1. Low Overheads
Generally speaking, online shops cost far less to set up and operate than bricks-and-mortar locations. There are still costs involved of course: website hosting, web domains, digital marketing, and platform fees (if selling through a platform like Shopify or Etsy). You may also need to outsource things like website development, brand creation, marketing strategy, photography, and copywriting.
If your product is completely new to the market or this is your first foray into retail, starting out online is a great way to do some test trading in a relatively low-pressure environment.
2. Not Geographically Limited
A physical shop that doesn’t sell online is very limited geographically. Even if they have a very desirable product and a large marketing budget, they’ll still only attract people within a certain physical radius. However, companies who trade online can benefit from selling to as wide a geographical area as they like – reaching nationally or even globally!
If you do decide to sell outside of the UK, you will have to comply with international tax and import/export rules. Open to Export have a number of helpful resources for UK businesses looking to sell abroad. You may also be able to source help from professional groups like your local Chamber of Commerce.
3. Open for Business 24/7
The majority of online stores involve totally automated order and payment processing, enabling customers to shop when it suits them. Online shopping is the ultimate in convenience for both retailers and customers. Customers can browse and shop whenever they like, and the business owner doesn’t necessarily have to drop everything to process purchases immediately (as they’d have to do with a customer physically present). Neither you nor the customer are committed to – or restricted by – set opening hours.
By the way, research carried out by Retail Therapy Week in 2017 states that Mondays are the most popular days for online shopping, with peaks around 1pm and 8pm.
4. Flexible Updates & Offers
An online store can be updated as and when you like, at little to no expense. Things like adding new product lines, reorganising your catalogue, or setting up a flash sale can be implemented straight away. Social and search pay-per-click campaigns can also be switched on and off in real time with relative ease.
Compare this to a physical shop where you would most likely have to plan in advance for new product releases and sales events; sourcing in-store printed materials, making room on the shop floor to present your new or discounted wares, and advertising in local publications. There’s a lot of moving parts to manage with a bricks-and-mortar shop, but with a lean, online store, you’re totally in control.
5. Access to Analytics
Online stores (and indeed most websites) enable you to access a wealth of usage information such as:
- What times of the day/week/month your website is most popular
- Where your visits are coming from (e.g, search, social media, paid advertising, etc.)
- Geographically where your site is most popular
- Which products and pages are most popular
- What times of the day/week/month you receive the most enquiries/orders
- … and much more!
Understandably, this information can be used to enhance your marketing strategy, enabling you to target individuals with similar tastes and habits more efficiently. Free tools like Google Analytics are invaluable to any company with a website – e-commerce or otherwise!
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