Starting your business online is a real benefit. Instant access to the online marketplace, where potentially millions of customers could land on your home page and find something they want to buy. You’ll need to do plenty of marketing as you go, of course, but nothing is truly invisible when it’s online!
But what about opening up a physical store to go with it? You’ve probably considered the idea a few times since you got started.
A lot of ecommerce owners imagine themselves opening up for work in the morning, customers filing in to take a look through your wares, and closing up after a successful 9 to 5.
It sounds simple, doesn’t it? You’ve already capitalized on the online world, what would be so different about going offline? The answer can be a bit complex, so let’s go through it in more detail down below.
If you want to take your online store into the real world, here’s what you’ll need to think about.
To Make Sure You’re Ready
First thing’s first, are you actually ready to open up a physical, real world store? You might feel like you are, and you’re excited to get going, but take a step back here.
You need to make sure you’re ready for all the challenges that might come your way, as opening up a brick and mortar retail store is not an easy thing to do.
You’re going to need a proper understanding of just how much it might cost to run a physical store in the long term. Hosting an online store can get expensive after a while, but it’s usually going to be more affordable than either renting or buying commercial real estate.
Plus, you may not have much of a staff right now – it could even only be you working at your business.
But once you’re out there in the real world, you’re likely to need at least one other person on the payroll. You can’t staff the checkout for an entire shift while also making sure you’re responsive to your online customers as well.
Inventory Space (and a system)
How have you been managing inventory thus far? A lot of online sellers simply use their own home.
Your store may only have a limited stock as is, but it sells well and you have a lot of happy customers. That means you get to focus on curating a small yet valuable product line, and you haven’t needed to move things out of your living room or bedroom as yet.
Or maybe you’ve been keeping your stock off site, in a third party warehouse that also manages shipping and delivery for you? It’s a sensible way to expand while still keeping things low cost.
Once you’re in a real world store, that’s all going to change. You’re going to need to keep some stock on site at all times, to make sure your shelves stay full and customers can find what they’re looking for.
Managing a rotating inventory like this is a bit of a learning curve, and a lot of new shop owners struggle with the time and attention it takes.
We recommend using inventory management software to take some of the pressure off. At the very least, the program tracks your stock for you, and you simply have to check the dashboard to see what needs topping up or replacing.
You May Need to Hire Security
Physical stores have more security concerns than online stores, surprisingly. When you’re running an ecommerce business, you have to contend with malicious actors in the online space potentially grabbing hold of your data, details, and even your domain.
That’s a pretty scary thing to have to contend with, and it takes a strong command of cybersecurity practices to keep things under control.
However, when you’re running a physical store, you’ve got all those digital worries to think about as well as issues like theft, loss, and problematic customer behavior.
As such, you may need to account for private security hires to keep your business safe. Companies like Verintegra security can be helpful in keeping an eye over your physical business, making sure inventory loss and rowdy customers are much more manageable.
You could also hire a full time security guard of your own, but this can take much longer, and you may not find a candidate you actually like.
An Equal Focus on the Offline and Online
This might be the hardest part of your transition from online store owner to a dual physical and digital business owner. It’s difficult to stay on task with both sides of this set up; there’s only 24 hours in a day!
And if you promised your online customers a location they could visit and the same stellar service all year round, you might just end up under-delivering.
That’s the last thing you need during your expansion, and could lead to many more negative reviews being dropped on your business profile. That can do a lot of damage to your reputation, and you may struggle to find the time to smooth things over.
Once again, this is where staffing needs come into play. You’re going to need help now!
Take Your Business into the Real World
When you’ve got an online store, you’re likely to want an offline one at some point too. And when that urge strikes, you’ve got to be careful about how you proceed. After all, online businesses tend to get things a lot simpler!
When you’re trading in the real world, on the other hand, there are staffing needs, more space issues, your own time and labor to consider, potential security concerns, and more utilities to keep up with as well.
All in all, it’s more expensive, more energy consuming, and might not be all that beneficial for your business either.
Keep this in mind when you’re thinking about opening up your own physical store. Whatever plans you have right now, they may need rethinking entirely!