Brick-and-mortar stores are finding it critical to transition to an online platform. When your store is told it can’t operate physically, what else is there to do in order to survive?
Data shows that the “eCommerce share of the retail market increased as much in the first half of 2020 as in the last five years” — and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down much either. As more and more consumers get accustomed to doing all of their shopping online (and with more reasons why they should be digitally shopping too), there’s a good chance that a significant portion of the consumer base will never return to brick-and-mortar stores.
This means that if you’re a brick-and-mortar store that doesn’t have a strong online presence, now’s the time. But unlike in the past when an “online presence” meant social media accounts and a functioning website, 2021 requires that your online presence is compatible with online shopping habits. In order to survive and grow in this changing market, you must have an easy-to-use online shop complete with digital shopping carts, payment processors, and systems for shipping and returns.
Why Should You Make the Move to eCommerce Right Now?
The good news is that brick-and-mortar stores are making a comeback. With more consumers excited to get back to “normal,” some shop owners are actually noting a surge in customers that outperforms pre-pandemic numbers. Even so, it’s still smart to make the shift to an eCommerce website right now.
Not only has 2020 taught us to be prepared for everything, but in offering your customers an ability to shop online you give them another way to remain loyal to your brand. Your current customers have made new habits and, by creating an online shop for them to use, you allow them to continue to give you support.
Moving your brick-and-mortar store to an online platform expands your business’s opportunities; when you sell products online, your audience grows significantly — as can your revenue. As long as your physical store and online store offer the same branding, products, and overall experience, your customers (whether returning or new) will be happy.
How to Move Your Brick-and-Mortar Business Online
The first step to creating an eCommerce website for your brick-and-mortar store is selecting a platform. Just like you selected a building for your physical store, your eCommerce platform is the foundation for everything else you’ll build. Similarly, you could have chosen to build your brick-and-mortar store from scratch, but most likely you chose a building and space that already existed or that was built by someone else. The same is true when it comes to choosing an eCommerce platform: you can either build it yourself or take an easier route by choosing one that already exists.
We offer a Premium eCommerce Solution Completely Free For Life
Unless you have a background in web development, you’ll want to choose an existing eCommerce platform for your digital store. Just like your physical store’s location, the platform will give you a space that you can customize with your branding and products. When looking for the best eCommerce platform for your store, consider these questions:
Does the platform provide hosting? If it doesn’t, this will be another separate cost.
Does the platform offer regular maintenance or are you expected to maintain the site yourself?
Will the platform work in tandem with other technologies and apps your store requires?
How much does the platform cost? Does this cost include all of the apps and add-ons necessary to keep your store up and running?
Can the platform be customized to suit your business’s needs?
We offer you an enterprise-grade plan with unlimited products, users, and features, all completely free
Your domain name for your online store is important because it is what you’ll direct customers to in order to complete their online purchases. In many cases, the domain name will be your physical store’s name, but this isn’t always the case. Not only are many domain names already taken (including potentially your store’s name), but some brick-and-mortar stores want to offer a slightly different experience online. For example, some businesses may want to sell only a certain subset of products online.
Once you choose your domain name you’ll be ready to register it. Domain name registration and hosting are included in our platform solution. Everything you need, including shipping, affiliate programs, SaaS hosting and security, unlimited products and categories, frequent software updates, free 24/7/365 United States based support. Already have a web site we can help you move it to our platform.
We have reimagined the eCommerce pricing model. While our competitors charge up to $299 or more per month to host your online store, you can set up a full-featured store with us AT NO CHARGE when you use our payment processing. This isn’t just a free trial or an entry level account. This is a premium account without the premium price. Get started here.
Your eCommerce website definitely doesn’t need to be anything fancy. In fact, trying to make it overly fancy or complicated will only hurt your sales because customers actually want a simple, straightforward experience. The most important part of designing your website is making sure that it’s clean and easy-to-use while still looking professional. Because eCommerce platforms have advanced dramatically over the last decade, a lot of the design work is done for you — all you have to do is customize and drop in branding.
Of course, you can use a professional website designer to help you if you need it or if you have money to spare. By working with a professional designer, you can achieve more custom effects that can separate you from the competition and help your customers have a unique experience. You can get started right now with very little investment and have a great-looking online shop up and running in less than 24 hours.
Above all, make sure that your eCommerce website is mobile responsive. If your customers can’t shop (or if the experience is less than ideal) on their phones, then you will definitely lose sales.
An enterprise grade plan with unlimited products
Because you already have a brick-and-mortar store up and running, it’s easier for you to know exactly which products you want to offer in your online store. While some physical stores choose to offer every product online, most select those that are the most popular and/or are easy to ship (typically no more than 100 different products in total). Doing this helps you get your online store operational more quickly, but it also helps to simplify certain systems like inventory, shipping, returns, etc.
As you start to make sales online, you’ll discover new trends and can update your online store’s inventory and product selection accordingly. It’s also a good idea to offer a selection of “special” products online, including those that are often specifically requested by current customers.
All the shipping tools you will need are included
One of the biggest reasons why online shoppers don’t complete checkout is because of shipping procedures. How you ship your products and how much you charge will determine the success of your online venture. Because of this, it’s crucial that you calculate your shipping costs accurately, as well as select trusted methods of shipping for all of your products.
If you’re just getting started selling products online, it’s typically a good idea to try using a flat rate for shipping. Not only does this help you predict your costs, but it gives your customers peace of mind, too
A single source for all your payment needs
In order for your eCommerce website to function, you have to be able to accept payments. This means having payment processing set up on the backend of your online store. If this sounds complicated, you’ll be glad to know that it isn’t. In fact, many eCommerce platforms include payment processors in order to simplify setup.
When choosing the right payment processor, you’ll want to make sure that you’re selecting one that is trusted by your audience, which means that it's well-known and used frequently. You’ll also want to choose a payment processor that works with any of the POS systems you already use in your store. This kind of integration will help make the transition to online sales even easier.
Our world–class payment processing platform includes: free EMV devices and waived gateway setup and transaction fees, layered security of EMV, tokenization, and PCI–validated P2PE as well as advanced auditing and reporting capabilities, integration with hundreds of the leading POS and PMS platforms, P2PE–enabled EMV terminals from the leading manufacturers and numerous reporting capabilities and customer engagement tools.
Setting up an eCommerce website for your brick-and-mortar business really isn’t difficult. All it takes is a little bit of time and effort to start making online sales. Thanks to the latest innovations with eCommerce platforms, most of the work is done for you, which means there really isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t get your digital store up and running today.
We have reimagined the eCommerce pricing model. While our competitors charge up to $299 or more per month to host your online store, you can set up a full-featured store now AT NO CHARGE when you use our payment processing. This isn’t just a free trial or an entry level account. This is a premium account without the premium price
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A Premium eCommerce Solution Completely Free - For Life
