The point of setting up an online store is to allow you to sell to customers you can’t reach physically–people that for whatever reason can’t or won’t go to your store, if you have one. However, there is another twist to having an online store that can help you increase your sales, and it’s all about getting personal. You already have the option of having a physical store and have people come to it, or have an online store and let people go to it.
But there is a third option, and it’s about making your store, and yourself, go to the customers.
Sell On the Go
The advantage of having your own locale is that you can have all of your stock and necessary hardware in one place. Cash registers, credit card readers, and other point of sale machine are heavy, expensive, and not easily carried around. That’s why you set up an online store so you can sell to customers that are far away. But you can go a step further. Complement your online store with a portable POS. You can download it on your tablet or portable, and search for customers that usually wouldn’t find your store online. You can visit places like fairs, conventions, parks, and public institutions–anywhere there are people who might be interested in your products, but can neither go to your shop nor visit you online. Because you are carrying your shop with you, it is possible for you to show them your goods in person, and make the sale right there. The items can then be shipped to your new customers like any normal online purchase.
Keep Everything Together
Of course, if you are following this route, you will have to make sure that you have the system well set up. If you are accepting credit cards, make sure your payment getaway on the online store is compatible with the credit card reader you carry with you, and that the software you are using is in synch with the online store’s stock, purchase history, and billing; so that you don’t make a mistake, and sell something on the spot, only to find later on that you ran out a week ago. The catalog also needs to be up to date on both devices, though if you are using unique software that will be no problem at all. It is also a good selling point to offer coupons and discounts for future online sales to those that buy from you on the go. Once you have broken the ice with that initial sale, you are giving them incentive to return.
This method is a bit like going back to the time of door-to-door salesmen, but there is a reason this was such a popular method of selling before the Internet. People like having things come to them, and there is no reason you can’t take advantage of that, complementing it to your business strategy to make sure there is no customer that escapes you, and no client left unattended.
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