With the Covid -`19 Pandemic, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen so many storefront stores switch to e-commerce. Thinking about making the decision and switching yours as well? Maybe a little overwhelmed at the thought? It can be confusing, but the good news is that this article tells you how to make the transition easy!
As businesses around the world navigate the world’s global pandemic, they have had to rely more than ever on making products virtual. 2020 hit the business world hard once lockdown restrictions were put into place, with brick-and-mortar stores taking the hardest hit from it.
Although things were difficult for online stores, many were able to recover. However, many brick-and-mortar stores were placed under restrictions and lost customers to the pandemic. Now, as we head towards the end of the year, many stores are concluding that they’ll have to go e-commerce.
For the amateur, making this decision and getting started can be daunting. No worries, because even the beginner can learn the basics for transitioning from a brick-and-mortar store to an e-commerce store. This article will cover the basics as well as more.
How To Switch From a Storefront to E-commerce
Ensure That You Have Qualified Staff
You’re opening a new sales channel, which means that you’re going to have to have someone managing it. It’s important that you have a qualified staff that will be capable of helping and running the online company. If your current staff isn’t qualified in that way, it’s important that you hire a team that is.
You want experts in the area, even if it’s going to cost you more. Your team is ultimately what will make things happen and when adjusting to online retail, especially if you don’t have much experience in the area, you want those who know what they’re doing involved.
Delivering Products
This one is crucial. If you’re going to have an e-commerce store, your main priority has to be how you’ll get your products to customers. This part shouldn’t be too difficult, but it’s important that you’ve done your research and have an effective plan in place before even thinking about switching from a storefront to e-commerce.
There are a few ways that you can about this. The first is taking care of shipping and handling yourself. Many small shops opt to do this because it’s more cost-efficient and simpler than getting others involved. However, if your company is a bit bigger then you may want to go with using a third party. They’ll take care of everything and ensure that your product is delivered safely to customers.
Marketing
Here is where companies will often make their biggest mistakes when it comes to switching to e-commerce. They don’t tell customers and their community what they’re doing (or don’t do it properly) and this will often lead to losing a gap of customers when making the switch.
It’s important that, when it comes to marketing, you’re more involved and active than ever while switching your store over. It’s essential that you have a strategy in place and know what your game plan is for letting everyone know about your new online store. How will you tell them? How will you make sure old customers know? Do your research and have a marketing plan in place.
Deciding What You’ll Sell
Unfortunately, you may not be able to transfer everything from your retail store to your online store. Depending on the platform you use, you may have to cut down on the products that you sell. Some restrictions limit what you can sell digitally, and you may find that what makes sense to sell in your storefront doesn’t make as much sense to sell online.
Sit down and realistically decide what you want to keep and what you’ll want to continue to sell online. Look at the rules of the online platform you’re using and ensure that you’re able to sell the products that you want to continue to sell online. It’s important that you narrow down your products and ultimately decide which ones you’ll continue to sell.
Website
This part may be obvious, but you would be surprised at how many people overlook the simplest aspects when it comes to switching to online retail. They either overlook the website in their rush to ensure that everything else is taken care of or they don’t put effort into their website.
Want to know what’s worse than not having a website? Having a bad website. Invest money and time into your website. It’s what customers are going to be seeing and ultimately what will be the deciding factor of whether or not they’re willing to buy from your company. Hire a professional to take care of your website and ensure that it runs smoothly, looks stunning, and displays your products well.
