Moving your offline business online

If you already own an offline business, then you should consider at least getting some of it online. As mentioned previously, there is a growing trend in the retail industry that is commonly referred to as a "clicks and mortar" strategy. Traditional offline retailers are opening online stores to reach a larger geographic region and to capture a new segment of customers. Offline retailers have been successful using the Internet to move their selling process online for many reasons, including:

Although many traditional offline businesses lend themselves well to the Internet, like retail stores, others will need a new approach to go online. For instance, if you own a restaurant or a hair salon, then making use of the Internet may not seem practical because you cannot move your "sales function" online. However, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't be online, it only means that you can't use the Internet to serve food or cut hair! There are many functions in your offline business that can be moved online to save you money or promote your business, including:

• Taking reservations
• Answering customer inquiries
• Displaying product literature, or catalogs
• Maintaining customer service relationships

One of the most practical functions that any offline business can move online is customer service. If you have people that are constantly answering the phone to field questions from your prospects and customers, then you should evaluate whether some of these inquiries couldn't be handled more efficiently online. For instance, you might consider using the Internet to take reservations for your restaurant, or to display driving directions to your hair salon. This way you will save money by eliminating, or at least reducing, the amount of costly phone support you need to provide for your customers.

The Internet is also being used successfully to market many offline businesses. Many businesses simply publish their brochures and product descriptions online, and then handle the rest of the selling process through traditional methods. For instance, if you have a hotel or run a real estate agency, then you can quickly set-up a Web site to promote your business. This works especially well when you get a lot of business from customers that are not familiar with your geographic area. Prospective online customers will find your business by entering the type of business they are looking for, and its associated town, in one of the large search engines, like Yahoo! or Excite.

As you begin to consider moving some your offline business functions online, you should be aware that building and maintaining a Web site is not a requirement. Some functions, like customer inquiries, can be handled simply through e-mail, while others, like promoting your business, may involve no more that getting listed in an online directory. However, building a Web site will give your offline business more visibility, and provide you with a greater opportunity to display your product and service benefits.