RETAIL NEWS
Nine things to consider before setting up online
Before building your first website , retail expert Martin Newman of Practicology outlines the key things you need to consider to ensure you win your share of business .
It is important to let customers choose how they shop with you , which is why it ’ s key to have a website alongside your store as a channel for customers to engage with you . It also represents an opportunity for you to extend your reach to more customers over a broader geographical area than you can do with your local store business .
What ’ s the customer value proposition ?
You might also think of this in terms of what ’ s your USP ? What will make your retail business stand out and why will customers want to buy from you ? What ’ s the value to them in doing so ? And how will you price in relation to your competitors ? You also have to think about what the customer convenience proposition will be .
From an online perspective , you need a clear convenience proposition . What delivery and returns options will you offer ? Will you charge for these or offer them free ? Much will depend upon what you sell , what your average order values are and what your competitors do .
Will you offer click and collect ?
There are advantages to doing so if you already have a bricks and mortar store . You ’ ll convert more online sales customers to in-store customers as they will meet you in person and physically see your products , and you ’ ll be able to sell them more products when they come in to pick up their online orders .
Product range
You ’ re only as good as the products you sell . However the web also provides the opportunity to offer a slightly different product range . Unlike in your store , you ’ re not limited by physical space therefore you can potentially offer a broader range of products online . Giving you the edge over your competition .
Supply chain
Continuity of supply is absolutely crucial . So whatever you sell you need to know that you can replenish stock in a timely fashion , otherwise you risk disappointing customers .
Technology
If you ’ re going online , you need a web platform . This is the technology that sits behind the front-end customer experience and drives the functionality of the website .
It ’ s the same as when thinking about the technology needs of the store : an electronic point of sale ( EPOS ), and how all the systems you use will talk to each other , as they will need to do so if you want to offer click and collect . There are potentially other systems you might need including systems to manage finance , stock , product information and content .
Site design
There is a saying that you shouldn ’ t get your creative ( site design ) from technology companies ( those who build your platform ). You will need someone to design the front end of the website and build out your ecommerce proposition .
You also need to ensure that your site is fully optimised for mobile devices ( That includes smartphones and tablets ) as that is where you will reach most of your customers moving forward .
Hosting and domain name
The website needs to be hosted somewhere . Your web development provider , sometimes known as a web development agency or system integrator , will be able to help with this .
When you ’ re coming up with a name for your retail business , make sure you check the domain name availability for your website at the same time . There ’ s no point in coming up with a name for your store that isn ’ t also available for your brand online . You can acquire this from a vast number of domain name registration companies online .
Content and VM
You will need to produce content for your website . This is also known as visual and product merchandising . Of course , you ’ ll also have to produce visual merchandising , also known as point of sale material for the store .
Customer acquisition
Customers can just walk into your physical store , but the same may not be true for your website . First of all you need to ensure that the website is search engine optimized ( SEO ). You will need your agency to advice you on this , but in essence the site should be populated with content and meta data that enables the search engine to crawl and index your site .
This will also include relevant keywords that relate to what you sell , a good site map that can be successfully crawled by search engines , the meta tags that tell the search engine and web users what your site is about and alt tags for images that provide a brief description of the image .
If you are considering adding an online store to your current retail business then call Practicology and find out how they can help you . Telephone : + 44 ( 0 ) 20 7323 0539 Email : hello @ practicology . com Visit : www . practicology . com
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