I often come into contact with “bricks and mortar” retailers who can’t be convinced that they need to have an online shop. They have run a successful business for maybe 20 years with regular customers and a proven marketing strategy. They see an online shop as a distraction rather than something that is an inevitable expansion of their business. But what about all the people who walk past and never come in or the people out of town or in other towns? You can reach far, far more potential customers online than you can ever reach sitting in your store running adverts in the local paper or on the local radio – either of which is much more expensive than online marketing. Online, you can also display a far greater range of products than you can fit in a physical store. This allows you to attract a larger customer base to your online shop.
Online shopping websites growing faster than ever
When you’ve been doing the same thing for a long time, it can be hard to see a major shift in the way your customers are “window shopping” and spending money. The growth in online retail transactions has been astronomical. Australia’s News.com.au recently reported that there was such a massive increase in online orders over the 2011 Christmas period that delivery companies were hard pressed to get parcels to their customers on time.
Australia Post spokesperson Mel Ward
So where is all this increase in business coming from for online shops? The economy isn’t booming and many retailers are still struggling. Could it be that the shoppers have abandoned their traditional retailers to shop online? Without an online prescence, you’re missing out on a fantastic opportunity, not only to protect your customer base but also to increase your business with far lower start up costs than opening another shop. Online stores don’t need to rent expensive mall space, they don’t have retail staff who want holidays, get sick or have boyfriend issues!
An online shop is fast, convenient and allows you to offer lower prices to your customers from reduced overheads. You can even deliver door to door.
If you’ve been hesitating to start an online store, contact us to find out more and take the next step.