Suze Bragg

Pros & Cons of Selling Online
October 19, 2007

Retailers have debated whether to sell products online for the last twelve years, ever since Amazon burst onto the scene in 1995. Today, children who grew up with the Internet are entering the working world, and are utilizing their spending power and influence in record numbers. People in their thirties and forties, who started using email in the 1990s for work, feel more comfortable shopping online than they ever have before.   Everyone knows that the Internet is much more than a passing fad, but does that mean you should take the leap and invest in an e-commerce component to your store? That depends.    

Pros:

1. Today, over 50% of households have broadband access and their shopping experience online has become very satisfactory. Pictures download quicker, information is instantly at their fingertips, and they can comparison shop between sites by toggling back and forth in their browser. 
2. The smallest businesses can appear much bigger online. Unless you tell people you have a small store, or your site looks like an amateur created it, consumers will assume you are here to stay.
3. Smaller retailers can compete with the bigger companies online because you can target niche customers; ones that larger retailers don’t want to pursue. Plus, your revenue goals aren’t as high, so you have a greater chance of staying in business online than they do.
4. Before, customers had phobias about using credit cards online and today that is quickly disappearing. Online payment enablers have strengthened their security measures to such a degree that being hacked is less common. The media doesn’t even focus on it anymore.
5. Other payment platforms have emerged that enable customers to withdrawal from their checking account, or pay later, when they want to make a purchase. Online shopping was once reserved for those with credit cards and that is no longer the case.
6. You are now a global business. While you’re sleeping, a housewife in North Carolina is telling her friend in London where she bought a lamp. Her friend visits the web site, sees three other lamps that she must have, and when you arrive at work in the morning, you’ve got an order waiting for you. Which leads to another pro:
7. Online, you’re a 24-hour business. Your doors never close and you can still make an income without living at your store.

Cons:

1. You fear that not being computer savvy will hurt your web site. It is a legitimate fear, but there are people and companies that will walk you through each step so you can make good decisions together. It can hurt you if you have poor taste in web design (black background with white letters?) or you treat it as a neglected stepchild, a mere after thought to your overall business plan.
2. It does take time and energy to build a quality site. You need good pictures, consistent branding, planning, and organization to bring a usable site to fruition. Just like building your store, there are construction hassles.
3. You don’t have the resources to maintain it properly or the budget to handle the additional expense. [There are very real concerns.]
4. You are scared of diluting/tarnishing your brand by putting it online for anyone and everyone to buy. 
5. You create a web site that doesn’t reach your intended audience or there’s no traffic to support the expenditure of the site. Being able to drive traffic and promote it not only costs money, but it takes more of your valuable time and resources as well.

So, should you sell online? As a consumer who buys home accents online almost weekly, I’d say yes because I’m out there shopping. As a consultant, I say it depends on whether you feel you can make the same commitment to your web store as you do your brick-and-mortar store. If the answer right now is no, then start small. Build a great web site that reflects your brand, update it often, send out email coupons, and start a dialogue with your customers. Your web site isn’t just information on a page, it’s a billboard in the center of your town. Once you’ve mastered this, then take it to the next level and turn your business into a 24/7 shop.

Posted by Suze Bragg on October 19, 2007 | Comments (0)