Online vs. Offline Businesses

After ‘interning’ at my dad’s shop for the past week, I really can see the differences between running an online business and an offline one. And all the more I can convinced that it is really important for offline businesses to explore the opportunities that are available online for them to expand their businesses and to take them to the next level.

Firstly with a offline business, I have to:

1. pay the rent

2. be/hire someone to physically be there to man my business 

3. be subjected to environmental influences on my business because of conditions such as weather, season and time

4. make sure that I take lots of efforts to gain customers/drive traffic to my shop

5. manage the business by manually taking care of things

However, by bringing my business online, I can subject my business to a lot more opportunities that may not be available to me offline such as:

1. 24/7 operation of my shop online – with a website that is fully furnished with all my products, information and check out system, I can enable my shop to operate 24/7

2. advertising to millions of people through different means – i can explore ways to advertise my business to people of different countries and some ways include, visiting websites/forums that are related to my business and contributing my knowledge and ideas there to gain awareness for both what I do and my business

3. automate all proceedings from purchasing to after sales service

4. stand to earn extra revenue from advertisements on the website

5. reduce the costs of rental etc. to only the costs of webhosting and a domain name and perhaps a script to set up the shopping cart etc.

and frankly, the list goes on…

Online businesses are actually providing conveniences to the internet user community by bringing them their shopping experiences from the malls to the comfort of their homes! Now, people can literally shop in their knickers if they want! It’s amazing at how the shopping experience can be digitised to fit into the computer and the internet and bringing people the joy of not having to rush for that fitting room or to queue those long queues that seem to never end. It also saves people the time and energy of having to travel out of their homes to get down to the busy shopping mall.

It’s good to consider how your offline business can be translated onto online medium! 😀 Well, think about it if you are an offline business owner and I hope I have enlightened you in some ways! Do drop me an email if you have any questions you would like to ask me personally! 😀

2 responses to “Online vs. Offline Businesses”

  1. The.FashionIndulgence Avatar

    The trend of setting online business is rising tremedously. One must have the passion, attitude and like what they are doing for setting up own online business. I am one of them. Heez….

    How to attract more traffic and get customers to purchase from you is the difficult part. So online boutique should try to sell unique and different products from ther other blogshop. Pricing of the items is also another factor to consider. =) As what you have mention, different means of advertising and marketing your online shops to let people know about you is ultimately important.

    Cheers
    The.FashionIndulgence

  2. Patricia Avatar

    Hi there!

    Certainly, to run any form of business – be it offline or online, it’s important to have a passion and a good attitude towards doing so. Well, you’re on the right track if you know that you have both! 🙂

    There are many ways to drive traffic to your online store and other than having different and unique products from others and differing in pricing, it’s important to reach out to your target market. Don’t just advertise and market your store and what you have to offer to the general public. Identify your niche market/ target group and work from there. You’ll find it easier to get more traffic and experience higher conversions too.

    Well, all the best with your online business! 🙂

    Regards,
    Patricia

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