You might have started your business from popup events or even from a farmer’s market but it is very important to have something which supports your business and one of the best choices is having an eCommerce website to support and grow it. Most of the shoppers first conduct online research when buying or looking for any product to buy. If they cannot find your business online, you are likely to lose sales. Here are some ways e-commerce can expand your business:
E-commerce website becomes your hub
Even if your physical store is thriving, e-commerce can become or serve as your business hub. The first thing is first, get online and launch your online shop and start selling. You can attract a lot of pools online. Many shoppers who may be researching online to find the products may find you. This will help increase your sales and your ranking online which can get you to increase sales and your business will be remembered by many shoppers. If you market your online website well, there is a greater chance you may attract a lot of people to your physical store as well.
Helps you gather information
Having an eCommerce website design also helps you keep up with gathering information. This is done by looking at customers’ suggestions online, the things they demand, the trends of products i.e. the most demanded, and collecting customer information so that it can be used for promoting your products through email or SMS. This customer information is attained when the customer purchases a product and fills up their contact information at the end of the purchase. Online platforms help you provide an insight into how people are reacting to your products, how many of them are sharing your products, and how the sales are increasing.
Helps you personalize your experience
Now you have had shoppers, but it’s important to make your shoppers feel special. When you have the customers’ information you can send out offers when their birthdays are coming up and also send a birthday message. You can also introduce loyalty programs by having customers open up an account and track their purchases. When they have purchased enough products, they can receive a special present such as vouchers, free purchase up to an amount or even some percentage off from their purchase. Most of the people get attracted to these offers.
Expands your reach
Ecommerce helps you promote your business in many ways such as using social networking sites. Many businesses have grown using Instagram and Facebook. These attract a lot of customers interested in your business and products. You can also re-engage by providing ads to the customers who viewed your products but did not purchase. You can put pictures of your products and put up your website so that it could be easy for them to be redirected to your website and purchase their desired products.
Offer more customer service options
You can offer online services i.e., customers can order online and then can pick up the order from the store if they want to. You can also offer the products to be delivered to their homes. You can also keep an option of return for online purchases, the best return option would be to return the product at the physical store. This can help you attract people to your shop as well and bring exposure to all the nice products available and showcased at your store.
Increased Availability
The physical store has an opening and closing hours. These hours require staff to be present at that time which usually results in increased employee cost. The time you are not operating your physical store, your online store is always active and functioning 24/7. Even on days like national or city lockdowns. Your online store is always open for people to purchase and make orders of the products they like.
Unlimited customer reach
Apart from people who have been to your store before, there are many people who can be attracted to your brand. Customers can browse from anywhere and come across your website and may recommend to their friends and friends can recommend further to people, this way many people will get to know your brand and want to look for their favorite products and purchase them. There is no limited reach to attracting customers online. This helps you gain a lot of loyal customers online. People nowadays find it easier to browse shops online from their homes instead of actually coming to the store and browsing products there which takes time and they may miss some good or their needed products this way.
Easy and convenient purchases
Ecommerce websites are really convenient. It allows customers to purchase products from their homes with one click. There are easy steps to purchase a product: select product, put up your address, and select your payment method, Easy right? Customers will no longer have to leave their comfort and go to the shop to purchase so they can easily do it from home. No need for cash either if you are selecting your card payment methods. People who don’t use cards can easily have the option to pay cash upon their delivery. Some purchases can have the person pick up the order from the store after selecting online, this saves a lot of time of you browsing in the physical store.
E-Commerce is definitely a game-changer. It is a great opportunity to increase sales and attract customers without actually knocking on their doors and telling them about your products. This is a very convenient and easy method for customers. They can browse from anywhere, purchase from anywhere and find it convenient to be delivered to their house. They can also be encouraged to visit your physical store when they want to return a product or try out the product in-store.