The corner-shop, the high-street, the supermarket, and the shopping centre have all suffered from economic regression in recent years. This has been caused by an explicit downturn in footfall, as people have found that is much more convenient to flick open their laptop, and do their shopping from the comfort of their own living room.
It is hard to blame people for doing this. They are simply taking advantage of the fact that they no longer need to drive into town; pay to park the car in an exorbitantly expensive car-park; and then walk from shop to shop in the rain.
So with people changing their spending habits drastically over the past decade, and with the world moving online; why not move your small business online? Below is a list of the benefits of having a website for your small business.
Widen your consumer base
By building your website as a service through which people from all over the world can buy your products, you will widen your potential consumer base extensively. Your business will no longer be restricted by its physical accessibility; will no longer be quieter when it is raining; and will no longer lose customers because the local council decided to make the high-street a no parking zone. Customers from around the world will be able to order your products at any time of day from the comfort of their own homes. Use the populace’s need for convenience to your benefit.
New revenue stream: Advertisements
Photo Source: Geograph
Adding a new revenue stream to your business can only be a good thing. Opening your small business’s website to potential advertising will give you a safety net for when sales have dropped below their usual numbers. Be careful with what you allow to be advertised on your website however. Steer clear of advertising companies who sell similar products to yours, as you will be hindering your business by giving competitors publicity.
Easy way to advertise your products
Posting images and prices of new products that you in stock on your website, is a fantastic and extremely easy way of drumming interest in these products. It would be hugely beneficial to your business to open a Facebook page in tandem with your website. Facebook one of the most visited website worldwide – with 1.79 billion active monthly users – therefore it can be useful promotional tool for your physical shop, and your shop’s webpage. By simply updating a Facebook page regularly, you can effectively promote your business for free.
A new way to find employees
Photo Source: The Blue Diamond Gallery
Job listings in newspapers, or posters in the shop front window, are no longer a useful way of finding new employees. The majority of job seekers look for work online – with an 79% of job seekers using social media to find work and 180 million people using Indeed to find work – so use your website and social media pages in order to find suitable employees.
