Why you need to add eCommerce to your brick-and-mortar business...
If your shop is like most brick-and-mortar stores, you probably already have a solid client base of regular customers or local window shoppers who know what you sell. However, if you don't have ecommerce integrated into your existing website you're not meeting your customers' expectations, since the majority of them are already online.
Sure, you may have a website describing the items you carry, which is generally helpful, but today, consumers want to know specifics about what particular items they can expect to see when they walk through your door. According to this 2013 Study study, 88% of shoppers admit to looking online for products before deciding purchase them from a store.
“When asked what kind of information it would be useful to have from their favorite retailers before going to a physical store, 82 percent of consumers selected having access to current product availability as their top choice. However, the Accenture research showed that this is offered by only 21 percent of retailers.”
Recently we had the pleasure of working with Elizabeth Kinahan, a Durango, CO artist who specializes in oil paintings of the flora and fauna of the American West. Being well known in the Four Corners region for many years, she gained national attention when one of her paintings, The Defenders, was featured on HGTV's Property Brothers.
Although Elizabeth currently shows her work at Studio & in Durango, not all of her potential customers have the ability to come see her work in person. She needed help giving her existing website and online store an overhaul, while also streamlining the ordering and shipping process to new customers across the US. She was also looking for the ability to fully monitor and update the stock she currently has available, track her inventory and make the overall shopping experience easy for customers.
Since integrating an online store, in addition to showing her work at the gallery, Elizabeth has seen sales increase beyond her expectations, nearly tripling since its integration.
To find out more about integrating an online shop, setting up a website for your company and increasing your current sales, reach out to Dark Horse Design. They'll make the process easy for you, allowing you to be in control of your business and help you increase your current sales by reaching customers that care about what you're selling.