Should Your Online Shop Become A Physical Store?
Partnered Content.
When your online store has been a success, then it’s only natural to begin to wonder about the next steps. One idea that will inevitably flitter across your mind is whether you can continue your retail success offline, in the form of a physical store.
This idea is more feasible than you might initially think. For one thing, huge companies are thinking of doing the same; even Amazon, that bastion of online store success, is moving into the offline market with retail stores— so you have every right to wonder if such a development might be what your business needs.
If this is a step you’re genuinely considering taking, you might want to learn more about the pros and cons of taking your digital store into the real world…
PRO: Retail Stores Can Simplify Your Process
Let’s say, at present, your process for selling an item is as follows:
- Receive the item from your supplier
- Photograph the item
- Load the new product description onto your site
- When the item sells, package it up to be sent to the buyer and pay the relevant delivery costs
- Send the item
With a retail store, however, the process becomes:
- Receive the item from your supplier
- Put the item on a shelf
- When the item sells, hand it to the customer and they leave your store with it.
When looked at like this, retail stores are a lot easier, and could substantially reduce the hours you have to spend working on the business.
CON: There’s So Much To Learn
Most of us can think about the basics behind setting up our own retail store without the need for much consultation. It seems like a simple process; you need to find a decent store, fill it with products, set up somewhere to take payments… it can’t be that hard, can it?
Setting up a retail store is a deceptively difficult process. There’s a whole new world you’re going to need to become accustomed to. You’re going to have to learn everything afresh, from techniques to ensure customers spend as much as possible right down to the minutiae of finding the right ball bearing casters so you can move your displays around with ease. There’s so much to learn that it can feel like you’re starting over, which can be extremely daunting.
PRO: It’s Simpler To Stand Out
When you’re selling an item online, the chances are there are ten other online stores who are also selling the same item.
With a physical store, you don’t have that level of competition; you might be the only physical store selling the item for a hundred miles. This reduction in competition could be hugely beneficial for your business as you move forward and expand. You will have a natural audience to sell to from foot traffic that passes by your store, and with a great window display, you can tempt them into stepping inside– something you just can’t do with an online store.
Overall, if you think your business is ready for this step and you’re not afraid of a steep learning curve, taking your online store into the offline world could be the next logical business step for you.
