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The internet is such an important tool for our lives that, during the social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, several physical companies needed to become digital businesses to continue operating and face the crisis

As a result, many entrepreneurs have discovered a new business opportunity, which has made e-commerce numbers grow considerably in recent years.

According to a study made by Search Logistics, E-commerce is expected to account for about 22% of the total global retail sales in 2023, reaching $6.15 trillion.

After the crisis scenario, the tendency is for online purchases to remain high.

Therefore, it is interesting that other physical stores also adapt to the virtual environment.

If you think about it, read on for some tips on how to make this transition.

8 tips for migrating your physical business to digital

Some steps are important for those who want to make the transition from physical to digital business, as the process works differently in these two ways. Among the steps, the retailer needs to think about marketing, logistics, and customer data security.

Understand better the next topics.

Planning the transition from physical to digital

If you’ve decided that it’s worth starting selling online, before migrating your business to digital, you need to plan the details of all the steps necessary for this. As the virtual environment requires several changes, it is important to have the process aligned so as not to waste time and money.

For example, will your company be just a digital business or will it continue to operate physically? In the second case, it will be necessary to separate employees for each store, in addition to defining a space for this new activity.

If the business is just digital, the space in which the company operates may not be so necessary, which allows the move to a smaller location, causing the company’s activities to stop for a few days. These are some of the many tasks to be planned.

In addition to physical issues, it is necessary to think about digital business management strategies. That’s because, online, the store will have to think about how to attract customers who don’t know their products, and study the greater competition than in the physical environment, among other factors that determine the success of e-commerce.

To make it easier, centralize all processes in a spreadsheet or a task management application, setting goals and deadlines, so as not to cause delays or stoppages in the company’s activities. In addition, you can create a new business plan for your online store.

Find out who your audience is in the digital environment

Likely, your digital business will not perform as well as your physical one. For example, a certain product can sell very well in the physical store, but not have good sales indicators in e-commerce, and vice versa.

Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a new survey of information to get to know the company’s new public and to devise sales strategies that assertively meet the needs of these consumers.

Hire an e-commerce platform

There is no way to set up a virtual store without hiring an e-commerce platform. After all, it is through it that your customers will view and buy your products. Therefore, it is essential to find an option that meets your needs and those of your customers.

In this sense, one of the points of attention is the customization of the virtual store. It ensures that your digital business has the personality of the brand while offering a good shopping experience for your audience.

In addition, the e-commerce platform must have a responsive and intuitive interface, always thinking about the user experience. Thousands of consumers make purchases using their cell phones, so e-commerce must serve these consumers as well.

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Digital marketing planning for e-commerce

The strategies of a physical store and a digital business are different and must be taken into account during the transition. Fortunately, the shopkeeper can count on digital marketing tools for small businesses and large e-commerces, which help the virtual store reach a larger number of people.

Here we talk about some of them:

Google Ads

Google Ads is a tool for making ads on Google, an important marketing tool for capturing leads. It is possible to make ads in the form of videos, images, or texts. One of the differentials is being able to direct campaigns to categories such as the location and age of the target audience.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques can position your online store in the first search results of search engines such as Google. By optimizing your e-commerce page, you ensure that your business is seen by thousands (or millions) of potential customers.

Support channels and customer service

How the physical store provides customer service and support is different from that of e-commerce. When the face-to-face customer is unable to pay for the purchase using a credit card, he simply leaves. In digital, the consumer may suffer from errors in the transaction that need immediate support from the store.

In another situation, the customer rarely acquires a defective product when buying it in person, which may not happen in online sales because of careless delivery, for example. Thus, the digital business needs to think about customer service channels from pre-sales to post-sales.

A strategy that can help you is the omnichannel, which aims to interconnect the sales and service channels of a business. In this way, the customer can switch between the various channels quickly and fluidly.

Digital payment methods

A digital business offers a larger portfolio of payment methods than a physical store. Thus, it is necessary to think of different ways to pay for purchases in the virtual environment.

The positive point is that the online offers more options than those allowed in the physical.

Generally, e-commerce platforms provide this service. In addition to credit and debit cards, other means of payment can be made available, such as PIX, bank transfer, digital wallets, and bank slips.

Order logistics

If it is the customer who takes the purchase home from the physical store, in the digital business, it is necessary to think about the logistics of product distribution. Thus, you need to align the entire logistical flow, from receiving the order to final delivery. In addition, there is the option for the consumer to pick up the order in the physical store.

Transaction security

Having means that guarantee security in purchases is one of the most important steps for anyone who wants to have a virtual store. After all, how can you open a digital business without first having the means to safeguard such sensitive data on the internet?

In this sense, the merchant must acquire the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate, which protects data entered in the virtual store through encryption, preventing them from being accessed or stolen by third parties.

The shopkeeper must also have an anti-fraud system in the virtual store to avoid scams practiced over the internet. In addition to these, there are many other important systems to ensure digital security, so look for the most important ones.

Speedy.io: like a bank, but better.

Now that you already know how to turn your physical business into an e-commerce, how about getting to know Speedy.io?

We are here to contribute to the day-to-day of your company!

Speedy.io payment account offers:

Dashboard for managing and controlling your charges;
Customer registration and control;
Notifications about the status of your charges;
Personalized SpeedyPay Invoice issue with description and your company logo;
Tax note issue;
Your client chooses how to pay the invoice or invoice, which can be via credit card, PIX QRCode, bank transfer, PEC Flash, or cryptocurrency;
Account deposits via credit card, PIX QR code, TED, bank transfer, PEC Flash, and cryptocurrency;
Online and exclusive support during business hours and much more!

Speedy.io helps you manage your finances while you focus on what matters most: delighting your customers.

And the best: no monthly fee or membership fee.

Discover the benefits of the Speedy.io payment account

Visit the website to learn more!

How to turn your physical business into an e-commerce14 min read