There is no denying that 2020 has been a strange year for many for us, with many retail businesses having to adapt so they can stay open. Through periods of forced closure, lack of footfall due to local restrictions and people having less disposable income due to cut hours and risk of redundancy, many shops on the high street really have been hit hard. These days it is essential that any retail store has an online presence and the transition to ensuring your online offering is successful doesn’t need to be difficult.
Your Online Platform
Perhaps the biggest decision is going to be, what platform are you going to use to process your sales? If you already have a website, it could be worth speaking to your website technical support team to see if they have something in place to support this already. Otherwise, it is recommended that you spend time researching your options and considering what would work best for you.
Questions to consider are:
- Cost – How much will it cost to start and what are the on-going costs?
- Adaptable – Is it possible to scale-up the offering as your business grows?
- Support – How easy is to install and what level of on-going support do they offer?
- Work – How does it work, how do you add new items and does it keep track of items that are sold?
Fulfilling Orders
Once you have gone through this process and made a decision, the next bit is to decide what will happen once you have an order. Depending on the product, you might need to consider different shipping options – how are you going to package up the item to ensure it will reach the person safely? If you’re happy to do all the packing and shipping yourself, great! If this isn’t something you’re keen on, or the job simply becomes too big then you should look into a third-party service that would host your items in a warehouse and pack then ship them for you. Try to look at one that will integrate with whatever platform you choose to sell your items as this will make life easier.
Spreading The Word
Once you have all of this decided it is time to start spreading the word. You can get people’s attention before the launch with the promise of discounts and freebies for anyone that signs up early. Have a look and see if the platform you have chosen offers any support or automated options to help with them. Things such as integrated shoppable posts and email marketing can really help.
Social media is a fantastic tool for promoting your business, even if it is just a local audience you want to reach. You can target adverts to a specific audience so reach exactly who you need to. Set up a business Facebook page and get involved in local groups as these are both effective marketing tools for helping to spread the word of your business. If you are interested in advice on moving your business online and building a bigger social media presence, please visit www.harveymorton.digital.
~Novel Serialisation: Heavens Fire~
By Harvey Morton
About Harvey Morton
Harvey Morton is one of the UK’s leading young digital minds. He set up his first company making greeting cards aged 15, before launching Harvey Morton Digital in 2016. This has now grown into one of Yorkshire’s most successful, upcoming digital agencies specialising in designing and maintaining websites and social media accounts for businesses and individuals across the UK.
His clients (past and present) include Santander, Alton Towers, Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield City Council. Harvey is also a very successful public speaker and runs a podcast called ‘The Social Sanctuary’ and regularly donates time to support projects hosted by The Prince’s Trust, Youth Employment UK and The Diana Award.
Harvey has been the recipient of a number of high-profile awards including the Youth Employment UK Ambassador of the Year Award (2019), the ipse Young Freelancer of the Year Award (2018), Yorkshire’s 42 under 42 (2020), The Sheffield Star Small Business Award (2019) and he was a finalist in the Sheffield Digital Awards (2019).
