This year has been tough on a lot of businesses. With customers staying home in order to stay safe, brick-and-mortar stores have been hit hard. However, some businesses have still managed to make gains in 2020. This is largely due to their ability to evolve and adapt to the current market. And the current market is all about e-commerce. Many e-commerce businesses, like www.smokingthings.com, have increased their sales this year. Online stores have a lot of benefits that make them a great investment, even in the current shaky economy.
Start-up Costs
Starting any business takes money, but online stores cost a lot less to get going. With a smaller initial cost, the risk is also much lower. Online stores require less inventory. In many cases, they also require less staff. There are multiple guides available online that list the costs for starting an e-commerce site. This includes paying for the perfect domain name and a web hosting account. Depending on the type of store, there will most likely be costs associated with designing the website and visually presenting the products for sale. Building a website is a crucial aspect for entrepreneurs who want to establish a strong digital image, which is why it is important to get a good understanding of all the best business website builders on the market today.
Limitless Exposure
With traditional stores, location is key. They must attract customers from the geographical area they are located. However, online stores do not have this limitation. Once an online store is open, it can receive traffic from anywhere in the world at any time of the day. Owners of an online store can literally be making money while they sleep. There are also free online resources that explain how to drive more traffic to certain websites.
Easy Follow-Up
When people shop in an online store, it is easier to see what they are interested in. When shopping in person, they may wander around the store and note some items. However, once they leave there is no follow-up opportunity. When shopping online, they may place an item in their shopping cart or save it for later. This gives the business owner a chance to follow up with an email or a coupon to attract that customer to come back. Sometimes the customer may leave their email address so that they can be added to an email list. Then advertisements and special offers can easily be sent out in mass mailings to all customers.
The pandemic has accelerated the transition from in-person to virtual transactions in many different types of businesses. No market has benefitted from this as much as e-commerce. Now is a uniquely beneficial time to start an online store and reap the benefits of what may be the new normal way of shopping.
Read more about creating your ECommerce website.