Essential Tips on How to Build a Successful Virtual Store
According to surveys, most stores close in less than three months and 60% of online stores close in less than 12 months. Therefore, shopkeepers who own a physical store and want to start online sales follow essential tips on how to set up a successful online store. You will need the formula negocio online for the best business now.
- Seek prior knowledge about the digital world
The digital and physical worlds are completely different. Selling toys in a physical store or on the internet is not the same thing. The shopkeeper should look for courses such as Internet Innovation, the E-Commerce School or the Impact MBA. Visiting already consolidated virtual stores of the market and participating in webinars or online workshops (most are free), besides accompanying blogs are actions to give an overview of the functioning of the internet.
- Hire an e-commerce expert to help
Making a comparison, when opening the second physical store, the shopkeeper hires a new manager. The same goes for the virtual store! It takes someone to run the store, and the knowledge is quite different from a physical store.
If the storeowner intends to be the store manager, we first consider whether there is a willingness to dedicate 90% of the time to the store. Many delude themselves that managing the online store is simpler and take less time, but it does not work that way.
- Make a business plan
This is a famous phrase from Alice in Wonderland and serves very well for the business world. If the intention is to take a test online, we hire a free and simple e-commerce platform. We do not invest heavily in inventory or advertising. Let’s slowly and absorb as much knowledge and information as possible. If you enter the digital market for the purpose, we need a good business plan.
- Customer service and loyalty
When the cost of acquiring a new customer is high (and this is clear in the virtual world), one way of achieving profitability is to bet on customer loyalty. Having trained and capable customer service is crucial. Creating policies that favour the store, such as discounts in case of delays, promotion for birthdays, consultative services, among others, are actions that should be considered as investments and not costs.
- Create quality content
In the assembly of the physical store, there is so much concern in registering the products, after all, the seller is present to explain in detail everything the customer needs. In the digital world, the seller is your online store. It’s the product page, description, attributes, photos, videos, ratings, reviews and more. That is, anything that generates content on the website will help the customer in their buying decision process.
For this reason, one should consider investing time and money in generating quality content. In many segments, this cost may be high initially, but stores are entirely dependent on that item. In the fashion segment, only one quality photo can reach $ 50. Let’s imagine then that 4 photos will be needed. It’s already $ 200.
- Choose a good e-commerce platform
There are many questions and doubts when opening a physical store, for example:
- Open in or out of the mall?
- What is the movement?
- What is the target audience?
- Who manages the mall?
All this concern also happens when opening a virtual store, when choosing the e-commerce platform, because it is responsible for being the seller itself. It is the one that should give all the necessary tools to transform a visit for sale. It requires a calm evaluation of the existing options. In Brazil, there are excellent options for all store sizes. We will not opt for the one that is the most expensive, but for what best to adapt to the moment of e-commerce.