E-commerce has become an integral part of many business strategies, and it’s likely that your business could benefit from selling products and services online as well. However, given the time and effort it takes to set up and maintain e-commerce system, you need to know whether it’s right for your business in order to maximize your efforts and have them pay off. Check out these three questions to help you figure out whether your business should start selling online.
1) How does your customer find you now?
If you are currently based in a physical store then most likely your customers will find you by driving by, a google search or by word of mouth. In this case you are at an advantage and most likely some organic marketing is already in place, so you may benefit in other ways by having an online store.
For example there might be times when people come into your store wanting an item that you don’t currently have in stock and by having an online store you can refer them there to check when that product becomes available, so that they can easily order it and get it delivered directly to their house without the hassle, and if you have an email list campaign in place, you can continuously promote your products to them to keep them buying from you.
In some other cases, having an online store can cut expensive office costs, especially if you provide services and do not necessarily need to host physical products. Having a website where you can display your services and charge for them if they decide to hire you, will definitely free up costs and time so you can invest it in sales processes (which will talk about next), customer support, and marketing your business online to help it grow much faster.
2) Can other people handle part of the sales process for you?
An ecommerce website requires someone that can handle sales processes and “immediate” customer support. In order for an ecommerce website to be successful, it needs the manpower and resources to keep it going. If you plan on running the online store but do not have the “tech-savvy” skills, you will need to hire someone with these skills or learn.
An online store serves no purpose if it’s not alive. This means you need to promote it a lot, respond to requests immediately and keep it up to date. So in other words, you may need people in charge of order fulfillment, customer service and marketing. All of these jobs take time.
It’s not a physical store but it should be treated as one, as it can potentially earn you way more than a physical one, but it requires a lot of work and marketing.
3) How much time can you devote to marketing and finding customers online?
If time isn’t on your side, it might not be worth the investment. You will need to devote a lot of energy and resources into marketing efforts and finding customers. An online store is very different than a physical store. With a physical store, if it’s in a decent place with foot traffic and it’s inviting enough for people to walk in, you will have no problem showcasing your products. Unlike with an online store. If you setup an online store and don’t promote it constantly, people are simply not going to find it.
Yes, you need marketing for both types of stores, and we can talk for hours about different marketing strategies for either types of business, but the main point here is that a physical store can survive with little marketing if it’s in a good location and has decent customer service and products, while an online store can’t stand a chance if it doesn’t have enough marketing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, decide if your business can expand, improve customer satisfaction or even cut costs with an online store. If having an online store means that it will cause the opposite, then think twice about implementing an online store right away, and instead draft a plan to gain the resources you will be needing to be successful (time or people to help you with it).
