One of the simpler ways of increasing the sales your offline store generates is by extending your business hours. But of course, that's easier said than done. Logistics such as the number of employees would have to additionally hire and the security measures you need to additionally install during late hours are just a few of the factors you have to consider. All in all, the profit you will come up with might not be enough to offset the costs you incurred.
Thankfully, there is an even simpler way than keeping your offline store open for longer hours. All you have to do is to create an additional platform for your business by making it available online. This may be a big step for those who have never considered launching an online platform for their business, but here are five major reasons why changing your mind is in your best interests.
Lower Operating Costs
An Internet business is less costly not just to set up but to operate as well compared to brick-and-mortar stores. As majority of its functions may be automated with a mix of software programs and web tools, you will find it unnecessary to hire a handful of employees to run your online store – if at all.
There are also little or zero utility costs to consider – no electricity or water bills to take care of every month. You can even use your current phone number at home or at work for your online store.
Higher Profit Margins
It goes without saying that lower operating costs would mean higher profit margins. But that is not the only reason why you would be able to generate more income with an online store. Unlike with offline stores, it would be not a hardship at all if you were to extend your store's operating hours. There is no overtime pay to worry about or no extra security measures to install once your business extends beyond the usual store hours.
Naturally, the more hours your store is open, the more chances you get to entertain more customers or clients and earn from such transactions.
Accommodate More Clients
Opening an online store for your business automatically broadens your market base. To start with, you will finally be able to accommodate the needs of those who typically come home late and are unable to make it to your shop during store hours. You will also be able to cater to orders of clients or customers who live outside your city and state or even the country. In normal circumstances, they might not even have heard about your offline store, much less be able to send their orders. But if you were open online, barriers such as physical distance are immediately made negligible. You just need to factor in the additional costs for shipping and their orders are good to go!
Better Order Management
With the holidays fast approaching, orders are sure to come fast and furious. Is your staff truly ready to handle them? No matter how experienced your staff may be, the sheer number of clients or customers wishing to buy from your store may be overwhelming. It would be a pity if you were forced to turn back even just a few of them simply to get your bearings.
In order to offer better order management throughout the year, you can reroute some – or most if possible – of your customers to your online store for their orders. With online orders, you can make use of automated systems to keep them organized and ensure that you do not end up losing money because of miscalculations, misunderstandings, or just plain (unintentional) human error in the part of your staff.
Better Customer Service
Finally, online stores are also another way to improve the quality of your business' customer service. Through your online store, you can offer customers contact forms which they can use to inform you about returns, refunds, and exchanges as well as any other issues they may want to raise. Normally, people can't do this when it's after store hours but that won't be a problem with online stores since they are open 24/7.
However, do keep in mind that all of these are only made possible by a professionally developed and designed website. Professional web services are essential to secure so that each aspect of your website will work perfectly and suffer from the least amount of downtime.
