The Covid-19 pandemic has thoroughly shaken the brick-and-mortar stores than anything else, making small retailers go online selling owing to customers switching to digital shopping. Since small retailers and startups are mostly devoid of sufficient financial backup, unlike large businesses, the decision toward the transition from brick and mortar to online becomes vital. Setting up an online store is the only way out before small and medium retailers create a space of their own to attract existing and new customers. Today, establishing an online store is very easy; anyone can do it in the blink of an eye. But the most relevant question to address is how far such platforms help retailers to find the desired Return on Investment. 

If you are a retailer who is on the verge of converting your physical store to online, pondering on what would be the ideal option, fret not, we help you from right from opening your online store to all functions in between until shipping. Online business keeps retailers carry out business in a much simple way, provided if they incorporate some essential things into their armour. No matter the type of store, the ultimate aim is to sell products. If you plan to revive business from brick and mortar to online, there are some essential steps to make customers go gaga over the experience you offer them while selling online. 

The following are some fundamental aspects a business looking to shift to an online platform should consider: 

1. Online-Ready Brand Style Guide  

As a retailer who owns a traditional brick and mortar store, your business already flaunts a brand guide that suits its needs. Online and brick and mortar are two different versions of implementing business, even though the ultimate aim is to attract customers and make sales. However, when you move from brick and mortar to online, you have to ensure the brand logo, colours, fonts convey in the first place. Since eCommerce branding is entirely different from a traditional business setup, it is essential to communicate it through a brand’s unique style.

For example, through visuals through photography and illustrations on websites, marketplaces and social media handles. It should invariably reflect the personality of your brands/ business. And, if you are a retailer who is about to set up an eCommerce store and has to ensure that the brand style gets communicated through various online channels particularly, social media and via advertisements and so forth. Know the big difference between ecommerce and brick and mortar, and if it gets done before or at the time of opening the online store, it boosts your brand awareness which further helps you gain more customers right from the beginning. 

2. Select a Trustworthy Platform 

If you start from scratch to convert your business from brick and mortar to online, you may rely on popular eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento and so on. Suppose, if a website is already there, you may integrate a plugin to enable online shopping on all common sales channels and marketplaces. If you want to go one step ahead of competitors who own online stores, use the plug and play online store. There are plenty of eCommerce solutions available, each claiming to offer specific tasks. Nevertheless, you may need to select a platform based on your business needs since each business is different, as the products they deal with, the objectives and the budget set aside for investments.

While selecting a suitable eCommerce platform, a business owner should consider the ideal software that adapts to its specific needs. Regardless of the platform you choose, it should be scalable with the features of advanced product management, competitive order management system, easy returns management system, multi-channel integration and security, while being mobile and SEO friendly. The selected platform should showcase smooth performance for the benefit of both your business and its customers. 

3. Shipping and Returns Policies    

Free shipping and domestic shipping are the two most important factors influencing customers decisions on making a purchase. Further, it reduces the incidence of cart abandonment, boosts add-to-cart conversion rate and also encourages repeat purchases. More than one-third of the customers abandon carts due to shipping costs, and over half of the customers opine that shipping costs, to a great extent, impact their buying decision. It is practically impossible to give free shipping on all orders. However, based on the location of the customer and supplier, a business can provide affordable shipping rates.

Akin to shipping rates, customers also notice companies that pay attention to returns management. Returns management encompasses every part of the business, not just customer experience, but the supply chain, inventory to name a few. However, it is easy to coordinate returns with the help of technology and strategic management that all functions work together to offer a one-of-a-kind experience where the expenses on handling costs always remain low when you shift from brick and mortar to online.   

Ship Your Products and Parcels from Ianis Cargo 

Now that you are ready to set up your online store and go from brick and mortar to online, consider yourself lucky that you have everything at your disposal. You have come a long way and keeping your operational efficiency-optimised is the only thing you have to consider. At Ianis Cargo and Ianis Fast Courier (deals with the delivery of parcels, envelopes and couriers), we streamline the transit of products with a tracking facility.

With 99.7% of deliveries made on time, Ianis Cargo meets all your product delivery requirements to every location across Europe. We have strategically located hubs, plenty of fleet vehicles designed to carry temperature-sensitive products and suitable equipment to minimise delays and for good upkeep of goods in transit. We keep our shipping rates low with the help of our intuitive shipping calculator that takes into account several factors simultaneously. 

The Bottomline 

The AI-powered strategy enables optimising packaging and shipping costs and therefore cuts down unnecessary costs in a segment where expenses can go haywire. Check the price quotes instantly on our platform and ship your products from Ianis Cargo with just a few clicks. Track and trace your order from origin to destination on all modes of transportation and enjoy seamless benefits in the form of customer experience, cost reduction and, top of all, focus on more sales per day. Undoubtedly, we are here to support all the complex processes afterwards when your business transforms from brick and mortar to online.