- April 6, 2021
- Posted by: simba001
- Category: Retail POS Insights
The retail landscape has been in a continuous state of change.
From the threat of large chain stores to recent advances in mobile technology and the rise of eCommerce sites, retailers have had to adapt in response to a variety of trends and innovations in order to attract customer attention.
One of the most common ways small businesses are navigating these changes is by transitioning to selling online.
There are many benefits to taking your shop online in both the short and long term that make the process worthwhile.
For the short term, the most obvious benefit of taking your store online is that you’ll still be able to generate sales under government restrictions on in-person activity. In the long term, you’ll get more benefits and increase chances of survival plus growth.
If you’re interested in being future proof, see below the 5 reasons why you should take your business online.
For the short term, the most obvious benefit of taking your store online is that you’ll still be able to generate sales under government restrictions on in-person activity. In the long term, you’ll get more benefits and increase chances of survival plus growth.
1. Cost-effective expansion
Unlike traditional physical expansion, launching an online store is much more budget friendly. Forget about additional rent, employee salaries or renovations; expanding into the digital world of commerce requires minimal overhead costs.
As for building your website? No need to hire programmers to do the job. The right eCommerce platform should provide you with all the services and tools you need to build your website at an affordable price, no matter how much expertise you have.
2. Increased brand awareness
Just because you run a small- or medium-sized business doesn’t mean you can’t acquire a large customer base. Taking your retail business online not only allows you to break down the borders that lie between your business and international shoppers, it can help direct locals to both your online or brick-and-mortar store.
The implementation of a solid search engine optimisation strategy is key to getting your eCommerce website to the top of search engine results pages, and onto shoppers’ radars. By choosing an eCommerce solution that offers SEO optimization capabilities, you can dramatically boost awareness, your site’s searchability, as well as in-store and online sales.
On the other hand, you can also work with established SEO companies like Global Desarts Media to help improve your rankings on Google
3. Increased customer reach
By supplementing your brick-and-mortar store with an eCommerce website, you open your business up to the world. No longer restricted to a single, physical location or sales channel, you gain the ability to meet new and existing customers anywhere they happen to be, whether in your store, on their mobiles, desktops or laptops.
4. Round-the-clock sales
In the last few years, the retail industry has transformed into a 24/7 business. Relying solely on a physical store means you are missing out on the chance to make sales while you sleep.
With an eCommerce site, you free yourself from the constraints of standard operating hours and, the best part is, you don’t need to be present at all times or hire extra staff. With the right eCommerce platform and a solid content and sales strategy in place, your products can pretty much sell themselves.
5. Increased customer engagement
It should come as no surprise that an online presence creates additional consumer touch points for your business. The more of these touch points you create, the easier it is to engage with your customer base and keep them coming back to your store or website in the future.
POS and eCommerce solutions that allow you to capture and share customer data like contact information, birthdays and brand preferences across selling platforms allow you to tailor your messaging to the variety of shopper segments that come into contact with your brand. With this customer data at your disposal, you can make better use of eCommerce features such as social media integrations, Live Chat, product suggestions and automated email campaigns to further engage customers with relevant content that is likely to elicit conversions.
Are you ready to meet the demands of the modern-day consumer? Take your business online with the help of PawaPOS, give your customers the experience they’ve come to expect and watch your profits grow.
