The coronavirus global pandemic has had a definitive impact on the shopping behavior of people around the world. The business implications of the situation can last well into the decade.
With lockdowns being declared across various countries to contain the virus, offices have shifted to a work-from-home operational strategy. This period of isolation and uncertainty has resulted in a spike in online shopping and bulk-buying. The choice of products and purchase intervals have also seen a notable change.
This is just one of the scenarios that highlights the importance of building the much-needed bridge between a brick-and-mortar store and an ecommerce store. In other words, this is the perfect time for offline stores to begin their digital transformation journey by establishing an online presence.
Small and medium businesses can improve their visibility and enhance sales through custom ecommerce website development. This article takes a look at the advantages of ecommerce that offline businesses can explore during this pandemic crisis.
Several studies in the past have shown that the popularity of ecommerce stores is consistently on the rise.
This trend indicates that the younger generation prefers the convenience of online shopping as opposed to the experience of shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. Senior citizens have also developed a notable level of comfort in shopping from online stores.
With the rising adoption of ecommerce among the senior population and the coming of age of a generation of tech-savvy youngsters who are making instant purchase decisions through online channels, it is imperative that traditional offline stores jump on the ecommerce bandwagon.
A 2020 study from Ipsos MORI amidst the coronavirus pandemic has found that there is a definitive rise in customers opting for ecommerce platforms to purchase goods that were otherwise bought in physical stores. The ecommerce affinity was particularly conspicuous in Italy, China, Vietnam and India. This underlines the importance of an online presence for businesses to boost sales in such trying times.
In the digital transformation journey of a brick-and-mortar store, there could be several challenges. Since there are a myriad of SaaS products in the market to ease the transition to ecommerce, strategy and resource management should be the primary areas to focus on.
There are three categories of activities for the setup of an ecommerce website:
Let us explore each of these points in detail.
Once this is established, it is easy to identify the approach that needs to be used to market the website to the customer base.
If the priority is in traffic garnered through search engines, then keywords can be used in the domain name. On the other hand, if the retailer is planning to rely more on social media marketing, affiliate marketing or pay-per click advertising they can stick to their offline store name.
An ideal scenario would be to identify with a name that reflects the offline brand and also has immense potential for discoverability through search engines.
Most mega-retailers have a wide array of products/services that would appeal to a large customer base. This, effectively, acts like a net to contain as many buyers as possible.
However, if there is a competitor offering high-quality niche/customized products in smaller quantities (limited edition models), customers may forgo the plain vanilla version of products from large stores and opt for the unique products instead. This is where new ecommerce websites stand to gain.
If your target customers reside within the same locality as your warehouse, you can take advantage of your location by offering faster shipping than global stores. Customizing your packaging and shipping strategy is another point to consider. This further results in a more personalized experience for your customer – a win-win situation.
You can also consider mutually beneficial collaborations with influencers for the promotion of your products.
Having multiple payment options on your website may be a hassle in terms of revenue management. However, the benefits of offering multiple payment channels far outweigh the associated disadvantages.
It is possible for new ecommerce websites to provide a more personalized customer service with ease. This, when combined with top quality products or services, will provide the store an unshakeable online presence.
Although shopping on ecommerce websites continues to grow in popularity, brick-and-mortar stores are not doing too bad either. There are many who still prefer the experience of in-store shopping, highlighted by the ability to try out products and the advantage of getting instant access to the purchased item.
Today, retailers are aware of the fact that ecommerce and offline stores can coexist and complement each other. Integrating online and offline retail is certainly the way to go.
Retailers have realized that the opportunity to create sensory experiences and socializing is higher in a brick-and-mortar store. In line with this, offline stores are investing a lot of money in training their staff to provide top-notch customer experience. And this is certainly not something a chatbot can easily provide!
It is also seen that popular brick-and-mortar stores are stocking up on products that are hard to find through creative partnerships. These unique offerings, along with sensory stimulation and meaningful interactions would ensure that offline stores continue thriving along with ecommerce stores in the highly competitive marketplace.