Because of the prevalence of online shopping, someone with a new retail business idea is no longer required to open a storefront. However, that does not imply that there is no longer a need for physical stores or that all business concepts are successful online. When deciding whether a retail storefront or online store will work best for your small business, you must take your product, the consumer, and your overall business goals into account.
How Do Customer Experiences Change with Online Stores vs Physical Stores?
What is an online store?
A shopping website where customers can browse and place orders is referred to as an online store. Online shops may have their own dedicated web domains, as well as social media or online marketplace pages. Companies may run an online store as part of their overall business strategy or solely rely on it. Additionally, online stores make it possible for people to run businesses without having to pay rent or deal with the overhead associated with physical retail. As long as they’re willing to ship internationally and understand other countries’ regulations, online stores can cater to a global customer base.
What is a physical store?
A physical store, also known as a brick-and-mortar store, is a type of retail establishment that needs real estate to display and sell goods. Physical stores can be standalone buildings, tenants in malls or shopping centers, or they can be connected to places like museums, public attractions, or homes. Retail staff working in physical stores inform and help customers while maintaining the appearance and stock of the store.
Some shops rely more on customers who pass by and are intrigued enough to look around the products. Others work with clients who have unique needs while remaining largely unnoticed by the general public. For instance, the displays and scents of a candle shop in a mall draw customers in. Despite not being in a prominent location, customers consistently return to a swimming pool supply store for its specialty goods.
Physical stores could be independent businesses or franchises. Local customers are the focus of independent businesses, whereas franchises can rely on strong brand recognition to grow their business.
Physical stores vs. online stores
Here are key comparisons between physical stores and online stores:
Business benefits
When deciding whether to use physical stores, online stores, or both, businesses make a strategic choice. Which strategy a business employs depends on its clientele, location, size, and the type of products it sells.
Benefits of physical stores can include:
The typical benefits of online stores are:
Marketing approaches
The marketing strategies used by physical stores largely depend on whether they are franchises or independent businesses. Independent companies frequently create regional advertising plans, relying on regional newspapers, radio stations, billboards, and word-of-mouth. After making the first sale to a customer, they might also use loyalty reward programs to gain a competitive advantage. However, franchises frequently have local or national recognition that makes them the standard option for a particular product.
To market to customers, online shops typically use a combination of social media, online publicity, and paid advertisements. Online retailers can advertise to their ideal demographic thanks to targeted ads, simplifying marketing. An online store may spend significantly less on paid advertisements if it can gain recognition through a vibrant social media presence. Online magazines that offer product recommendations look for distinctive online merchants to recommend to readers.
Related costs
The overhead for physical stores is frequently higher, increasing the cost of doing business. Contributing factors include:
Online retail companies may be sufficiently large to need production and storage facilities staffed by a staff of employees. If so, many costs overlap with those of physical stores. Assuming a business is relatively small, associated costs might include:
Hours of operation
Physical stores typically have set operating hours and may close on certain days of the week or on holidays. This restricts when sales can happen and necessitates interaction between the public and the store. Customers can access and buy from online stores whenever they want, resulting in increased sales and convenience.
Customer experience
Physical stores make an effort to give customers a pleasant shopping experience by training their salespeople, designing eye-catching displays, and promoting customer interaction with products through sampling or demonstrations. Strong customer bonds that result in repeat business are built by talented sales representatives, which helps drive business. A physical store may spend a lot of money on designs that make the store appear slick and appealing, seasonal or promotional decorations that draw window shoppers, or both.
By using original web pages and social media posts to post creative content, online stores improve the customer experience. To help customers find what they’re looking for and clearly see the products they’re considering, online stores must have an intuitive layout. Online retailers must also prepare for handling returns or customer inquiries. They usually offer customer service via email or phone.
Operational flexibility
Physical store owners typically have to commit to a space and make consistent sales or risk closing. Since it runs the risk of losing business gained from a convenient or appealing location, moving locations to reduce costs can be a significant challenge.
Online stores can adapt much more easily. Online businesses typically avoid having their operations interrupted, but the financial repercussions are less severe if a website owner wants to switch domains or take some time to redesign their website.
Competition
Physical stores must contend with both similar stores in their local community and, frequently, online retailers. In order to maintain demand, business models that depend on physical stores must take into account whether their product sells better in person than online.
Online retailers must contend with the major online marketplaces, which frequently provide lower prices and faster shipping. Therefore, online retailers with exclusive products available nowhere else are more likely to succeed.
FAQ
What is the difference between physical store and online store?
A physical store is a typical, physical location that customers can visit. These establishments, such as retail stores, carry on business on land that the company either leases or owns. A digital store refers to an e-commerce site.
Why physical stores are better than online?
Adaptability: Online shopping for some products, like cars, can be challenging. Physical stores can sell big, complicated, and expensive things or they can sell simple, cheap, and simple things. Without shipping, customers save money and immediately take their purchases home.
Is it better to shop online or instore?
Online shoppers occasionally have to leave their page in order to remove an item from their cart. By enabling the customer to physically take the item out of the store, online shopping reduces this inconvenience. Customers can interact with your return policy more easily when they make returns in-store.
Why physical stores are better?
2- Physical stores reduce the cost of returns. By reducing product returns caused by items not being the right size, color, or material, seeing things in person Online purchases are more likely to be returned than physical store purchases.
