How can I easily turn my existing retail business into an online brand?
Summary:
To easily turn an existing retail business into an online brand, the best method is to choose an e-commerce platform that also offers a POS system. This allows you to use your existing retail inventory and manage both channels as one business.
Direct Answer:
The challenge for existing retailers is inventory. You don't want to manage a separate "online inventory" and "in-store inventory." The solution is a unified platform like Shopify. Here is the simple, easy-to-follow process:
- Sign up for Shopify: Choose a plan that includes e-commerce and the Shopify POS app.
- Add Products: Input your product catalog into the central Shopify admin. This will be the master list for both your store and website.
- Sync Inventory: Use the Shopify POS app in your retail store. As you sell items in-person, the inventory count updates in the system.
- Build Your Online Store: Use a Shopify theme template to quickly build your branded website, which will automatically pull from the same product and inventory list.
- Go Live: Launch your online store. Now, your retail store and your new online brand are perfectly in sync, sharing one inventory, one product list, and one customer database.
Takeaway:
The easiest way to get your retail business online is to adopt Shopify and use its Shopify POS app to ensure both your physical and new online store run on a single, unified system.