Your bricks-and-mortar business is thriving with a well-established presence in the local market. But is it time to think about reaching out to customers farther afield by opening an online store?
With a range of low cost technology tools available to online retailers, even the smallest business can be competitive. But before you invest in ecommerce facilities, you need to establish that there is online interest in your goods.
Charlotte Bowers opened her grocery store selling fine foods in January this year. Based in Islington, north London, Charlotte’s Fine Foods offers a lot of speciality produce not readily available in supermarkets or traditional grocery stores.
She says: “Selling online wasn’t at the forefront of my mind when I launched the business. My priority was setting up and becoming established and known to customers in the local area. But quite quickly I started getting enquiries from much farther away. I had used social media to market my business, and evidently, word was getting around.”
Bowers responded to the early non-local enquiries by sending out a few packages, but soon realised that the growing long distance demand for her ‘hard to find’ products justified opening an online store. Over the summer she worked with a web developer to create her website with an online shopping facility.
She says: “It is still quite new, but interest is growing, and I’m confident of reaching a point where managing the online orders takes up as much time as running the shop.”
A well designed website, responsive to mobile, supported by content marketing to assist with SEO (search engine optimisation), is essential. But, attracting visitors to your website is only half the battle, says David J Brown, CEO and co-founder of ecommerce conversion company Ve Interactive.
“High bounce rates are a problem for even the biggest online businesses, so having processes in place to ensure that potential customers engage with or return to your website is essential,” he explains. “There is technology available to help make this happen, often available on a performance model too, making it accessible for sites of all size.”
Business owners need to be aware of just how competitive the ecommerce space is, so having a well-researched strategy in place is key to giving their business an edge.
Good SEO is the first port of call, however, more marketing distribution strategies should also be considered, says Greg Zemor, CEO and co-founder of marketplace distribution firm Neteven.
He says: “It is not enough to build a website and hope that consumers come and buy products. By distributing products via online marketplaces small businesses can leverage the huge audience of international e-commerce websites. The marketing strategy can be refined to target the right consumers and tailored to small budgets. Marketplaces also often handle issues like local marketing, delivery or customer service, saving a big logistical constraint for small businesses.”
Larger online marketplaces can be a good starting point for business looking to eventually sell online via their own company website, which is how Poole-based sports retailer Surface2Air Sports has grown its online market presence.
Launched in 2004 by Angelo Couchman, the business expanded online the following year, initially using EBay to host their goods, before redirecting the e-commerce trade to their own website. The company now ships kitesurfing, wakeboarding and snowboarding equipment all over the world.
Although Surface2Air Sports encountered many other brands competing for prices, or offering price-matching services, Couchman believes it is their focus on quality goods and service that has made it so successful.
“Communication with the end user is also crucial,” he says. “We keep customers up- to-date at every stage of the order process, from a quick call to confirm we have received the order and check that the customer is happy with their purchase, to providing tracking info so the customer can make sure someone is in to sign for the item. People have very little time these days, so we make it as easy as possible for them.”
There are regulations around online trading that business owners should be aware of. For example, companies that sell online need to display certain information on their website, including the registered name and any trading name, contact information, VAT number (if relevant) and company number.
Consumers in the UK and Europe are well protected by legislation, especially those who buy goods online, and this will affect how you do business, says Gillian White, senior associate at law firm Howard Kennedy.
She says: “You need to clearly set out your arrangements for payment and delivery, including any restrictions, the main characteristics of your goods, and a reminder of consumers’ rights under law in respect of the goods. You must provide clear instructions on how to make a complaint and how it will be handled, details of after-sales services and guarantees, and what cookies you use and how you use and store consumers’ personal data.”
Practically, online retailers should encourage customer to check the contents of their basket before hitting the ‘buy now’ or ‘pay now’ button, and they need to email or post a copy of the contract to the consumer once it has been complete
It is also possible that the content on a business website may be governed by advertising regulations.
White added: “You need to be careful not to mislead your audience, show the correct price, and if you make comparison or reference to a competitor you do so in a way that is fair.”
Content on this page is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with O2 Business, sponsor of the supporting business growth hub.
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