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I Want To Ditch My Store & Be Online Only
October 25, 2007
Being tied to a brick-and-mortar store can be a headache. Real estate issues, operations logistics, facility nightmares, not to mention all the insurance and tax fees, are enough to make some people think,
I'll take the freedom of an online store only, please.
Being solely online has its advantages: you can work from anywhere, you're open all the time, you don't have to deal with a costly building, and you're open 24 hours a day. Thousands of retailers are making millions exclusively online and enjoying the challenge. These online stores are no longer referred to as merely dot-com retailers because they've proven they're in business for the long haul. If you're the type of retailer whose business model includes buying lots of inventory, displaying it all in your store, and then waiting for people to come in and buy the inventory, you are probably feeling the pinch by online stores/competitors. You may be learning that this model works in a very niche, small geographic location with high foot traffic, but if that's not where you're fortunate to be, then being online might be a smart move.
Why would you consider running an online-only store and closing your brick-and-mortar store?
- No large overhead
- Keeping inventory levels current between online and offline
- Concentrating customer service in one area only
- Small amount of investment
- Not able to meet the expenses of a brick-and-mortar, but want to remain in business
- Want to grow your business and build demand before allocating the additional expense for a brick-and-mortar store
- lower additional expenses such as wages and insurance
Here are examples of small-medium business that are exclusively online:
Karmaloop - revenue upwards of $20 million and a master of online promotion
BagsBuy
Metrostyle (part of the
Redcats Group)
Posted by Suze Bragg on October 25, 2007 | Comments (3)
