E-commerce & brick-and-mortar: Yes, we’re saying ‘&,’ not ‘vs.’
By: Justo Guerin
Tags: Marketing, Retail, Strategy, Ecommerce, Digital Marketing

Customers can behave in so many different ways, not just A or B, and most of us fall in the middle. To deliver an efficient solution, many companies approach the problem using an omnichannel distribution strategy. PipeCandy estimates that there are between 2 million and 3 million e-commerce companies in the world (excluding China). North America alone has about 1.3 million e-commerce companies. Even if you exclude marketplaces sellers, such as Amazon, Etsy, eBay, etc., there would still be somewhere around 250,000 to 300,000 e-commerce companies in the U.S.

On the other hand, there are fewer than 100,000 pure e-commerce companies around the world, meaning that when it comes to e-commerce, omnichannel is the rule and ‘pure-play’ e-commerce is the exception.

Keep in mind that there’s bigger competition and that there are still costs to consider. However, when executed well, e-commerce is an ally that helps small, medium, and large companies alike, and if you rush me, I’d even say that small and medium companies are the ones that get the biggest benefit from it. Again, when done right, complemented with effective SEO and paid advertising strategies, a conversion-friendly website, a strong presence on social media, and powerful branding (all done in a device-friendly manner), your company can be just as visible to the consumer as giant competitors.

As I said before, e-commerce is not your enemy. I understand that a lot of traditional store owners find themselves hesitant because of the history and memories that may come with their brick-and-mortar. All emotions aside, you need to see e-commerce as a tool that you can leverage to help your store survive bad periods or even find new reasons to exist. The sooner you realize it, the more time you’ll have to make your company visible in the digital world — which is a big part of the real world, in case you haven’t noticed yet. It breaks my heart to see family-owned stores that shut down because they didn’t know how to reshape their business or use these digital instruments in their favor.

If you don’t believe me, look at what some of the biggest brands are doing:

Again, for the people in the back, e-commerce is not your enemy. You need to think about this as two different markets that you can tap: people who buy online and people who buy in person.

We all know the golden rule for brick-and-mortar stores: location, location, location. That same principle applies to today’s world, but your audience is no longer found on a particular street or in a specific neighborhood — they’re on the internet. Location is still key, and more than ever, you need to be where your customers are. A digital strategy will give you the insights and consumer information that you need to make your store experience more complete. Innovation is just as important in your store as it is for your online experience.

Just as you invest in making your store look pretty and be able to deliver a satisfying customer experience, you have to do the same for your website. And most consumers will begin, finish, or cruise by your digital presence during their purchasing journey. Pure-channel customer journeys no longer exist, if they ever did. It’s up to you to create an all-encompassing customer experience where both channels work together to close sales, keep your audience engaged, and deliver a memorable, pleasant experience — even if the client doesn’t finish the purchase at the time.

Face-to-face interaction, sensory experiences, and geographic location are the unique values of your physical store, and those are still some of the most efficient tools that you can use to create real, authentic, long-term relationships with your customer.

Since most of us participate in hundreds of social connections and are exposed to thousands of ads, in-person, real experiences matter more than ever. Traditional stores are still here and will be here for a while. Don’t ask what your customer can do for your store, ask what your store can do for your customer — even if the answer isn’t selling.

What do you think about the role of e-commerce? Do you have any questions for me? Let’s chat!

justo@sofiadigital.agency