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Author: Mr. M.D Saif Ali, NOWFLOATS
Take a moment to think about how often you have Googled the nearest coffee shop or restaurant when you are out and in need of a break? And how many times a day do you quickly search on the internet for opening hours or to research new products or services?
It is probably quite a lot…In an era where consumers are always searching for the fastest and simplest ways to buy what they need, businesses that have not yet embraced the world of eCommerce may be losing out on a lot of customers. Even if you get regular walk-ins into your physical store, 80 percent of customers use a mobile phone inside a store to look up product reviews, compare prices or find alternate store locations. That is many customers that you might lose, and you don’t even know it. If you still need convincing, check out these 6 reasons why your business should sell online.
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You can build a brand presence
A website not only helps you promote and sell your products and services, but it also allows you to distinguish yourself from competitors, especially for customers who rely heavily on the Internet to learn everything about a business.
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You will Instantly Increase Your Sales
An online presence allows customers to visit your business 24/7. Providing your customers, the convenience to book an appointment instantly or order online and have products delivered straight to their doorstep gives them more reason to buy from you.
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You Expand Your Target Market
When you have a brick-and-mortar store, your target market is limited to those in surrounding areas. Once you move your business online, customers can discover the products or services your business offers from anywhere. You can even promote your business on social media to reach more people.
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Everything is Measurable
One of the biggest advantages of selling online is being able to track everything. You can see the number of customers who visited your website, what they purchased and more. This data helps you track the performance of your business.
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Improve Your Customer Service
Making life easy for customers will help you gain more sales. Adding “how-to’, FAQs, videos and reviews to your website can help improve customer experience and increase conversion rates. Updating your website regularly with new product features, offers and discounts will help you gain your customers attention and encourage them to make purchases.
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Have More Time to Focus on Your Business
Once your ecommerce website has been set up, you will not have to invest too much time into running it. This is because the whole process for customers to order and make payments will be handled by the online website. This will give you more time to determine new products you want to sell, special offers you want to launch and track your business growth.
How to Get Started
We understand that many small businesses do not have a lot of resources or time to spend on building an online presence. From managing customer interactions, marketing on social media channels to collecting payments, there are just too many things a business owner must deal with. But selling online is now easier than ever, thanks to the wide range of e-commerce platforms available.
These platforms come with tools to walk you through the entire process of setting up your ecommerce website. They will help you navigate through the steps involved such as hosting, design, adding business information, setting up a product or service catalogue, payment options, marketing tools and more.
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Business
Despite the availability of several platforms for your e-commerce the key to your success lies on getting the right fit. E-commerce platforms come in all shapes, sizes, and pricing. You can use open source; subscription based or add mere plugins to your existing website. Some of the must have features are an easy setup process, a website that is easy to navigate, secure and mobile-friendly, unlimited catalog, customer interaction system, Google My Business integration, Facebook and Twitter integration, multiple payment options, analytics, friendly support and last but not the least, flexible pricing.
One such platform that many Indian Businesses choose to go with is Boost 360, built specifically for the MSME segment. Boost360 is an app that enables you to take your business online and start e-commerce and digital marketing in just 9 mins. The easy setup process helps you create a feature-packed website for your business category within minutes. You can set up your product or service catalogue with a shopping cart, allow appointments for your services or collect orders for your products and enable easy payments.
Click here to learn more about Boost 360. Ultimately, when considering your options, you will want to make sure that you are thinking long term. So, make sure you choose a platform that is built to help you grow today, as well as tomorrow. Do not let the lack of time or technical knowledge limit your success.
You are now ready for the next step: creating and launching your online store!