How to sell scanner online

At 4.5% CAGR presently, Global Document Scanner Market is estimated to reach USD 1450 Million by 2023 (marketwatch.com) whereas the global 3D scanner market is projected to cross USD 3.8 billion by 2025 (report linked). These current trends speak volumes of the fact that scanners have come a long way, with changing technology and constant R&D. Perhaps, there also lies immense competition in this market as well. The major scanner manufacturers are mainly present in the U.S. and Japan.

Manufacturers/distributors like HP, Epson, Kodak, and Hewlett-Packard offer a relatively higher level of product quality providing higher resolution for the converted image. In Japan, Fujitsu has become a global leader. Most of the Chinese manufacturers operate in Beijing and Shanghai accurate. Moreover, higher resolution, cost-effectiveness, size of the scanner, are the real market drivers in this industry and differentiate the manufacturers accordingly. So, willing to capitalize on this opportunity by taking it online? Here’s how you should go about it:

• Set your Target Market

Firstly, you must select the desired demographic that you would like to operate in. Basically, scanners are commonly used in industries, schools, offices, government organizations etc. you shall select a specifically targeted customer base to determine the scale of your business accordingly. Also, you must take the geographical extent into consideration i.e. the region you want to sell it and whether you want to keep it domestic or international. A VAR or MSP should choose a market where competition is scarce so as to maximize profits.

• Choose what to sell

Setting your target market will certainly help you to choose the niche, i.e. to select a specific category to start with. It can be using a selective brand, type, technology etc. For example, flatbed scanners, Sheetfed, drum; integrated, portable, multi-function scanners are all the types that you’re already aware of. Suppose you deal in drum scanners, then you may want to start with such a product category that you are most familiar with. Also, document scanners sold generally, have a competitive business landscape. This will demand more funding for advertising and marketing your store. Consider selling products that require continued usage. These types of products will create a perpetual business from your existing customer base. As a VAR or MSP getting into selling scanners online, it’s always better to strike a balance between what you have and what you can offer.

• Selection of Suppliers

Being a VAR/MSP, the product that you buy, in order to sell it to the end-consumer should be from a reliable source. Distributors such as Comstor, Synnex Corporation, Techdata, Arbitech, and Ingram Micro are well-established. You can request for quotations to choose the best deal in terms of price, reliability, and competency. Have your account with multiple suppliers and don’t end up buying all your stock from one single distributor. Selling the right product is essential to gain the trust of the consumers especially when you’re starting out!

• Set up your own online Scanner store

Before setting up your store, you must select a domain name which will let your customers know what you wish to sell. Then, you can go ahead with building your own online Scanner Store. There are two options, either you can do it yourself or hire someone else to do it for you.

There are various E-commerce platform solution providers who will do it for you. Creating an engaging web-design, deciding a suitable color pallet, providing a proper catalog of your products to make it easy to compare should be done to make your store clean and organized. You must provide your consumers with a simple way to locate the desired item by clearly stating the specifications and compatibility of that particular scanner. You surely don’t want your consumer to select the wrong one and then go through the tedious process of returning it!

• Develop a proper payment procedure

Having an easy-to-do payment procedure is important to convert your leads into sales. As these scanners are quite expensive, there should be a secure payment procedure for the convenience of the consumer. Also, provide a number of payment options such as Cash/card on delivery, Debit/credit card, Net banking, Google Wallet, Android pay etc. Furthermore, you can use Paypal or Wepay to authorize customer payments and then directing into your bank account. In the end, a customer should get through to buy a scanner without any inconvenience.

• Ensure proper packaging and shipping

Once the order is placed and the suitable payment procedure is selected, fast and efficient shipping is the key to satisfy your consumers. When shipping a scanner, it shall be properly packed to prevent damage during transit. Keep the scanner in its original packaging and make sure that the accompanying accessories, are snug in their compartments and do not move. Fill any empty space with bubble wrap to prevent shifting and then close and seal the package. Shipping a scanner will be an additional cost to your business; for that, you can provide for separate charges depending upon the location, size, and availability of the projector. If you’re into drop shipping, create a provision for the consumer, to check whether the item can be shipped to their location or not, in order to suggest alternative suppliers. Moreover, examine that the scanner is properly working or not before delivery to avoid the additional cost of re-shipping!

• Create an Effective Marketing Strategy

To reach out to a wider set of consumers, market your product online by creating a blog with high-quality content and Inbound Marketing Strategies to grab their attention. Facebook Ads and Instagram pop-ups, tutorials on the usage of these scanners, creating newsletters etc. are some ideas to tap into; although stay prepared for the expense. You may post videos of your satisfied consumers to build the trust of leads. Also, there are plenty of simple and free SEO tools such as Google Trends, Bing Webmaster etc. which offer you to promote your store to a certain extent.

• Expand your online Scanner Store

Once the sales get regular, you must seek to extend your operations. Through an automated system, you can send timely updates to your customer base via e-mail by designing various landing pages as well.

Also, ScanSource offers to provide efficient after-sales service to the consumers by offering free installation to their respective devices. You can diversify your business by selling barcode, digital, portable scanners besides the common desktop scanners. Keeping pace with the latest technology will help you to broaden your niche and offer what the market will demand in the future. Consider selling more related products like scanner accessories. With more products on your store, it becomes more likely that Google and Bing can index your pages higher and more consumers can locate you.

Hence, grab the opportunity that the current scanner market offers to take it online start your own online Scanner Store before it’s too late!

Arnaldo is content contributor wrote article on VAR business management, eCommerce, B2B business and trending topics.