Due to the global pandemic COVID-19 continuing to unravel with endless duration, brick-and-mortar Business owners are striving to adapt to the changing internet industry. Adding an e-commerce wing to their companies is one of the many options that they have considered.
There are multiple merits your business can experience if you add an online shop to your physical store. However, due to the current situation, many businesses are deciding to implement an e-commerce option.
A prominent example would be Disney stores offering face masks of The Avengers and Baby Yoda. You will also find plenty of cloth face masks for families and children that are surviving in vulnerable and underserved communities in the US through MedShare.
Here are the ways how business has changed lately and how the paradigm is shifting to online commerce with eCommerce development.
The Evolving E-commerce Development
For about two decades, the retail ecosystem has been simultaneously tilting towards the online space. This has been true as the internet was accessible to the citizens of the world in the early 1990s. Even when the online arena was brimming with online companies, there was a considerable amount of scope for brick-and-mortar businesses as well. A percentage of nearly 70% of customers are prepared to buy in-store neglecting the online market.
These numbers have however taken a different and unexpected shift towards the online arena. The pandemic has forced the customer of every age bracket to add more items to their online list instead of shopping in a metal cart. The malls will be in their full swing again once the COVID-19 crisis is over. Of late, however, an e-commerce site is the better option to implement in your business until the pandemic is over.
People are Searching
Have you ever been asked by your prospects if you run a website or not? This may also be true that you have a social page on Facebook and people still have trouble finding you online.
The competition is going online
A small part of making it big in the retail industry is competing with similar stores. If you find out that competitors are trying to already fit in the e-stores then you are falling behind in the race. The internet is not like what it was in the ‘90s anymore when it was a risky decision. It is just getting started and getting bigger.
Based on the present conditions it is safe to assume that the internet is necessary for growth and success.
The Millennial and next generation are quickly becoming the main mass of the customer base because they shop online. You will be missing out on a ton of exciting profit margins if you don’t migrate to online stores and innovate.
Sales are raging
Even though there are still many brick-and-mortar outlets out, the fact that their numbers are dwindling is also true. As mentioned before, 40-70% of buyers of any age demographic shop in-store. This part is crucial as this shows that the younger generation is more invested in e-commerce shopping than their predecessors. The numbers are just going to increase even more with time.
Even if the physical stores are hanging in the business market, the ratio is still declining, while the e-commerce stores are growing exponentially. Before physical stores become a novelty, setting yourself up on an e-store will ensure your wide online presence. Better to hire a professional e-commerce developer to get your share of online presence!
Tip to Add an E-commerce Wing to your Business
Below are some of the methods by which you can add an e-commerce shop to your physical business:
1. Pick the perfect domain and e-commerce platform for your business
First, you will require a name to set up your e-commerce store. Pick a name suitable for your brands and services. Utilizing the keyword in the domain name may give you an upper hand in SEO. Many e-Commerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce ease your selling by offering a simple interface to upload goods, process orders, manage inventory, thus offering an improved customer experience.
2. Promote your products online
Online Marketing offers you to market your products in the internet space efficiently. It is very analogous to a marketing specialist who promotes the sale of goods in a store. The trends, in the e-commerce business, show that the chance of selling widens with the massive traffic drive. Developing rich and original content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing will increase your online selling faster.
3. Do it yourself Platform
If you are low on a budget and already own a WordPress site, start selling on the internet using WooCommerce. This platform is a great online outlet for SMEs. Shopify can also help you sell online with a simple and user-friendly interface. It is also extending a few days of free trial and offering almost all necessary e-commerce features.
4. Use Omnichannel
Newer and newer channels are online now that are selling products. You can stretch this out to other funnels as well and not limit it to just your e-commerce stores like Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, and diverse marketplace platforms. It is easy not to widen your reach to more consumers and sell your products via these channels that are well-structured and have immense organic traffic and SERP.
5. Analyze your online sales
It is very crucial, as an entrepreneur, to evaluate your online sales. E-commerce platforms offer graph-based dashboards that allow you to measure your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual sales. You can identify non-performing goods and work with the marketing specialists to deliver discounts, offers, and campaigns to increase the sale of such goods.
6. Leverage the best of chain suppliers
Your supply chain associates in a physical casino include producers, retailers, distributors, and customers. Although, with e-commerce implementation, you would also need delivery associates that can deliver the product to the customers’ doorsteps. It is possible to either be done by fulfillment partners or direct distributors.
An Omnichannel option in e-commerce offers one-touch implementation across channels providing a decent customer experience.
7. Manage inventory efficiently
It is very crucial to manage the inventory stock and implement product listing on the e-store. If you are a retail merchant you would clearly understand the complexity behind inventory management. It is very important to synchronize your retail and e-store properly to avoid order cancellation and out of stock problems. Shopify provides Point of Sale transactions in a pop-up setting or a physical store.
Synopsis
Physical businesses cannot deny the existence of e-commerce websites. It is a new trend to allow businesses not only to thrive but also to grow and evolve. Based on the current crisis, businesses should implement a contactless delivery system for consumers. These are some of the methods that will assist you in setting up an e-store fast. It is suggested to hire an experienced eCommerce development company to make the best out of this platform for your business.
