Photo by NickiMM via Photopin

5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

Sylvia Garner

January 2014

DragonPoint, Inc.

877-542-0657

www.dragonpoint.com

Overwhelmed by all

there is to know about

doing business on the

web?

Focus on these 5 keys

and create a winning

e-commerce site

www.dragonpoint.com 1 | P a g e

1 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

Executive Summary

You’re already running a

successful brick and mortar

store, and you’re considering

selling online.

Discover the 5 ways brick

and mortar stores and e-

stores are different, and use

this information to ensure

your e-commerce site meets

your online business needs

and grows your company.

Don’t wait to launch your e-Commerce website! Online

sales in the US are expected to grow by an average of

more than 13% per year, with projected sales of $370 to

$430 billion in 2017.

How much of that $400+ billion will your e-business earn?

www.dragonpoint.com 2 | P a g e

2 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

Contents

Executive Summary....................................................................................... 1

Contents ....................................................................................................... 2

What do you already know? ......................................................................... 3

What don’t you know?.................................................................................. 4

1. Free from physical limitations of locations and business hours................. 5

2. You don’t have to hire any more salespeople ........................................... 6

3. Product delivery changes .......................................................................... 7

4. Change the way you satisfy customers ...................................................... 8

5. Virtual store navigation. .......................................................................... 11

The right team for your e-store................................................................... 14

You’re an online shopper . . . ...................................................................... 14

About DragonPoint ...................................................................... 15

www.dragonpoint.com 3 | P a g e

3 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

What do you

already know?

The knowledge you’ve

gained from running a

successful business

still applies, and it puts

you far ahead of start-

up e-companies that

have never run a

physical store. Here’s

why:

1. You understand your products, shoppers, sales cycle, and market.

2. You’ve already invested in marketing and advertising.

3. You have a clear vision of the problem that your product solves.

4. You’ve developed your sales value proposition.

5. You’ve identified your competition and know why you’re better.

6. You know how to manage inventory.

7. You have accounting and other back office systems in place.

Photo by Paolo Margari via Photopin

www.dragonpoint.com 4 | P a g e

4 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

What don’t you know?

A lot of what you already know will be applicable to your e-store, and you’ll

also need some new knowledge. But don’t worry. The new information

you need isn’t as complex or extensive as you might think. In fact, we’ve

identified five simple principles that a business owner needs to know

about creating an e-commerce site. Understanding these will help you

develop a plan for an e-store that achieves the tremendous potential that a

web presence offers.

Stores open 24/7 all over the world

No more salespeople

Can't bag purchases at the store

Satisfy customers you'll never meet

Navigate a virtual store

www.dragonpoint.com 5 | P a g e

5 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

1. Free from physical limitations of locations and business hours

You’ll be doing business around the world 24/7, and you don’t have to hire sales associates, turn on the lights, or heat and cool the store to do it. Your shoppers no longer travel to your physical store but browse from home during breakfast and place orders from smart phones on their train ride home from work.

Sales from smart phones and other mobile devices are the fastest growing subset of the e-commerce world. In fact, many experts track growth of desktop and mobile e-commerce separately, with the mobile online buying now called “m-commerce.”

What does this mean for you? Your website is your store, and shoppers

expect the doors to be open all the time, which means the server on

which your site runs needs to be available all the time and updates to

the site need to be applied without disrupting shoppers. If the site has

to be down (the store has to close), it should be well publicized and for

the shortest time possible.

Make it fit your business: before you launch your e-store, ask your

shoppers whether they buy online before breakfast, at lunch, before

dinner, or late at night. After your store launches, analyze times during

which orders are placed. Use this information to plan system upgrades

that require “closing your store” during the time that your shoppers are

least likely to be online.

www.dragonpoint.com 6 | P a g e

6 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

2. You don’t have to hire any more salespeople

No more worrying about

minimum wage and raises.

No more teaching salespeople

how to answer questions,

deal with angry shoppers, or

upsell.

What does this mean for

you? Your website will help

shoppers find the right

products by providing logical

navigational categories, well-

indexed search functions, outstanding photographs, and words that

paint pictures. Balance will be critical: you want high quality photos,

but you need for pages to load quickly. You want to give shoppers

enough information to understand your products, but you need to make

pages easy to read and avoid putting too much text on a page.

You’ll create new ways to interact with shoppers, such as offering a Chat

window for immediate, personal help, and providing opportunities for

shoppers to rate products and submit feedback.

You may use popup windows that provide more details about frequently

asked questions such as shipping methods and policies on returns.

Instead of hiring many salespeople, hire a few web-savvy experts to

photograph your products and write text that will turn shoppers into

buyers.

www.dragonpoint.com 7 | P a g e

7 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

Make it fit your business: ask your salespeople about the kinds of

questions they answer every day and then identify creative ways to

proactively answer these questions for web shoppers. For example,

shoppers in a retail clothing store may ask about care instructions for

products, so you include this information on each page that displays

details about an item. If the sales team provides you with many

different types of questions (and answers), you may want to create an

easy-to-search Frequently Asked Questions page for your e-store.

3. Product delivery changes

Your sales associates won’t be putting purchases into bags, so you need new ways to reliably deliver products. Shoppers can no longer walk into the store to return items, so you also need new ways for your buyers to easily return products and explain why (not ordered, didn’t fit, didn’t like, etc.).

What does this mean for you? You’ll evaluate options like free and flat

rate shipping; pros and cons of various carriers; and whether to allow

your shoppers to choose a specific shipper (UPS vs. FedEx) or just a

delivery speed (next day, 2-days, 7 days, etc.).

Even the best shipper sometimes loses or damages products during

transit, so you’ll have to factor lost and damaged goods into product

pricing and shipping

charges.

Do you want to provide a

tracking number for each

online purchase? If so,

you’ll need technical experts

to integrate your e-store

with your shippers.

Will you include return

labels and instructions when you Miskan via photopin.com

www.dragonpoint.com 8 | P a g e

8 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

ship products? Or will shoppers call to get authorization for a return?

These decisions impact shipping processes and information that is

displayed on your site.

You’ll want to capture information about why buyers are returning

products so you can analyze the data and correct shortcomings of the

site (or the products). For example, if many clients return clothing

because it didn’t fit, perhaps your web store needs a quick way for

shoppers to check sizes based on body measurements.

Make it fit your business: Gather input from your customer service

team about challenges they face with product returns. Meet with

shippers to discuss potential shipping volumes and pricing options. Ask

your shoppers to tell you about their best and worst experiences with

shipping and returning products purchased online. Analyze historical

data about in-store product returns. Use all of this information to create

cost-effective, satisfying shipping and return policies.

4. Change the way you satisfy customers

If you’re really proud of the fantastic team you’ve assembled in customer care, I have bad news for you: you can no longer depend on them to keep your customers happy.

Or maybe you’re thrilled that you won’t have to worry that your best

customer care rep’s morning included oversleeping, getting stuck in a

traffic jam, and spilling coffee all over his pants and car before the first

irate shopper walks in – without a receipt.

Whether you love your customer service department or lose sleep over

it, it’s one of the most critical parts of your business because it’s often

your last opportunity to turn an unhappy shopper into a satisfied one.

Why is this important? Shoppers in online and traditional retail stores

have always told friends about their favorite shopping experiences and,

more often, shared their shopping nightmares. All of those “Share This”

www.dragonpoint.com 9 | P a g e

9 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

buttons you see on web pages allow shoppers to spread the word about

your great products (or awful ones), and studies show that more than

50% of shoppers use these recommendations to make buying decisions

(http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-shopping_b48287).

Think that your shoppers are only using Twitter and Facebook? Think

again after you take a look below at the opportunities for “sharing.”

birgerking via photopin

www.dragonpoint.com 10 | P a g e

10 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

What does this mean for you? In a brick and mortar store, you carefully

select customer service representatives who can calm unhappy

shoppers. The same care should be used to choose the people who will

talk to web shoppers. Your customer service reps who meet face to face

with shoppers have the authority to make decisions to fix customer

complaints; the same type of authority needs to be available to reps

working with web shoppers.

In addition to providing great customer service by phone, the web

provides other ways to satisfy shoppers. Many sites use a messaging

tool to allow visitors to immediately have a conversation with a

representative (“chat”). Consider creative solutions; maybe you want

to expand from “chatting” to “Skyping” so that your unhappy shoppers

can show problems to your reps instead of being limited to using words

to describe them.

Promises such as “100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back”

are a great way to encourage first time buyers to try your products;

even if the buyer don’t like the product, immediately refunding money is

likely to ensure the shopper doesn’t take to the social airways with

complaints and criticisms.

Make it fit your business: ask your best customer service

representatives questions like “What’s the most frequent problem

reported by angry shoppers?” and “What is the best way to satisfy an

unhappy buyer?” Use the information to build a site that attempts to

avoid problems so you can minimize time correcting them. Interview

shoppers who have worked with your customer service team to find out

whether they were happy with the resolution (or not) and why. Use the

information to build your site, empower your customer service reps, and

maybe to improve your brick and mortar store’s customer satisfaction

ratings, too.

www.dragonpoint.com 11 | P a g e

11 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

5. Virtual store navigation

When a shopper walks into your brick and mortar store, they can see product displays, sale signs, and a floor plan diagram directing them to each department. If a shopper can’t find what they’re looking for, they’re likely to ask a sales associate for help, and you have a good chance of keeping them in your store while they browse.

When a web visitor

opens your store,

they need the

ability to navigate it

as easily as

shoppers navigate

your physical store.

If an online shopper

can’t find what they

want very quickly

(in seconds), they

go to the next entry in

the results list, or they type your competitor’s web address into their

browser’s search bar.

Don’t forget about m-commerce. Consider a mobile version of your

shopping site, too. Even if you start with a site that is optimized for full

sized monitors, test it on your smart phone to be sure that shoppers can

navigate the site and make purchases successfully.

RickChung.com via photopin

www.dragonpoint.com 12 | P a g e

12 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

What does this mean for you? Your website should be built to address

your shoppers’ behavior and to provide them with easy access to all the

information they need to make a buying decision.

Do buyers come to your store with a specific item in mind, or are they

looking for a category of products such as men’s or women’s clothing or

shoes? Are technical details important? Are your products impulse

buys or well-researched purchases? Do sales fluctuate seasonally?

Here are two examples of how this type of information impacts the way

you build your website.

Example 1: Mary types “2003 Toyota Camry Headlight Assembly

Drivers’ Side” into her browser. She clicks on the link to ABC Auto Parts’

website, which opens to their home page. She thinks about retyping her

part description into a search field, but she doesn’t see one, so she

decides to try the next record in the results list, ZYX Lowest Priced Auto

Parts website. The site opens directly to a page that has a great picture

of the part, text that confirms the part is in perfect working order, and a

“buy now” button. Testimonials from people who have purchased parts

from ZYX fill the page below the information about the part, and the

shoppers’ 9 (out of 10) rating is prominently displayed. Mary skims the

text and presses Buy Now.

www.dragonpoint.com 13 | P a g e

13 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

Example 2: John loves a great deal. He schedules his trips to physical

stores around their advertised sales, and once inside, he heads directly

for the big red SALE signs. On the web, John goes directly to his favorite

stores’ websites to check for new items on sale. His most frequently

visited web stores include a

home page link to products

on sale. On the Sales page,

he can choose to shop by

type of product, discount

percent or amount, and

other categories. His

favorite sites allow him to

see a list of all sale products

sorted by date the sale

began; he visits so

frequently that he only

cares about the products

added to the sale since his last visit. He also likes to sort products by the

date the sale ends so he can be sure not to miss something.

It’s easy to see in these examples that a buyer’s shopping patterns

impact your site. In big and small ways, everything you know about how

your shoppers make purchasing decisions should be incorporated into

your site’s design.

Make it fit your business: how much do sales increase when you display

a SALE sign on your store marquee? When you send an email blast to

your shoppers? Is there any relationship between the number of sales

and the size and type of signage you use in a store? Incorporate these

lessons and everything else you know about your buyers into your e-

store.

Photo via photopin by the justified sinner

www.dragonpoint.com 14 | P a g e

14 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

The right team for your e-store

You are responsible for bringing the knowledge about your business to

the team creating your new e-commerce site. Your team also needs to

include:

Web designers who can translate information about your products

and buyers into site design, navigation standards, product display

pages, a shopping cart, and a checkout page.

Experts who optimize your site so that it will appear high in the

search engines’ results list and teach your team how to add new

product information in a manner that drives sales.

Technical experts who understand how to write software that

creates a website that is fast, reliable, and achieves your business

objectives.

Creating the right framework for your e-store significantly increases

your chance of converting visitors to buyers!

You’re an online shopper . . .

You drive a car, but that doesn’t mean you can design and build one. You shop

on the web, but that doesn’t mean you should design and build your e-store.

Your e-commerce website may be the only impression a shopper has of you

and your brand; studies show that within 10 seconds, site visitors decide

whether to stay. Designing an e-commerce site is a balance of art and science.

Hire experts, or if you’re working with a tight budget, use templates developed

by experts and provided by many of the sites that offer a framework for your

e-store.

www.dragonpoint.com 15 | P a g e

15 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

Don’t wait!

Don’t wait to launch your e-Commerce website! Christmas 2012 online

U.S. sales exceeded traditional stores

and were more than 16% higher than

2011’s e-commerce sales dollars for

the same period. Experts are

projecting e-sales in the US to

continue to grow by more than 13%

per year, with projections of $370 to

$434 billion in 2017. The mobile

marketplace, m-commerce, is

expected to continue to be the

fastest-growing source of e-sales.

If you’re not already doing e-business, start now to be sure you get the

biggest possible piece of the $400+ billion online shopping pie!

Sources:

Internet Retailer, “U.S. e-commerce sales, 2012-2017.” April, 2013.

http://www.internetretailer.com/trends/sales/

Forbes, “US Online Retail Sales to Reach $270B by 2017.” March 14, 2013

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forrester/2013/03/14/us-online-retail-sales-to-reach-370b-by-2017-e191b-

in-europe/

Mashable – Business. “Forrester: U.S. Online Retail Sales to Hit $370 Billion by 2017.” March 13, 2013.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/12/forrester-u-s-ecommerce-forecast-2017/

Investeors.com. “Online Sales Growth this Holiday Beats Offline Retail.” December 26, 2013

http://news.investors.com/122613-684255-online-retail-sales-largely-on-track-this-

holiday.htm?ven=djcp&src=aurlabo

Shopping cart photo by Polycart via photopin

www.dragonpoint.com 16 | P a g e

16 5 Keys for Brick & Mortar Companies Building e-Stores

This document is for information purposes only. DragonPoint makes no warranties, express, implied or statutory as to the

information in this document. The information in this paper may be reused and re-transmitted provided DragonPoint, Inc. is cited as

the original owners.

About DragonPoint

DragonPoint has more than 25 years of experience designing,

developing, and enhancing custom software systems for

businesses.

Call DragonPoint today at 877-542-0657 to talk about your

software needs and get expert assistance the right e-commerce

solution for your business!