Digitalization is advancing with great strides. At the latest due to the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, large companies, but also retailers are obliged to act.
Not only are customers obligated by the lockdown restrictions to organize everything beyond their daily needs online to the greatest extent possible, but they will also adapt the newly learned habits to their purchasing behavior in the future.
In order to remain profitably active in the retail trade in the future, one's own opportunities as well as the new requirements must be recognized and finally implemented in a targeted manner. The creation of an online shop forms the ideal basis for the first steps into the digital world.
Why does a regional online store make sense for retailers?
Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the high economic relevance of the following developments listed here.
In the face of the Corona pandemic, companies are (forced to) increasingly deal with their digital possibilities and implement them - even those that thought for a long time that e-commerce was out of the question for them. A company's actions that are precisely attuned to these conditions can therefore hardly be regarded as a recommendation, but rather as an absolute necessity. Those who do not react correctly now will hardly be able to operate competitively on the market in the future, because...
The web, which is playing a major role in shaping more and more areas of life - including apps, product reviews and the like - has led to customers shopping completely differently today than they did ten or 20 years ago.
There is an unprecedented range of goods and services that can be easily ordered at any time. Moreover, there has been a steady increase in the efficiency with which online retailers conduct their business.
As a result, the use of online shopping is tremendous and continues to increase.
Stationary companies of all kinds have suffered enormously from the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Particularly with regard to the imposed temporary closures, having one's own online shop as a sales alternative - at least in those business areas that have any possibilities at all to trade online - is only the logical consequence.
The advantages of linking regional retail with e-commerce are also changing the habits and buying behavior of customers.
This behavior will almost certainly become entrenched in the long term and define new demands on retailers. This means that e-commerce in the retail sector should by no means be regarded merely as a transitional solution.
An important fact for all shops today is that customers are now extremely well informed about the products they are focusing on buying. The need for advice at the POS (point of sale) is therefore becoming less and less.
Customers de facto prefer todo their researchonline first - check the respective product features, read reviews and compare prices - before they find the nearest store or place a quick order online.
E-commerce holds innovative opportunities
for regional retailers
It is clear that it has long been extremely lucrative not only for regional retailers, but also for restaurateurs and service providers to shift or support purchasing processes online via their own websites.
Regional retailers can gain considerably by giving their customers the chance not only to order products directly, but also to check them and their availability online from home, then to pre-order them in the store or have them put back, to view them again there and finally to buy them. Alternatively, it is possible to set up a showroom exclusively as a local business location and then offer the goods there for delivery. The latter concept is already being used by various start-ups with great acceptance by the clientele.
But e-commerce also offers a good additional source of revenue forrestaurant businesses, giving customers the chance to order offerings from their favorite restaurant via an online store during the lockdown and then pick them up or even have them delivered. Services, for which a visit to the respective establishment might otherwise have been customary, can be booked quickly in the web shop under the condition of sufficient online information and are then carried out at the agreed time. And many a beauty center has already successfully used its e-commerce solution for remote consultation.
Checklist: How do I create an online store with Shopify?
If you want to create a website based on the Shopify shop system, you should definitely proceed methodically and precisely.
The following is a compact summary of the most important steps on the way to a finished, successful online shop with Shopify.
Regardless of whether you create your online shop yourself or have it built - the faster you make it available, the sooner you can reach your customers with it. In order to proceed as quickly as possible, but also as efficiently as possible, you should first concentrate on the essentials.
Your shop should be immediately associated with your company, whereby your logo, your corporate colours and corresponding slogans play an important role.
Furthermore, you should ensure that your online shop is optimally usable and that shopping through it functions smoothly.
Accordingly, to start your e-commerce, it is appropriate to take care of the basic design, the creation of the shop homepage, a page with central information on shipping options, the provision of details on data protection, revocation as well as other important legal requirements and sufficient customer service.
Only then does the generation of the product pages with convincing images, texts, etc. begin.
It may seem strange to some people to set up gift vouchers as early as the basic steps to their own online shop.
However, selling them online is one of the fastest ways for brick-and-mortar stores to generate sales through their website. This is because gift vouchers are still extremely popular gifts for birthdays, weddings, housewarmings, anniversaries and many other occasions.
If one can procure these completely simply over an on-line shop, this has not only the large advantage of a fundamentally substantial simplification of the acquisition. Buyers also have the opportunity to buy and give vouchers very spontaneously and even on Sundays or holidays, for example on Christmas Eve.
Especially in Corona times, many buyers are dependent on reliable, fast delivery to the doorstep - and also in general, today's online customers expect to receive their ordered goods, cheaply, smoothly and promptly.
For many, it is even a primary criterion for excluding a shop if such requirements are not met. For your e-commerce, this means an increased relevance of providing affordable, convenient and as timely shipping as possible.
Furthermore, especially those shops that offer goods that tend to be tried out before purchase or that are generally preferred to be viewed at the pos, i.e. on site, should provide the options of an availability check as well as direct pick-up in the store.
In Corona times, it is also very advantageous in this context to set up a contactless handover. Here, the customer selects online, pays and then makes an appointment to pick up the goods. The pickup takes place, for example, through a store window or by placing the goods in the customer's trunk.
Offering the payment options preferred by your own target group is just as important as creating optimal shipping conditions. If the desired payment service is not available, quite a few prospective customers will even jump off in the final stages of the checkout! When selecting payment methods, pay particular attention to the demands of your target customers and the fit with your business model.
Shopify basically offers a very good basis to exclude such negative effects. If you want your customers to pay with a credit card, you can use Shopify Payments or alternatively a third-party provider. Integrating the very popular payment methods PayPal, Amazon Pay and Apple Pay is also easily done.
In addition, the accelerated checkout via Shop Pay offers the chance to save payment and shipping information for returning customers.
For you as a shop owner, this increases the likelihood of closing deals, as the buying process is less time-consuming for customers and therefore less overthought.
After you have finished setting up your website, it is important to inform the customers that they can now buy online from you.
The strategically clever announcement of your own online shop is also very important in the long term, in order to be able to maintain and expand the place you have once achieved in the market.
For this, of course, in the first instance, the way about possibly Existing e-mail addresses of existing customers in order to draw their attention to your shop and to be able to forward them directly via a link.
But also the social media or other online marketing measures should not be disregarded.
In addition, advertising via flyers or notices in your stationary store - at the POS, is an effective method to attract customers to the shop.
Why Shopify is often ideal for online retail
Shopify is one of the most used shop systems in the world.
The e-commerce solution owes its great popularity to its basic simplicity.
The business model is based on the SaaS approach (Software as a Service). As a customer, you subscribe to the complete system and pay for its use on an annual or monthly basis. This brings the great advantage that you do not have to worry about any IT work, updates or similar necessities.
Setting up the system and creating pages can be done without programming knowledge or other extensive expertise.
Of course, you can only get the maximum out of it with a good strategy and a real exploitation of all individualization possibilities. Under these basic conditions, you get an all-in-one solution for selling physical and digital products including important shipping and payment standards, CMS for blog and website, marketing aids for customer retention/acquisition, mobile optimization (mobile first), DSGVO compliance and much more.
The Shopify shop system is thus ideal for local merchants who, as self-users, do not have their own IT and marketing departments/experts.
In just a few steps, Shopify can be used to create your own online shop, but also with the support of an external professional to achieve a very special, completely individual shopping experience with the greatest potential.
The costs of the website are manageable. You only have to calculate between 29 and 299 US dollars per month.
How we can support you with e-commerce:
- Development of atargeted strategy taking into account your individual goals and target groups, the choice of the right shop system for your needs to the professional implementation of your online shop.
- Joint development of an SEO strategy,social media marketing measures or native advertising formats.
- Support with content production in order to direct qualified traffic to your site and thus draw attention to your products.
For a successful and comprehensive e-commerce strategy, we are also happy to advise you on the following topics:
Oliver Parrizas will be happy to answer any questions you may have on the subject. 
+49-800-911-91-91
