Do you have something to sell? Do you have a place to sell it? Or is it currently closed because the whole place is infested with termites?
There are some day-to-day realities that owners, managers and workers in brick and mortar stores face that e-commerce sellers absolutely never have to, because they made a different decision.
The following list highlights these problems and inadvertently demonstrates why every offline seller needs to plug in and take their business to the cloud as soon as logistically possible:
Image Courtesy: Snapdeal
1. Huge capital for starting up business and limited opportunities for growth
Imagine you are a truly gifted shoe designer and have worked hard to find the right material and the right ‘karigars’ and now, finally, want to set up your very own shoe store. Opening a physical store will require heavy investment in real estate, huge fixed costs and capital investment. To add to this, you’ll have to spend money to popularize your store- to attract the right footfalls and then hope they convert in to your loyal customers.
Now compare this to an online store.
You need to spend almost nothing to start selling online. Sites like Snapdeal not only have zero registration or listing fees, they also offer free training and support to their sellers. Once the orders start rolling in, an online seller has the option of using earned revenues to invest in product diversification or manufacturing rather than thinking about meeting rent obligations or paying electricity bills.
2. Limited shopping hours
In today’s day and age, people lead hectic and busy lives. Shuffling between work, family and other chores, customers want to shop as per their convenience. If customers had their way, they’d stroll into a store anytime between the wee hours of the morning till the owls awaken in the dark, demanding they be served. A brick and mortar store doesn’t give them that luxury; it must open and close at a certain time every morning and night, thus halting all buying and selling activity for the day.
In contrast, an online store has no such limitations. Online shoppers can browse and shop anytime and from anywhere- be it on a smartphone, a PC or even a laptop. It’s a unique selling environment brimming with conveniences and opportunities that a shop in the local market simply cannot compete with.
3. Warehouse weariness
The need for a warehouse is an encouraging sign; there’s growth on the horizon! It’s what every business wants, but it comes with its own set of complications. There’s the worry of possible damage to products, the cost of maintaining the warehouse, inventory inaccuracies and the salaries of warehouse workers.
4. Every single one of these obstacles can be overcome by using the warehousing facilities offered by Snapdeal for large retailers. Snapdeal not only stores your products, they also take customers’ orders, provide protective packaging, prepare invoices and even dispatch and deliver the product to the customer! Yet another way that online selling makes the entire process seamless.
5. Limited geographical reach
A brick and mortar store can only exist in one place at one time. A company needs to become a lot more successful before the option of franchising or opening other branches becomes feasible. This means that the reach of a physical store’s products is limited to people who live close enough to come to it. This translates to a loss of potential revenue, or at least that’s how it was before e-commerce came along.
Selling online allows your product to be available to crores of customers across India rather than just those in close proximity to your store. Snapdeal’s online presence, for example, allows a pan-India presence for sellers. The greater the reach, the greater the profits and, in addition, the satisfaction of knowing that India’s entire online population has access to and can buy your products if they want to.
6. Long working hours behind the counter
Not only is it inconvenient for customers when the store can’t be where they are, sellers too get a lot of benefits from a store that functions on its own, on the cloud! Another major advantage of running an online store is the mobility that it allows.
Unlike a physical store, you don’t need to be present in the shop to run it, worrying about problems like cleanliness or décor. Business can be run from anywhere - using a laptop or even Snapdeal’s mobile app that makes business easier for sellers.
7. Prime location and a premium store for big business volumes
Unfortunately, we judge all sorts of books by their covers.
A large, fancy store will attract a lot more buyers than a small shop selling products that are equally good in terms of quality. In addition, spendthrift buyers are most likely to go to the former, which is a huge loss for smaller stores who can’t afford better infrastructure and interior design.
The online business model gives businesses equality and a level playing field from which to sell, wherein a store’s aesthetic appeal has no part to play, essentially making it impossible to judge a book by its cover- what a time to be alive! Everyone’s store and product display is uniform so the only aspect that will give a business an edge over competitors is quality, service and pricing - which is how it should be, thus giving a level playing field to every business.
These points are just a few reminders to potential sellers that the online market is the place to be right now. It’s time to rethink the concept of a ‘shop’; it is no longer made of bricks and cement - just ease and possibilities!
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