A website means you're open 24/7

Written on the 4 September 2012 by Snap Marketing

Have a 'shop front' that never closes!

As humans, we're used to facing constant changes in life. Even the way business owners choose to run their companies today is rapidly changing and evolving.

Compared to a traditional shop front, the opportunity to have an online store offers a wealth of benefits. The most notable is that your business is open for sales 24 hours a day! This means 9am to 5pm operating hours are a thing of the past; there are no time restrictions if your business has an online store. Just imagine the sales you could make over these extra 16 hours when your physical shop front would normally be closed.

Better yet, customers don't even have to leave their home to make a purchase, and the benefits don't end there. Here are some of the advantages of taking your business online:

No queues
An online store means there's no more lining up in lengthy queues just to purchase a product or service. A customer can simply add to their online basket and proceed to the online checkout for purchase.

Direct departments
Online sites add freedom to the business process thanks to domain names. Use different email addresses for separate departments of your business so customers can reach the right employee when in need. The same goes for specific services; for example, if a return is required, email returns@yourbusinessname.com.au and if you're lodging a sales enquiry, email sales@yourbusinessname.com.au. It's that simple.

Priority service
Since email is the main form of communication for your business, your employees have the freedom to reply to the most urgent enquiries; regardless of when the email was sent. First come, first serve becomes obsolete if they can pick and choose which email is higher priority and should be replied to first.

Cheaper overheads
Paying a yearly amount for a domain name and web hosting is a lot cheaper than having to pay monthly rent for a shop front. We're talking of thousands of dollars compared to a few hundred for a website. This gives you the opportunity to pass on your savings to your customers and offer more competitive pricing.