Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce Newsletter August | Page 3

Report
For Merchants
Should small businesses have an online presence? That answer should be a
resounding YES! More than 90% of Americans are internet users, which means
there is a lot of people out there that could be visiting or interacting with you and
your business! But that’s not all…people expect businesses to have a website.
Having a brick and mortar business combined with a website gives you and your
business more credibility and integrity. Many customers become perturbed when a
store does not have a website. They wonder why and some even get angry…Are you
technologically challenged? Is your business not stable enough to be online? Do you
not care about your customers---Why are you are not providing them with the time
saving ease of shopping online? Those are not questions you want your customer to
think of when they think of your business! Many, many will end their search for you
and go to another business that does. They then do their business with the online
business. People use the Internet like they used to use the phone book. People go to
the Internet to look up addresses, phone numbers and shop. Also, being on-line is a
great inexpensive way to market your business and introduce buyers to yourself
and your business! Ever heard of “Webrooming?” Webrooming is extremely helpful
especially if you have a brick and mortar store—it can actually increase your brick
and mortar store’s profits. Webrooming is where customers research items online
before purchasing them in-store. In our fast paced world people don’t have the
luxury of a “shopping day,” so we browse our favorite stores to see if they carry our
product, compare prices and then go directly to the store to shop. While shopping
offline will never disappear ecommerce is growing exponentially. In 2017 retail
purchases online increased a whopping 16% compared to just one year earlier.
Retail ecommerce sales are expected to continue to increase rapidly and small
businesses stand to lose out on sales and relevancy as online shopping grows!
Cyber Monday is now bigger than Black Friday! According to a November 27, 2017
article from “the street.com” Cyber Monday raked in nearly $2.7 billion in online
sales. According to the National Retail Federation, more than 122 million people in
the United states shopped on Cyber Monday, which outpaces the 116 million who
shopped on Black Friday (including just 67.9 million online shoppers).”
Shop Mai n Street Online makes it easy for the small business owner to compete in
the world of online commerce. Merchant members will be able to sell their products
online without the expense and hassle of managing an e-commerce website design,
understanding SEO, social media or search engine advertising.
Let us help you get started!!