Paytrail

Online store - Solid Support for a Brick and Mortar Store

Johannes Kumpukoski Written by Johannes Kumpukoski - Feb 2, 2015

Does your brick and mortar store already have an online store? Are you utilizing it in your business and marketing? If you answered no, the following tips may be very useful to increase your revenue.

Showrooming / Web Rooming

The purpose of an online store is to support the sales of the brick and mortar store and direct customers to purchase the product through a channel they like the best. Customers of a brick and mortar store may order the product later online if they didn't make the purchase decision in the brick and mortar store. Those visiting the online store may buy the products from the brick and mortar store. Everybody wins.

Customers usually look for products online first, but they will want to test the product or try it on for size. Often a good solution is to see the product in a brick and mortar store. Sometimes the product will be ordered, if the online store allows it to be returned for free. Therefore at its best, an online store improves the level of service.

Online Store as a Marketing Channel

In addition to being a separate sales channel, an online store also functions as a good marketing channel, when it is implemented correctly. If search engine optimization and visibility in social media are successful, an online store may earn a significant amount of sales and attention. Also in an online store, products are always on display - a big advantage compared to regular web pages.

Costs of Opening an Online Store

Cost should not be an impediment for creating an online store to support a brick and mortar store. The features required to support and reach the store's business goals should be the focus and not so much on only the cost.

An online store can be created economically, either all at once or as a service from a platform provider with a monthly fee. The overall costs of implementing an online store in a single job start at around 300 Euros. With technical know-how, you could do the implementation practically by yourself at no cost. A hosting service for a fully implemented online store start at 3€ / month.

The price range for online stores with monthly fees is between 15€ - 1000€ / month. The price depends on the services required and level of service chosen. In addition, you'll also need a payment service and a logistics partner.

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