How To Attract Local Customers To Your Online Shop
Do you remember the punch line “30 minutes or it’s free”? Yes, we are talking about Domino’s mouth watering deal of guaranteed pizza delivery in 30 minutes or it is free. It got so popular that It became everyone's favorite brand overnight especially when somebody wanted to get food ordered at their doorstep.
All you need is a right idea to boost your local business. No matter how big or small it is, every business has rights to rise. If you do not rise, you are not doing your business rightly.
People believe that to be a successful online seller, you need to be open to everyone from anywhere. But it might not be possible for some businesses especially for those who are dealing with perishable goods. That does not mean, they can not make money. A geographical restriction is not a weakness, you better take it as your strength. There are so many advantages for selling domestically.
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Availability:
local buyers can reach to your shop at any time when they need something instantly. You can take orders over the phone as well and deliver it within minutes. Multiple ordering options for buying goods and ease of payments allure them.
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Connect Instantly:
You can connect with your clients simply since your staff will be the same who delivers at home and be in your shop when they checked in. When a customer orders something, every time there will be the same guy standing at their door with the order. It makes them feel special and connect with the staff easily.
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Get Permanent Client:
Once you get any nearby customer, guaranteed he or she will become your permanent customer. They will surely get overwhelmed with your royal customer service and quality of good. They will consider ordering from you next time for sure.
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Trust:
The trust factor will be at peak. Local residents would know everything about your business and the shop location. Chances of being cheated would be very less they know. They are aware that they can reach to you at any time if anything goes wrong.
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Less Stress and efforts:
Packaging, shipping, tracking, return etc can be avoided. The transition becomes smooth and less painful. Everything happens so quickly that you do not have to keep dealing with the same order again and again. The competition would be limited so that you have to put fewer efforts for getting new customers.
There are infinite possibilities and opportunities laying in the local market. You will be surprised to see what a lot can be done with your local business. All you need is a local store, an online shop, and a telephone number. You might be worried about managing an extra online shop, along with your local store, which might not be your cup of tea. Well, it is the 21st century and you do not have to do it yourself. You can rely on EasyStoreHosting and create an online store with a free trial. Rest EasyStoreHosting team will take care of. Once you create an online shop, you can start promoting in your local area. Here are some handy tips on how to attract local customers.
Distribute Leaflets
Dropping leaflets in the mailbox is one of the best and easiest methods of reaching to your clients. People often check their mailbox with the excitement of getting some new emails. Do not disappoint them. Leave your brochure in mailboxes introducing your online shop. Put QR code in the brochure to scan from smartphone redirecting to your online shop. Make it easy for the customer to get to your online shop. Highlight your contact details and address in the pamphlet. Do not forget to attach your visiting card too.
Discount coupons
Have you heard of the U B E R’s first free ride scheme? If not, let me tell you more about it. U B E R has launched an online promotion with the unique scheme, in that if you make your first online cab booking, you get your ride free. Most people have taken advantage of that scheme and registered with UBER. Company’s valuation got double in no time. There are so many potential buyers in your surrounding, you just need to invite them. Launch some schemes to invite your customers and make them buy from your online shop. Giveaway discount coupon code to everyone, highlight in leaflets with catchy headlines. Make it viral in social media with the help of your friends and family. Share it as much as you can and ask people to spread it in their connections. You will realize the rapid growth in your business and will thanks me later.
Loyalty Program
This is the least known tactics among small retailers but the most effective one. You might have heard of Loyalty programs with the big companies and larger industries. Airline companies(known as a frequent flyer), bank credit cards(known as reward points) and supermarkets(known as Money card) are leveraging it at best. You should take advantage of it too. Let your customers earn more and more loyalty points when they order online from your e-shop. Offer them to encash those points on purchases. Make it more interesting, offer different membership programs as they earn greater points. The more points buyer earns, the royal attention they will get. Switch them to a gold membership and give VIP treatment with higher points. They will feel super awesome and apparently will share it with their friends and family.
Local newspaper advertisements
Spend some money on advertisements. Publish advertisement in a local newspaper. If possible advertise in multiple newspapers otherwise do your research to find out the best one to place your ad. You may take help of some local vendors and find out the best selling newspaper in your area.
Take part in local community events
Be actively aware of community gatherings, events happening around you and in churches. Do small charity work and contribute your part to help needy people. This way you are doing passive marketing. Word of mouth has more power than any advertisements. People will start talking about your shop and eventually buy from your online shop.
Geographical discounts application
There are some applications available in the market where people actively searching for local deals. The best one is Groupon. You can publish your deal in there to attract neighborhood customers for free. You will be only charged if your deal gets sold. Another known application to attract customers in your local shop is The coupon app. What it does is, sends the user a notification of nearby deals by tracking user’s location. Take the advantage of new age technologies and make the most out of it for your business.
You need to be creative and open to adopting new technologies in order to be a successful online seller. Failed to do so, have to suffer severe loss, and giving an opportunity to your competitors to grow. Nobody wants to do that right. So go ahead and try this well researched proven marketing tips for your business. If you have any such good ideas, I would love to hear that and add it to the list so that every seller can get the benefit of.
