Almost everyone nowadays owns a smartphone and internet access. This also means that consumers are more likely to look up and purchase products, services, and businesses online. For brick-and-mortar businesses, that’s to say, businesses that operate purely in a physical location, you’re limited to your shop. However, if you take advantage of these advances in technology, and the widespread access and use of the internet, expanding your business online could definitely help you out. For one, having an eCommerce (online selling) website can help you expand your reach and be able to get more customers. Not only that, but you’d also be able to put your brand and business online, making it more visible to consumers who browse products through search engines. And, lastly, you’d be able to increase your profit.
Is it for everyone?
There are certain businesses that simply won’t benefit much from investing in and developing an eCommerce website to sell their products. For example, if you’re a grocery store owner, it may not be entirely cost-efficient for you to individually catalog and post every single product in your store, and then sell them online. However, you can opt to specialize in certain products for your grocery store to sell online — you can focus on selling and shipping baby products such as diapers, milk, and so on. The bottom line is that you need to evaluate if your business can benefit from expanding to eCommerce, and/or if there are ways you can make it work, at least.
If you’ve determined that expanding your business online is a good move to make, here are some eCommerce tips you’d definitely want to keep in mind:
Decide What You’re Going to Sell
As mentioned earlier, if you’re going to put up your eCommerce website to sell products from your physical store/location online, then you’ll need to specialize in a certain line of product. That said, you’ll want to determine which products you’d be selling online. A good place to start is by checking your sales history and see which ones are your best-sellers and make those your highlighted products. Later on, if you have the time and resources, you could always expand the number and types of products you sell.
Keep it Simple (and Ad-Free)
Nothing makes an online consumer click (or tap) off an eCommerce website than ads and needlessly complex lay-outs. Think like a consumer, and make your website simple, easy-to-use, and easy to navigate around. You have to remember, the more user-friendly your website is, the more people across different age groups would be able to browse around and are more likely to purchase. Adding a search and filter option, or at least an option to choose categories of products can go a long way to improve online customer experience.
Make Checkout and Payment Quick and Painless
If your customer needs to go through a labyrinth of check-out pages, they’re more likely to just abandon the order altogether. So make it a point to minimize the checkout process and only get the most essential information needed. And, of course, you should be able to provide as many modes of payment as possible, from Paypal to credit/debit card, digital payment apps, and so on. Credit/debit card payments could be a bit more complex, so it’s best to find payment providers who you can partner with that offer credit card processing for lenders and businesses, in order to simplify the process for you and your customers.
Conclusion
Expanding online can be a huge advantage for your business. In a way, it’s removing the physical limitations of your shop/office, and allow you to introduce your business’ name and products to a much wider market.
