2020 confirmed more than ever the necessity of eCommerce for businesses today. Thousands of businesses were affected by the COVID-19 crisis, as they were forced to close their doors or receive far fewer people in their physical stores. Many of these have been able to survive thanks to other sales channels but many have had to close operations and even declare bankruptcy.
Only in Mexico City , it is estimated that more than 32,000 businesses have gone or will go bankrupt between 2020 and 2021. This number can only increase as long as the pandemic continues unabated.
COVID-19 has transformed the way we do business, shop, spend time with loved ones and even the way we work. In a short time, we've seen things we never imagined before, such as virtual tours for home sales and touchless delivery of packages and food.
Now that some businesses are getting back to the "new normal" it's important to think about the future of our business and how we can make sure that this kind of crisis can't affect us again.
But in case you are not convinced to start selling online with your own online store, here are 5 reasons to start selling online this 2021: 5 reasons to start selling online this 2021:
Social Distancing
. Social distancing has made us miss so many things that we have lost count. From seeing our loved ones in person and hugging them to going shopping at the mall and picking out those jeans you love so much, feeling the fabric and stepping into the fitting room for the full shopping experience.
But one thing that has brought the distancing (perhaps a little forcibly) is forcing us to shop more frequently online. And that's because one of the main reasons to start selling online this 2021 is that people are spending a lot more time on their electronic devices (whether mobile or desktop) because of the time they spend at home and as a result, they are shopping more frequently.
A recent study by IBM showed that the pandemic accelerated growth in the eCommerce industry by 5 years. This means that the growth that eCommerce would have seen in 5 years will only be seen in 2020.
Among the most popular categories in 2020 are: apparel and footwear, groceries (food and beverages), alcoholic beverages, and home improvement materials.
Excellent Return on Investment
. The design and development of an online store represents an investment, one that many businesses hesitate to make, but once you analyze the return on investment it can have, it is an easy decision to make!
Compared to the expense of building or renting a store, store adaptations and many other expenses of opening a physical store, creating an eCommerce store is the least expensive option. The costs of maintaining an online store will be minimal during the entire operation and thus, your return on investment will be much faster
The expenses you will have when having an online store are: domain, hosting service, marketing campaigns (optional) and payment commissions, that's all! As you can see, having an online store represents very low costs and can represent great profits.
Your Business Will Always Be Open
The best part of having your own online store is that it is always open! You won't be limited by a schedule like you would be with a physical store. Any of your customers will be able to come in in the wee hours of the morning if they want to make a purchase in your store while you sleep peacefully.
Your customers will be able to enter your store and save queues in the store or wait to be attended by someone specific. Another advantage of selling on the internet in 2021 will be the flexibility and freedom that having an online store gives you. You will be able to focus your efforts on packing orders, shipping orders and answering customer requests instead of worrying about the maintenance and operation of a physical store.
Get to Know Your Customers Better
While having a physical store helps you get to know your customers on a personal way and perhaps some of their buying habits. With an eCommerce you will be able to access a lot of data and statistics that will help you make decisions about your business on a solid basis.
Examples of eCommerce metrics can be the visits of your customers, the time when your campaigns have better results, which products have more visibility or which product is the least popular. In addition, you will be able to access data such as shopping cart abandonment trends, failed and completed transactions.
Having a physical store, you have no way of knowing why a customer leaves without making a purchase or what was their last move before leaving or even if they have purchased from your store before. Of course, there are strategies to detect this in person, but you only have a short window of time to act. On the other hand, if you have an online store, you will be able to perform this type of analysis automatically.
Increase Your Business Spread
A physical store has the disadvantage of only being in one place, unless we open a second or third point of sale to reach more people. By having an online store, you can sell in your city at the same time that a customer makes a purchase from the other side of the country. In the case of digital products, you have no limits, since you can sell worldwide without any extra effort.
An online store increases the reach of your brand and your business in ways you could never imagine. The audience we can reach is much larger than what a physical store can offer. We can expand nationally and internationally with very little effort, so why settle for a piece of the pie when you can have it all?
These are just a few reasons to start selling online this 2021so there is no better time to push your business to sell online. Even when the social distancing measures and the "new normal" arrives, operating an online store will always be a better option than a physical store. To learn more about how you can start your own online store, I invite you to contact us.
