Three reasons to move sales online - Getting Online - Part 1

ecommerce

Mar 25

In the last post, we discussed how to keep your business going as we move to working from home in your digital office.

In this series, we will discuss the options for your company to shift it’s shopfront online.

Today we start with the most basic question, Why?

1. So people can find you

Without a website of some sort, your business is far harder to locate online. You won’t show up in Google searches, so potential customers will go to the companies they can find.

E-commerce

Having a website with e-commerce capabilities is a good idea in general. For many, it is now essential. I work with businesses that are seeing huge spikes in online sales even though they cannot open their physical premise to the public.

“I work with businesses that are seeing huge spikes in online sales even though they cannot open their physical premise to the public.”

“We Don’t Connect,
We Live Connected”

Google Digital Garage Feb 2020

2. Commerce is moving to the internet

I attended a Google event in February, where Google shared many compelling statistics shared about the future of the online store. Here are just a few highlights;

30% of mobile searches on Google are looking for local businesses
54% of those are looking for business hours
Consumers are 90% more likely to visit a store with pictures online
6 in 10 internet users check if a product is available in a local store before visiting
88% of people who conduct a local search on a smartphone visit a related store within a week

How does this translate into revenue?

According to the eMarketer global e-commerce report for 2019 Global retail sales of $25 trillion (physical and online) are growing by approximately 4.5% year on year. Of that 14.1% was online sales of $3.5 trillion, trending towards 22% of all purchases by 2023!

3. Your shop is open 24/7 worldwide

Even while you are at home tucked up in bed, a potential customer can view your website, look at your opening hours and make purchases.

You may find an entirely new group of customers in a different country. A retail business I am currently working with had this exact experience. They are online for many years and always assumed their online trade came from local customers. As we looked into the data, it became clear that nearly 80% of sales were from Irish abroad connecting with their home.