In order for any business to grow, it is very important to reach out to new customers on a regular basis while continuing to communicate effectively with existing ones. With any storefront business, it is clear that these two necessities are difficult to attain for a number of reasons. While outbound marketing and visually appealing windows and designs may attract new customers to take a walk into your store and look around, your reach is limited to those that are physically around your business. When attributing an eCommerce solution to your business, you can easily overcome the obstacles of only being able to market those potential customers in the immediate physical area, to a much larger customer base online.

1. Increase visibility of sales and promotions

With every business, especially retail, there are always promotions and new deals that you try and promote to your current customer base or new prospective customers. Having an eCommerce solution will provide your business with additional avenues to use in order to promote your sales and deals to a wider audience, increasing your conversion rate and increasing your revenue.

Also, with an eCommerce solution, you are able to use your social media platforms to promote new visitors back to your website, giving them an opportunity to purchase your goods or services immediately, rather than having to physical head to your store. Having an eCommerce solution for your website also provides your promotions and marketing campaigns, whether online or offline, some more selling power as current customers and new customers can choose how they want to shop your product; either at one of your locations, or through the url, or link that is provided on the promotional campaigns.

2. Collecting important customer data

Solely relying on asking customers for their email address when they check out at one of your storefronts can be difficult, time consuming, and often met with ‘No thank you, or not today’ from customers. This is because they have already made a purchase, and are not sure if they want to come back or even if they want to be emailed important information regarding promotions or sales. With an eCommerce solution, you can create an email field within the check out process that will allow you to collect important customer data, as long as the customer willingly opts in.

A customer is more willing to enter their email address through your eCommerce website, than provide it while standing in line. Once a customer has navigated through your website, and is able to make their own decision, in their own time to provide their email address to you. This makes the decision their own, rather than being asked on the spot to provide it.

Also, through multiple campaigns, and email marketing, your business is able to increase new and repeat business by strategically and continuously re-engaging prospective customers. This opportunity doesn’t exist for businesses strictly running a physical storefront.

3. Freedom to shop

If you only provide one way of selling your products or services, your storefront, your business is missing out on potential sales from those shoppers who choose to shop differently than the typical shopping mall shopping experience. It is very common for today’s savvy shopper to go online to get everything they need from the comfort of their home, or office.

Without being able to provide your customers, or prospective customers, an alternative way to purchase your goods and services online, you are simply not using the potential revenues streams available.

Shopping online has its clear benefits. Being able to avoid line-ups, busy malls, and travelling time which may or may not include traffic is a major one. Another great benefit is being able to shop at your convenience and still get the necessary products or services that the shopper requires. Also, there is the ability to do research on the product or service that the shopper is looking at. Comparing products from different locations online is must easier than having to head back and forth form store to store pricing matching and inquiring about different details.

Lastly, and probably the most important benefit of having ecommerce store is that it is always open. Regardless of holidays, day of the week or time of day, your ecommerce store is open and ready to visitors to make purchases.