Felix Dingermann, Managing director brodos.net Business Development

Facebook has introduced a new tool which is meant to measure when advertising has led to an offline purchase being made. Google has already been offering advertisements with local product availability since last year via AdWords, checking whether users really did visit the store after clicking on the advertisement. With these functions, Facebook and Google have confirmed that there are already enough retailers who are represented online and are successfully attracting customers from there into their stores. We would like to show three steps which are also easy for specialised retailers to put into practice.

STEP ONE: Make the decision to have an online presence as well

At the beginning of any successful online strategy is the will to actually put the project into practice.  Don’t be afraid, commit yourself to tackling the online challenge. Tell yourself that you want to present your products to your customers from the region outside of shop opening hours as well, making your store even more attractive.

STEP TWO: Set up your own online shop

In order to be able to attract potential buyers on the internet as well, you need to showcase the product range available in your brick and mortar store on the internet in your own online shop. Customers can browse through your product catalogue on their sofa at home at the weekend at their own convenience and gather all the information they need.

But how should a small retailer be able to afford all that without large financial investments in personnel and technology? With our online shop window, it is all available free of charge. The entire product catalogue can be called up and viewed online, including an order button for click & collect. This attracts customers from the internet into your store. For you, this means a chance of lucrative cross-selling and long-term customer loyalty.
 

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STEP THREE: Marketing and communication

The last step is to advertise your own online shop correctly, for example by email and on social media. Facebook and a newsletter are suitable means of showing end customers that you can also participate in the online business, even as a smaller retailer.

With our Facebook offers page www.facebook.com/BrodosAngebote we have a very convenient solution: top hardware and accessories offers are listed there each day, and all you need to do as a retailer is to share them on your store’s Facebook page. In addition, we can also mail an end customer newsletter in your name every two weeks. We design the newsletter with a personalised layout and create the offers. Letting you do e-mail marketing like the big players.

If the prerequisites have been met with an online shop and appropriate product marketing, all that is missing is the last piece of the puzzle: your customers have to find out about it! We are of the opinion that the online shop is set to soon become a just as indispensable component on the business card of a brick and mortar retailer as the telephone number or email address. You should refer in all sales talks to your online shop window, making it a topic of the conversation. Show yourself as the competent consultant you are, saying something along the lines of “next time you want to buy something online be sure to have a look at my online shop window”.

CONCLUSION:

You have made a start when you make the decision and find the courage to conquer the online world.  The next thing you need to do is to make the product range available in your retail store visible online with an additional online shop. End customers have to learn that they can also order online from local retailers like you. I wish you every success!