Over the last few years, a lot of physical retail businesses have gone online, either to become completely online businesses or physical-online hybrids. This makes a lot of sense. Huge online businesses like Amazon have changed the way that people shop, which means physical stores can have a hard time keeping up. Taking at least part of your business online is a sensible strategy that has worked well for many businesses. However, we are not starting to see the opposite happening too, with online businesses opening physical retail locations. So what can your online business do to make this transition to the real world as smooth as possible?
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Choose The Right Space
One of the biggest decisions you will have to make is choosing where you will set up your business. You need to research where your target market can be found, what sort of competition an area has, and what kind of deal you can get on a lease or a building purchase. For a small online business, this might be very tough to do. Online businesses have much lower start-up costs. Do a lot of research, and talk to other business owners in the area you’re considering to get a feel for it.
Invest In A Good Point-Of-Sale System
Your POS system will play a big part in how successful you are. How difficult or intuitive it is will determine how well your employees are able to manage their responsibilities and how satisfied they feel at work. How robust the system is will determine your customer experience too. Look for a system with easy integration with a number of different devices, so you can accept payments with your phone or a tablet, as well as at the till. This is useful on the shop floor and if you go out to events.
Cross-Promote
Once you have got a secure foot online and offline, don’t keep the two sides separate. Promote your physical business on your online channels, and promote your online business in your physical store. You want to generate as much business as you can across both, so make sure all your customers know that both options are available to them. They will find both options useful for different things.
Start Small
Some online businesses are making huge investments in physical spaces. Don’t do the same. It’s better to start small, especially if you have a more limited audience. Invest in a small location, with limited inventory, and a minimal staff. You could start out by attending conventions and trade shows. Don’t invest too much into space until you know that it can work for your business.
Gather Data And Adjust
Keep careful details of exactly how your business is performing in both offline and online channels. Gather as much data as you can on how your customers behave, such as how they buy and how they respond to surveys about your brand, and adjust what you’re doing according to the results.
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