Groceries. Office supplies. Clothes. Whatever consumers are looking for, they can find it on the Internet. Some check online for items on sale at the local supermarket. Children can find out which department stores are selling the latest toys. With just one click, customers can find out where to go to buy what they need.
If consumers are searching online, it makes sense your businesses should be online as well. Online selling and online catalogues go a long way towards sustainability and longevity for any business, especially in retail.
Yet many retailers still hesitate to put up a website. They don’t realize that they are missing out on many potential customers.
Here are a few benefits of setting up a website for your business:
A website will help customers learn more about your business: what you offer, where you are located, what your store hours are. Many customers go online to do research before they make a purchase, so if you don’t have a website, customers won’t know about your products or your prices, and they won’t get to know your business. If customers don’t know you, they won’t buy from you.
An online presence is crucial to your company’s exposure. If you have a company website, you have worldwide visibility. With more visitors to your website, you can get more customers and more sales.
Even if your website does not have an online purchasing feature, it can serve as your online showroom. Customers can check out your products before they visit your physical store to make a purchase.
Here’s an example of how a website would benefit your business: At Thanksgiving there are many family gatherings, which usually means a lot of picture-taking. Now imagine running out of ink while printing souvenir pictures. You would probably drive to the nearest Staples. But the store would be closed, as announced recently. The trip would have wasted gas and time. Instead of driving to a closed store, you could have checked the Staples website to find out when they would open.
Websites are accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even if your store is closed, potential customers can still get information from your website.
Many people look up products and companies online first. They check if you are running a legitimate business, and they look at what other people have to say about you. They look at what you are selling, and they compare it to the products sold by other companies.
Your website is a chance to show customers why they should trust you. You can show customers more than just your products. You can share your company history, your philosophy, your return-and-exchange policy. You can show visitors how you do business. This validates your professionalism and build trust among customers.
The more customers trust you, the more likely is it that they will buy from you.
Marketing is one of the biggest advantages of having a website for your business. Traditional marketing strategies usually involve costly measures: print ads, TV commercials, telemarketing. Your website provides a way for your business to connect with customers at a much lower cost, with the added benefit of a wider reach.
Your website also serves another purpose: reaching a more targeted market. Depending on how you design your site and what information you publish, your website—or different parts of your website—can be geared towards more specific markets: different age brackets, men or women, consumers in certain locations, and so on.
On your website, you can easily update your catalog, highlight items that are on sale, and alert visitors to new promotions. Customers can subscribe to your website to get email alerts about new products or promotions. You can announce that you have new stock of a popular item, or that it is now available in different colors and sizes.
Such marketing campaigns can easily be published on your website, with little additional cost. It also helps if you use every opportunity to remind customers to check your website for updates.
In addition to showing your products, your website should also tell customers what your brand is about. Many businesses rely on billboards and TV ads for this, but you can use your website for your brand identity too.
But how should it look? The logos, colors and other design elements that appear on your posters, in flyers or on shopping bags, should also appear on your site. Your website’s design should be consistent with all your other marketing materials. This way, your visual identity is consistent, whether it’s online, on TV, or in print.
Every part of your website is an opportunity to show customers who you are and what you do. Every word or picture should say something about you. Every page should be relevant and well-thought out. But before working on all the small details, you should focus on the most critical part: your domain name. As early as possible, you should register (www.yourbusiness.com). At a glance, that string of words establishes a strong online brand identity.
With all the right elements, your website can be an effective and powerful tool. And with enough time, effort and thought put into it, your website can be a part of your business that makes you proud.