do so.
3. The Technology Is Just Too Expensive
When you’re talking about running a business online, especially one that makes money from home, you have to start looking at the cost of the equipment and software you need to run the website. Even if you do have extra money to spend, it’s still a huge amount to spend on just a laptop and internet connection. While it may be possible to make a profit from a website that you can set up for free, it’ll be difficult to make a substantial amount of money. This is why most people who try to make money online fail.
4. Consumers Are Becoming More In Tune With Their Choices
When you’re shopping online, you don’t have to look at the same few options that you would in a physical store. With virtual stores, such as Etsy or eBay, you have access to millions of products from hundreds of different brands. If you know what you’re looking for, it’s incredibly easy to find what you need even if you don’t know the exact brand or style. If you’re looking to make money online, this is probably the best platform to do so. Instead of having to spend hours in a store looking for items, you can do all of the exploring online.
5. Product Discovery Is Now Inhibiting Product Purchase
Even if you do find the right product that fits perfectly what you’re looking for, if you don’t know how to properly market it, you may not end up buying it. The same way a retail store wouldn’t want to sell a product that they haven’t properly displayed, so too does online commerce have a problem with product discovery. When shoppers can’t easily find what they’re looking for, business owners and marketers have a problem and it usually ends up being solved by spending more money on ads.
6. Product Awareness Impedes Conversions
Awareness is important, but so is conversion. When a consumer is aware of a product, they may be more likely to purchase it, however, if they don’t know what the product is or how to use it, then chances are they’ll never get around to purchasing it. This is why marketers spend so much time trying to raise awareness and make consumers aware of a product but, in some cases, don’t bother converting them because they didn’t do enough research before their attempt at marketing. For instance, if you’re selling vitamin C serum and you don’t know what it is, how are you supposed to get that information into the heads of your potential customers? You could try Googling it, but you’ve already seen their ads and don’t really need their product.
7. Consumers Expect More From Online Shopping
If you’re buying an online product that you don’t try out first, you’ll find a large portion of customers expecting it to work just like the product they bought before. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a one-stop-shop when it comes to finding the right product for your needs because you can never be sure that what you’re buying is exactly what you’re looking for. If you do end up using the item you purchased and it doesn’t live up to your expectations or the quality is questionable, you’ll most likely be upset with the purchase. This is why, when shopping online, you should always expect the unexpected and ensure that the product meets your needs before spending your money.
8. Consumers Are Learning Better Shopping Online
To begin with, online shoppers have significantly more information to sift through than their phone-using counterparts in terms of filtering out the products that aren’t right for them. Also, since online stores can have so many different products from which to choose, people have to learn how to compare and contrast different items. With so many choices, it’s not surprising that some shoppers resort to searching for shortcuts to make their decision-making process easier. For instance, if you’re searching for a yoga mat, you’ll see a significant number of results with the word “yoga” paired with “mats” because that’s how many products contain those terms. This is also why if you do happen to find the right product for you, it won’t necessarily translate to instant sales. It will, however, translate to a well-deserved grumble because you have to go through the effort of trying to figure out what that product is and whether or not it’s right for you before you even make a purchase.
9. Consumers Are Shopping Online For Happiness
It’s no secret that the pandemic has affected a lot of businesses and especially the retail store world because a lot of people don’t feel safe visiting physical locations anymore. This has lead to more people shopping online because it provides them with the privacy and security that they need while still being able to socialize with others. If you’re looking to make money online, this is a great option because you can operate your business from the comfort of your home.
10. E-commerce Is Only Going To Get More Popular
As time goes on, more and more people are realizing how much easier and more convenient online shopping is. While it can be difficult to make money online, you will definitely see this trend continue because people want what they can’t get physically and they know that they can get what they want online.
Shopping online isn’t a crime, but continuing this trend is definitely irresponsible. The reason why most people aren’t successful at making money online is simply because they don’t understand how the system works or they don’t do enough research before they get started. If you’re looking to make some extra money, then you can start an e-commerce store or blog to sell your own products, but proceed with caution because if you’re not equipped properly, you may end up losing a lot of money instead of making it.