How do you sell your products online? Parkway Plastics' Plastic Jars and Caps online - Selling in a Digital Age through a variety of Marketing Channels

While brick and mortar stores may be important in some industries, in packaging brick and mortar stores are quickly becoming a thing of the past. With the advent of the internet it has become possible to view products online as if you were seeing them first hand in the store. Customers know this and so they are much more savvy than they once were. That is why online buying is the trending in today’s market place. In fact, if you have a business that doesn't have an online store front it is hard to imagine that you would even survive. While referrals and word of mouth still count for something, I can't remember that a time where I made a buying decision without checking the internet first, to search for reviews, compare pricing and product features and assess a company's legitimacy based on their online presence. Even in the service industry I find I am increasingly skeptical. I know that I won't even work with service people or contracts such as painters, plumbers, electricians and the like that don't have some sort of legitimate web presence or are tied to a reputable website like AngiesList.com or HomeAdvisor.com. And these are businesses that were never even historically associated with having a brick and mortar stores before. Having a legitimate website though somehow makes you seem more established, more trust worthy and therefore more legitimate. Think about it, every time you search for a new doctor, buy a new cosmetic product or a new toy for your child and even researching plastic jars and packaging, you do it online first.

So with that being said, online marketing and fulfillment companies are now taking full advantage of the new buying landscape. Companies like Alibaba, Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and Google Shopping are taking full advantage of this new online landscape offering platforms for sales, marketing and fulfillment at some pretty high premiums. But seeing as how the most attractive thing with online marketing is the ever ready customers who are willing spend. When supplies are well presented with properly articulated and honest reviews, this buyers won’t hesitate to buy the items.

According to Google, consumers are ever searching the internet with the intention of finding things to buy, read reviews on some commodities and even looking for platforms selling particular types of products.

So with this knowledge in hand along with the knowledge that these high tech marketing platforms / fulfillment companies all have there hands out I set out to discover which sales / marketing platform would make the most sense for Parkway Plastics, a B2B plastic jar manufacturer based in Piscataway, NJ.

First Stop - Plastic Jars and Caps on Alibaba?