How You Can Use Your Website to Generate Business for Your Physical Store

Online stores make it easy for consumers to find what they are looking for anytime, anywhere, and they can get it with the click of a mouse. There are sites where you can buy something, and it arrives at your front door in just a couple of days. Many people even fear that the online shopping experience is taking a lot of business away from physical retailers.

However, physical stores do have some advantages over online stores. For one, customers can buy and enjoy the items that they purchase right away. If you buy something from outside the country, it may even take weeks to get to your residence. Online retailers also have next to no human interaction, and customers who still go to a store to buy products enjoy talking to salespeople in order to make a bond with his or her business.

Online stores really put the pressure on physical stores, but the fact of the matter is that physical and online stores will continue to coexist for years to come. Little do store owners know, but a big online presence can actually help sell products you have in your physical store.

Here are several things you can do with your online domains to generate better business for your brick-and-mortar retailer.

Find out what your customers like.

One of the main advantages of having an online website, regardless of whether or not you sell products online, is that you can collect important data about your customers. If you have a website as well as a series of social media accounts, you can easily see what your customers are interested in and what they would like to see in your store.

If you know of any trends in the industry that you are catering to, fashion or sporting goods for example, you can decide to carry a hot product and attract new customers that way.  These customers will be introduced to your store for the first time and will browse your aisles and slatwalls to possibly be interested in other products and goods that you sell.

Build relationships with customers.

Your brand’s presence online can express value that you can bring to customers remotely. For already loyal customers, this can lead to continuing a relationship that began at your store’s location. For new customers, this can lead to invitations to come to your store’s location after a promising interaction online. For instance, you can show off something nice from your slatwall that customers might like to have, and the only way to get it is by stopping by your store.

People who visit your store for the first time will expect to create a human connection. To some shoppers, it is as easy as looking at a product they were excited to look at when they first saw it online. For other, it can lead to a salesperson suggesting items for them to try out, such as pairs of shoes and other goods that shoppers may contemplate on.

Bring elements of your online atmosphere into your physical store.

Shoppers love to browse the web on their computers, phones, and/or tablets. Studies have shown that smartphone owners spend over 80 hours a month surfing the internet from it. By bringing the same experience customers get from your online website into your physical store, you can increase sales.

Online and physical stores can benefit one another when a business pushes hard to make it happen. By devising a plan involving both avenues, you are likely to get a lot of loyal customers that will actively shop at your store and online in the foreseeable future.