Expanding from Online Store to Brick and Mortar Business
Traditionally, businesses have expanded from being just a physical brick and mortar store to a physical store plus an online store. Worldwide e-commerce business growth and associated revenues are mind-boggling. For the first time in 2012, worldwide online sales topped the $1 trillion mark.
While this is noteworthy, it is equally interesting to see several online businesses, including major technology players, set up brick and mortar stores in addition to their online presence.
Apple was one of the first businesses to make this move, followed by Microsoft. Microsoft started an online venture first with third party suppliers, followed by a Windows Marketplace that was then shut down to make way for the Microsoft Store before setting up its physical store.
The latest news is that in time for the 2013 holiday season Google is planning to set up physical stores to showcase its Android devices in addition to other products it’s been researching and developing. All of this has led to rumors about whether Amazon.com, one of the largest online retailers, would also follow suit, but there is no clear confirmation on this.
Setting up an online business calls for a more stringent implementation plan from an IT standpoint—an end-to-end online platform including showing up in top results on search engines, searches within the portal, add to cart, user account setup and validation, payment processing (often necessitating third party integrations), billing and shipping, order confirmation, user account history, online downloads, etc.
Although a physical store setup does not call for such an elaborate end-to-end process, it is nevertheless a beast of its own. From a quality angle, some of the major points to consider include:
- supply chain management testing
- integration between online and physical stores for inventory, promotions, campaigns
- field testing in the physical stores to ensure the overall transaction process is seamless and aligns with the existing online platform
- testing for any demonstrations that are being run in store, especially in the case of the talked about software giants
From an end user standpoint, consistency of the in store and online purchase process, an integrated experience especially for users who purchase both online and in store, and the overall end user experience in the physical store are some of the core attributes that give a brick and mortar store its edge.
Obviously brand loyalty is the ultimate driving factor in helping buyers choose one product over another. But if they are loyal to a certain brand and for any of the above reasons don’t like an in-store experience, it is a set back to the company. Testing for the supply chain’s competitiveness is important.
So although there is marked advantage in winning more customers by setting up an in-store shop, it needs to be a well thought out, streamlined, and planned effort involving all disciplines—marketing, business, design, development, quality assurance, maintenance and support, and store personnel—to create a holistic experience for the end user.
