Add Ecommerce to your Small Business Website

Here are some reasons why add ecommerce to your small business website.

The growth of online shopping - serving your customer better

With the Covid 19 pandemic, many more people are using online shopping. They are becoming comfortable doing online transactions. This trend will continue. Now is a great time to better serve your customers by adding ecommerce to your website. Even if you are in a service industry which relies on face to face service, adding an ecommerce shop may be beneficial. For example, beauty and hair salons can have an online shop for purchases of products between visits; dentists can offer an online shop for specialist products.

Widen Reach and Engagement

When you add ecommerce to your website, it may also provide an opportunity for you to reach customers within a wider geographical area. This can allow you to expand your business without adding a physical store to other locations. Additionally, you can more easily market to your customer database if you captured their email addresses.  It is the same reason so many physical stores offer loyalty cards - so they can directly market to their customers.

I recently visited an artisan store that sold mostly to tourists until last year. Fortunately, over many years they had worked to develop a good database of overseas customers who receive their newsletter. Although they do not have many overseas tourists due to Covid restrictions, they have made online sales from repeat customers from around the world.

Convenience and Customer care

An online store means your customers can always make an order, even late at night. Certain seasons of life are hectic and online shopping can make life easier. I appreciate avoiding the traffic and busy queues during busy times. It also offers the convenience of shopping late at night without interruptions.

For all the above reasons, adding ecommerce to your small business website may offer your business additional marketing opportunities, widen your customer base, and makes it easier to market your products and offers to your customers.