Is your business selling online? If not it’s definitely something you should consider. eCommerce retail sales have risen drastically in recent years from $81 billion in 2005 to a projected $144 billion in 2010 according to a study by JupiterResearch. With the advent of free online store solutions selling online is easier and more affordable than ever. If you aren’t selling online here are few points to consider:
· Selling online will expand your customer area. – In a physical store you are limited to customers who pass through your doors. A web store has worldwide reach allowing you to reach customers you wouldn’t have normally been able to sell to. This is especially important in rural areas or if you’re physical store is in an out-of-the-way area.
· A web store will add to your bottom line. – Often orders will be placed at your Wholesale home decor online web store which you would normally not have gotten in a physical store. A customer may wish to order after hours or may simply not want to make the trip to your store however may buy if they can do so online. These additional sales can add to your bottom line, especially important in this economy.
· A web store can promote in-store sales. – A free web store can provide valuable presale information to customers who are shopping around to make a purchase. This can lead to increased in-store sales. This is especially true for large ticket items.
· Web stores are easy to use. – Gone are the days of having to be a programming to set up or maintain a web store. Many free web store solutions on the market today require no knowledge to set up or maintain the website. This allows you to sell online without advanced computer or HTML knowledge.
· Free online stores add to your bottom line without adding costs. – How many business investments can you say this about? Setting up a free online web store costs you nothing but its return can be huge. Your only real investment in setting up a free online store is the time it takes to set it up.
There are a number of free online store solutions on the market today. You’ll want to choose one which is easy to use, has at least minimal support available and a host which has a reputation for quality service for at least 3-5 years. www.WebplusShop.com and vstore are a couple of examples.
Most free web store providers will help you with setup if you encounter any issues and many will set up your free online store for you for a small fee. Once your free online store is online and ready to accept orders you’ll want to post a link to it from your existing website, if you have one. This way visitors to your current website can also easily visit your web store. From there remember to promote, promote, promote! Your free online store is just like your physical store in that you must get the word out for people to know about your store, to come there and to make a purchase. You can promote your free online store literally millions of ways from bumper stickers to newspaper ads to flyers to online ads.
Any way you can get your website name out there is a potential visitor and sale. Often creative marketing works better than expensive marketing. A good place to start is adding your free online store website address to all advertising, signage, etc. Let your existing customers know about your free online store and tell them to spread the word. Remember, the more you promote your free online store the more sales you’ll make!
