My casual marketing started in 2017. I moved to Pattaya and stayed with my family as a resident. My life was different from Bangkok’s. I did not worry about the scheduled time to run to the office. The job that I got was a shift time in-out. It was not a problem. My house was nearby the workplace so I was able to ride the bike to work. My duty required communication skills and a service mind. At that time, it seemed like I did not have any plans after raining day. I thought it is time to rest and try to be simple. I had a chance to learn Chinese and Russian language from my colleague. It was just a vocabulary to welcome and direct guests during their stay period. That was the first time to know Thai guys who were fluent in Chinese and Russian. They were a bellboy who sent the bag to the guest’s room.
My job was not busy all day. I had time around 2 or 3 hours per day to hand on my phone to see something interesting. Mostly I looked at the chat to check messages and E-mail on my phone. Once a week before I went to travel Chiang Mai with my family. I ordered lipstick and eyebrow pencils on Shopee. My eyebrow pencils were delayed sending. I argued with the seller. It could be the first online order that I recognized. I wonder why a breaking time encouraged me to press this order. I was a rat who crash into a casual marketing trap. I had never looked for an online cosmetic store in my whole life.
After that, I buy many items via the online site since it is very easy, economical, and enjoyable to shop anywhere. I prefer to search for a rare item, functional home used, and low-price item before I go to the store by myself. The advanced benefit is I can compare the quality and price on the website by myself. I do not have to ask a question with sale staff as I used to.
I frequently buy 50 percent of my utility stuff via online sites until now. Checking on my disappointing items that is not much I can count on it. Of course, I used to get a broken item from China and received the wrong color’s food container. Fortunately, the shopping online platform accepted my request to return the item. However, I have never faced the cycle of crime online. I guess it is because I have my criteria before buying my target stuff.
My first criteria, most of my reliable orders show their product review which is the real picture of a customer. The reviewed description either good or bad comments was not the main reason for me to make a decision. The things that are important to me are an authentic picture and a reasonable price. If the seller has provided both of this detail appropriately, I would be willing to pay for them.
My second criterion, the shipping source must be trustable. Generally, exclusive brands have their official online store. It guarantees that you will get the original product brand name. Anyway, you will have to read about the product feature and warranty and whether it includes all your perspective quality.
My third criterion, the shipping source must assure straight product qualification. I choose the product from the manufacturer instead of the retailer because the price is standard and easier to prove the qualification.
My fourth criterion, the shipping condition must be suitable for me at that moment. Think about it: how long can I wait for the order? how much do I have to pay for it after comparison? Is the shipping company responsible for the damage and for providing the express service?
My fifth criterion, the payment methods are flexible and secure. Normally the shopping platform provides various options for the customer. For instance, I certainly choose cash on delivery (COD) for the preorder and overseas shipping. These kinds of shipments take at least 1 week to a month. Payment in advance is like your money is in the cloud space with nothing happening. To prevent the missing order, I recommend the COD method so you can pay when the order arrives. In case they require payment by credit card, you could check whether the online store is popular or trustable. It makes sense to apply this abstract idea because we are not technicians who can prove the payment algorithm.
The last of my criteria is “Self-Risk awareness”. Its definition is an experiment to buy something, or common sense to decide to choose the right item. Assume that you are a pharmacist and that you commonly have medical knowledge. When you read the product description and testimonial, you judge which medical products are inauthentic. Even though you have no experience with it, the exaggerated promotion automatically pushes your common sense to disclaim the online benefit. My awareness message that I always remind myself is “Do not invest in the thing that you cannot stand for the risk” Sometimes I have set the product’s price expectation to limit the failure order.
It is a long story to tell about my purchase online. So now I feel like, I would have some talent to become a seller to serve customers with a good product. The peer-to-peer system may apply to marketing psychology. Once you download the song, you will have to share your song similarly to that I try to be a seller at this time.
I have started to simulate my small business on various social media platforms. I realize that marketing control is typically hard for me to present in case I do not have my product. On the other hand, it is easy to start up since I can run the business without any capital. I perhaps open my shop on the free e-commerce platform. I would choose a reliable manufacturer to coordinate. They can do everything for me except the marketing plan that I have to work on it by myself. It is very comfortable to be a representative seller. I only focus on the marketing strategy. Anyway, I think if I want to earn more profit, I would be the owner of my selling product or strongly drive on the marketing wheel. Is this right?
