4 Ways to Bring Your Business Online
For retailers that rely on brick and mortar stores to drive sales, the reality that people have fallen in love with the convenience of online shopping poses significant challenges, but also opportunities.
If you can dust yourself off and reimagine your business strategy, you might find that investing in your digital presence and increasing your online marketing efforts could have long-lasting advantages.
Here are things you can do right now to set yourself up for continued success in the long run.
#1 Do an E-Commerce Audit
When was the last time you read through all the content on your website? If it wasn’t within the past few months, chances are you could benefit from an update.
Be sure to review your shipping and return policies, and consider whether you could make it easier for customers to make a purchase by clarifying your policies or lowering your free shipping thresholds (while still turning a profit).
If you sell products that people would normally want to try on or touch and feel, include detailed sizing charts and dimensions, consider offering fabric or material swatches and close ups, as well as other detailed product specifications (zipper or button, knee length or mini, are covers removable and washable, is it dishwasher safe, is the sofa firm or soft etc.), so that people can get a detailed overview of your products and have all their questions answered before they buy. Thereby, you can help your buyer feel more confident in their purchase.
In addition to combing through your website yourself, have someone you know go through your site as if they were a customer and ask them for feedback on the user experience. The easier your site is to navigate and the easier it is for people to learn about your products, the better your online conversion rate will be. Also don’t forget to get reviews or testimonials, if you haven’t yet!
#2 Bring The Offline Experience Online
For many brands, the in-store experience is driven by sales associates who are trained to guide customers to find the right product. Look for opportunities to showcase how knowledgeable your staff is by integrating your customer support online to help customers.
This could include online tools like Drift, Whatsapp Business or Facebook Messenger to enable your team to communicate with customers instantly, solving their problems and helping them find what they’re looking for right at the moment when they’re considering a purchase.
Alternatively or in addition, this could also include ways for your customers to engage with your staff through other formats such as one-on-one virtual consultations, live demos and Q&A sessions, webinars and similar interactive content. Just because your staff can’t work in-store, doesn’t mean they can’t continue to provide value to your brand.
#3 Harness The Power of Visual Content
Another way to recreate a piece of the in-person retail experience is to use tools like video and photography to showcase your product. In fact, in e-commerce, product photography is king!
If you don’t have an expert product photographer in-house, and you don’t have the bandwidth to learn how to do it properly yourself, you can send your product to a studio to be photographed. Make sure that, in addition to representing your brand well, your imagery enables people to see in detail how your product looks, how it works and what it’s made of. Complimentary professional sketches and drawings can help with this too!
In addition, if you aren’t able to meet your customer face-to-face, video may just be the next best thing. Video enables you to demonstrate your product in depth, and communicate with your customer at the same time. Videos can live on your website, on YouTube and on your social media - all serving their unique purposes to reach your audiences.
An easy place to start is using the video tools integrated into social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. They require nothing more than a smartphone, but are still a great way to bring your brand closer to customers to drive sales.
#4 Revisit Your Marketing Channels and Brand Messaging
This is a good time to examine whether your digital marketing is really working or if your business has just been driven by foot traffic. You may need to ramp up your marketing efforts and experiment with channels you may not have needed in the past, in order to make up for lost in-store sales.
Take stock of all your ongoing marketing campaigns and ask yourself if your message and delivery really make sense. Different media require different strategies, so don’t assume that you can just convert your in-store campaign imagery into digital ads. You also want to make sure that your messaging is still relevant to people’s lives given the “new normal.”
By elevating your digital presence, you could set yourself up to reach a broader audience, potentially tapping into new markets and reaching international customers. Just make sure that this is something your business is prepared to handle!
Focus on Adding Value to People's Lives
Whatever changes you make to your retail strategy, remember to put your customer at the center of your decisions.
People’s lives have changed over the past years and so have their needs and considerations. Many companies are finding success by offering entirely new products and services, or by creating content that helps people solve problems in their lives.
By thinking outside the box, and really getting to know what your customers need, you might find powerful opportunities to make connections, drive awareness for your brand, and ultimately set yourself apart from the competition.
Have you seen a brand doing something amazing to serve customers and adapt their retail business? Let me know below in the comments.
Marielle Reussink
Founder of The Emms, Marketing Professional, Entrepreneur & Advisor to Start-ups