In this modern generation, and considering that the world is experiencing one of its worst pandemics, you need to understand how to move your physical business online. Nowadays, believe it or not, more and more customers prefer buying anything online. Moreover, they want to transact through cashless systems because it feels safer. Who wouldn’t want it? It is more convenient, fast, and paperless. This guide will explore how to make your physical business transition online without losing customers.

If you want to move your physical business online, the first thing you have to do is build a system that will allow you to accept payments. It could be through PayPal, Stripe for credit cards, and even online bank transfers. Regardless of your preferred method, make sure that the cashless system you choose is accessible for most of your target audience. 

As they say, the more, the merrier. Accepting online payments in many ways make sure that you are not missing any customers who want to purchase your product or service. Aside from purchases, going online also means that you can cater to more audiences. So, you have to be ready to answer all their inquiries through your website, emails, and other social media platforms.

Why Should You Move Your Physical Business Online?

Although having a physical company where consumers can connect with workers and the goods or services is fantastic, a physical enterprise has its drawbacks. First, because you just have a physical company, you restrict yourself to a limited group of customers. Digital companies are available to a broader audience, depending on your specific sector, either on a local, regional, or even global level.

Online firms aren’t taking days off. They don’t close on or after hours on holidays. Running an online company means being able to sell at any time of the day, any day of the year. In addition to your online office, if you retain your physical shop, you would be able to attract more business to your local location. 

Shoppers online are still on the lookout. Your Web presence will improve your local search results. As you can see, by going online with your company, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

How To Move Your Physical Business Online?

Going online is not just about putting all your content and business on a website. It also means you have to market it digitally and rank your website through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You will not only post on different social media platforms or build a website because there’s more job on the backend. – and that’s what we are going to talk about it. Without further ado, here are some steps on how to move your physical business online.

Step 1 – Choose The Best Platform For Your Business

Choosing the right platform would be your first step into your online transformation. There are plenty of e-commerce sites that make it easy to do business over the internet, and you have plenty of choices. Your online store is focused on your website, just like your storefront is the cornerstone of your physical store. To ensure a smooth transition, you should take the option seriously. Using an all-inclusive online store builder would help you create the best online store a great deal.

Step 2 – Go Mobile

Nowadays, most shoppers access the internet from their smartphones. It means designing the web site for mobile browsing. Most templates are already mobile-friendly, but you can periodically check your website to make sure it’s easy to navigate over the smartphone. The United States alone has nearly 200 million mobile shoppers in 2018. The number is growing for businesses to disregard. Your store should look just as good on your mobile and desktop to keep viewers engaged with your company!

Step 3 – Put More Effort On The Design Aspects

Focusing on the design on your company website is just as important as it is for your physical business. If your physical store isn’t a beautiful place to shop, many people wouldn’t want to visit your business. The same is right for online transactions. Nowadays, there’s just too much online competition for customers to waste time on a website that doesn’t live up to expectations.

Perfecting your website design requires more than just selecting the best colors and uploading your logo. Navigation needs to be easy, too. Customers should be able to navigate quickly to the right pages, and it should appear correctly on all forms of screen sizes. If you want to be recognized online, focus really on your web design plan to stand out from the competition.

Step 4 – Make Sure That The Checkout Easy

You’ll soon discover that abandoned carts are one of the most significant obstacles for online businesses. Customers can only attach items to their virtual shopping carts to leave their carts before entering the credit card cycle. By making the checkout process as easy as possible, you can cut back on this. The more steps someone has to take before looking at their cart and checking out, the more likely they will abandon your business page.

Use the proper payment service to make checkout easy for your shoppers. While physical businesses have options for buying or renting a card machine, online companies need to choose the right portal for payment. You could have built-in payment tools that make checkout simple, depending on your e-commerce platform. PayPal and Stripe are more common payment processor options. Do not only take payments from certain types of credit cards that could exclude some shoppers. To all users, the process should be quick and fast!

Step 5 – Protect Your Users

Unfortunately, there are some risks to run your company online. Even large companies may be victims of data breaches in light of recent privacy scandals. As a business owner, it’s your duty to protect your customers from anyone who could steal their details. Users want to do some shopping where they feel comfortable. We need to know that their credit card information is secure over the internet, which means that you need to maintain security as your top priority.

There are many ways to protect your website, but hiring an expert is the best way to do that. Your website will have a stable server, at the very least, with an SSL certificate. They are not costly or difficult to install and are a perfect first step to safeguarding your website. Be vigilant in protecting your site, and take all threats to heart. One minor security problem could jeopardize your business’s entire reputation.

The Role Of Digital Marketing

To have a company online means finding new ways to market your website. When used correctly, digital marketing is a valuable tool for companies. Bringing customers to your digital store is much different than bringing them to your physical store. Although physical stores may buy print ads or radio advertisements, online companies need to track the latest trends to keep ahead of the competition.

One way to promote your digital business online and your physical store are via email marketing. Email marketing is a simple way to reach your customers directly and inspire them to start shopping with you. When you already have a mailing list for your company in person, you are already ahead of the email marketing game! A well-defined email campaign can yield powerful results for online companies!

Content marketing is another digital marketing tool that works exceptionally well for online businesses. Content marketing includes producing written or visual material of a high quality that appeals explicitly to the target audience. It may mean making insightful blog posts or videos that will teach or entertain your audience. 

Importance Of Interacting with Customers

Just because your company is online doesn’t mean you still can’t communicate with customers. So many e-commerce websites only sound like robot-talk. Customers want companies that they can trust, and they believe in real people. Be honest about your online business, and don’t be afraid to reach out to clients.

One of the best ways to honestly communicate with clients is through social media. While several businesses have accounts on social media, these typically read like a sales pitch. Then, keep your posts optimistic and conversational. Refrain from selling your products excessively, and try to create real relationships with your clients. No one wants to feel like they have been sold to it. The more real and genuine you can be, the bigger your performance will rise.

It is also critical that you have simple methods of communication on your website. Just like in-store shopping, people have questions about the goods or the business. Before making a purchase, they want to answer those questions, so offering website chat features or contact forms will make sure your customers feel heard. Bridging the barriers between yourself and your customers isn’t difficult.

Conclusion

It may sound stressful and a lot of work, but transitioning your physical business to the online world is one step towards more opportunities. When you are turning your physical company into an online store, you are halfway there already. The rough part has just ended. You already have a stable of clients, and you know what it takes to get a company to run smoothly. With so many e-commerce sites nowadays and marketing campaigns, launching an online company is simpler than ever. 

Always enjoy your present and potential relationships with consumers to get an edge on your competition! Keep on the same things you do in your physical business, and if you want to see your company skyrocket, don’t be afraid to learn the new techniques. If you have no idea where and how to begin, SBZD Marketing is always here for you. With years of experience in web design and social media marketing, we will find ways to beat your competition.

SBZD Marketing and Web Design

3165 Olin Ave Suite #11, San Jose, CA 95117

(408) 882-1307