How an eCommerce Website Can Drive Sales in Your Offline Shop

By Adam  |  14 Jul 2015 15:00:00

A lot of people think of eCommerce websites as a modern 'replacement' for the more traditional form of shops. Some people would have you believe that shopping online will eventually replace physical shops entirely and that people will never leave their homes because of it, and other misinformed things like that. The truth is that the majority of all retail is conducted out in the world, in actual shops. Shop owners shouldn't be afraid of the growth of eCommerce either, because you could actually use an eCommerce website to boost the sales in your offline shop!

I imagine you might be sceptical, but every person who runs their own shop out in the high street should also have an eCommerce website to give their business an online presence. How could this help? Well, what are people quite often doing when they look around the shops? The answer I'm looking for is that they are browsing the internet on their smartphones. If somebody's in your shop and looking for a specific product, they might search for you on the internet; if they find what they're looking for listed on your eCommerce website, then they'll know whether or not they can expect to find it in your actual shop. This could be the difference between them abandoning the purchase and continuing their search/asking for help. It's true that sales assistants are likely to be at hand and happy to help, but people are much more likely to turn to their mobile phone if they can.

But being able to check what products you supply is a small thing and while it might make a small change, it's not likely to be that significant. Where you stand to make the biggest impact with your eCommerce website is with Cross Sell and Up Sell (which Sellr provides). If a customer is looking for an item on their smartphone, let's imagine that that was the only thing they were planning on buying. So then, if your eCommerce website is showing them other similar products which they might also be interested in, perhaps they'll be persuaded to go for one of them too; Cross Sell does often prove to be effective! As, indeed, does Up Sell; you can use it and have someone looking for something, only for your website to show them that you also sold a superior product for only a small additional cost. The customer might well be persuaded and spend more than they originally planned. It's marketing techniques like this which can be employed on your eCommerce site in order to drive sales in your offline shop. These are methods which could be used by people working in the shop, but it is much more effective, and much less intrusive, when done by your website.

So hopefully that has persuaded some of you that eCommerce is something which can be used to aid and enhance your offline business, rather than something to be afraid of. If you like the sound of what you've read, why not sign up for Sellr now? If you're uncertain, you should get started with Sellr FREE! You have nothing to lose.