Business benefits
Businesses make a strategic choice when deciding whether to use physical stores, online stores or both. The nature of products sold, clientele, business location and size of the company all affect which approach a business takes.
Benefits of physical stores can include:
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Customer service: Shoppers often value input from sales associates when shopping.
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Product clarity: Customers can touch and see products in person, resulting in less confusion or dissatisfaction with purchases.
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Adaptability: Some products, such as cars, are difficult to shop for online. Physical stores can sell large, complex and expensive goods, or they can sell small, straightforward and inexpensive items.
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No shipping: Consumers save the additional cost of shipping and take their products home right away.
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Simpler return process: Returning products bought online might require repackaging, printing labels, visiting a post office and waiting for money back. Physical stores make returns simpler and quicker.
The typical benefits of online stores are:
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Profitability: Because of the much lower overhead, online stores usually offer higher profit margins.
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Liability: Online business owners aren't liable for following a mall's operational guidelines or for sales associates' work environment.
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Reach: Online stores can reach an almost unlimited customer base.
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Customer info: Online stores can gather a large amount of information about shopper habits by reviewing the most-visited pages and most-viewed items. They also receive email and residential addresses to use for further marketing.
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Simplicity: Online stores have the potential to be incredibly simple. Online business owners can sell items they keep in their homes and do the shipping themselves, or they can rely on a third party to fill orders without having to do physical labor.
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Low barrier to entry: It's much easier and cheaper to purchase a website address than it is to open a physical store. If sales are slow, the business faces less risk because there's not necessarily rent or employee wages to pay.
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