If you're considering starting an online e-commerce store for the first time then think of it as if you are opening a new store. The only difference is you're opening it to a much wider customer base.

E-commerce sites need many features in place for them to be successful, consider;

Staff
Who will be running the store on a day to day basis, fulfilling orders, managing stock, maintaining content?

Maintenance
A physical store requires daily maintenance and cleaning. An online e-commerce store requires a similar level of upkeep. Consider site upgrades, product management, improvements and backups!

The most successful e-commerce sites are always continuing to add features and fine tune existing ones. Their owner's regularly engage a web agency or marketing firm to improve the design, add new features and assess new ways of generating sales.

Marketing
A new physical store requires a great deal of marketing to get it off the ground and this is no different to a new e-commerce site. Consider search engine optimisation, search engine marketing (Google Adwords), newsletter campaigns and banner ads.

Customer Retention
You may have noticed that most of the large chains of stores run customer loyalty programs, they do this because repeat business and customer loyalty plays a large role in their success. This is again no different to an e-commerce store. Consider regular newsletters to your customers, provide gift cards and offer your loyal customers discount codes as a way of encouraging them back to your site.

Rent
If you were opening up a new storefront you would want the best possible location to attract customers, this is no different with an eCommerce site. It is wise to consider quality hosting to house your new site. How much would it cost if your high street shop or e-commerce shop was out of action for a day?

There are of course many benefits to running an e-commerce site as opposed to a physical store and a successful online e-commerce sites has the potential to be a lot more successful than just one physical store, it just requires continued effort. For a great comparison of storefronts VS e-commerce sites have a look at this blog post comparing 53 famous New York stores and their websites.

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Posted in: Tips and Tricks