In the wake of the fashion economic slack, purchasing via ecommerce sites continue to be a growing trend. While we don’t expect brick-and-mortar stores to be completely done away with, even established brands have gone online with their own virtual shops.
If you still doubt the potential for success of an online store that sell clothes online, here’s why many entrepreneurs have decided to go digital:
- Lower start-up and operating costs.
A lot of elements go into building an online store. There’s the site domain, hosting, web design and development as well as the necessary tools to run it. Yet these still total to a fraction of the cost as putting up a physical shop. Both will spend on storage and depreciation costs should be taken into account. Still, an actual shop would involve buying the lot and construction or renovation of an existing structure, or rent. Then there are the utility bills and depreciation to consider.
Several tools involved in putting up an online shop are low-cost but value-packed and some offer free starter accounts for small enterprises. As the needs of the business grows with expansion, there are different tools that have mid-level packages while premium accounts for others come at an affordable price with unlimited use of features. This depends on the tool and the availability of technology so do some research to compare value.
- Operates even when you’re offline from anywhere.
The store is open even after you decide to sign off and stop working for the day. Customers can go on their mobile phones or computers after work and purchase an item, even without the assistance of a salesperson or cashier. You’re making money after-hours while you’re out partying or on a vacation.
Computer programmed auto-suggestions also take care of recommending similar products or other popular merchandise to the customer. You can also program the site to redirect the customer to an online feedback form or promotions after buying items and before they leave the site.
- Easier to measure and scale.
There are a number of online apps and ecommerce tools for selling clothes online to easily track the hottest merchandise, the campaigns that are getting the most attention, the age and location of your clientele and other important data. These tools usually offer real-time information, freeing up your time to focus on more important things such as business strategy or the company of friends and family.
Running an online shop is also less time-intensive unlike a physical store where you have to arrange and rearrange item displays on a regular basis, manually checking inventory and being physically present to entertain customers.
- Consumers are growing more accustomed to online shopping.
People are seeing the value of ecommerce as they enjoy the simplicity of purchasing from a mobile phone while waiting for their dinner date to arrive or lounging at home. As sellers are learning to present items more accurately, including size measurements, fabrics and such, consumers are learning to trust online vendors more. This increasing patronization of online sites is opening doors to more possibilities for selling through the internet.