Currently, business organizations are facing a rapid shift from the well-known traditional method of operation to the emerging ecommerce. A number of factors, including the effect of COVID-19, have contributed massively to the change following the measures that prompted customers to adapt to e-business services. Even though the brick-and-mortar approach has been effective over the past years for small businesses, the local seamstress should embrace the contemporary developments in the industry to grow and expand the business operations. Transitioning from brick-and-mortar to ecommerce will enable the businesswoman to increase the customer base, which is essential for improved sales. Transforming from traditional stores to online business will require proper focus on setting ecommerce stores, shipping and fulfilment, customer services and marketing to enhance smooth change.
The first and essential step for the change the seamstress should consider is setting ecommerce stores. The setup process might be discouraging, especially for the business owner; however, they provide useful platforms that allow firms to meet the demands of customers in the industry. Developing a user-friendly system is fundamental because it makes it easier for clients to access the different categories of products (Vathalulu, 2021). As a seamstress, the woman should build an online store that reflects the brand fully. During the process of creating the ecommerce store, the businesswoman should focus on creating minimum viable products (MVP) to ensure little effort is directed towards the developments. In other words, it will be necessary for the tailor to select an attractive theme that aligns with the store’s visuals and functionality. By choosing the right aesthetic, the business will be through the MVP stage.
As the processes continue, the local seamstress should publish the site and promote it. The businesswoman does not need to wait longer for perfection but instead starts operating using the already developed system. When the operations progress, the retailer should build more designs and set further goals for improvements. Moreover, much attention should be given to the customers’ feedback concerning the ecommerce platform to enable proper optimizations to meet users’ needs. Such improvements are essential because they allow the tailor to sell products 24 hours a day weekly. It enhances the number of people accessing the commodities, thus increasing the audience. These advancements would enable the seamstress to grow and expand the business operations.
Venturing into an online business requires effective shipping and fulfillment processes for the operation to remain relevant and attractive to customers. Some of the logistics were not necessary for traditional stores; however, shifting to e-business makes them compulsory, thus requiring proper planning to enhance the practices (Daugherty et al., 2018). The businesswoman should consider undertaking massive changes in packaging and delivery of the clothing. Following the entity’s size, the seamstress has to decide whether both packing and distribution will be conducted in-house. Distributing the products alone will be more appropriate for the tailor because it will lead to more profit. Nonetheless, when making such crucial choices, the businesswoman should take consider short and long-term objectives. Integrating the best shipping approach will enable the local tailor to facilitate faster supply making the business efficient.
Another significant consideration for the seamstress should be customer service. Transitioning from brick-and-mortar operations to an online platform will imply a change in customer service needs (Hänninen & Smedlund, 2018). Ecommerce results in completely different requests from the clients, which might not be in line with the previous skills of the representatives. Engaging in the platform will attract more logistics issues and continuous troubleshooting to enhance the processes. In order to solve possible concerns, the tailor should anticipate the most likely problems, formulate relevant solutions before their occurrences, and keep the accounts to ensure tracking of trends. Similarly, the medium of communication in which consumers and the seamstress will communicate will differ, therefore demanding better approaches. For instance, the local tailor may opt to use email, social media, text messages or even live charts (Verhoef et al., 2021). Each choice will impact the ability of the business to grow based on the number of customers using the system.
To expand the operations and increase the growth of the business, the seamstress should consider undertaking effective and reliable marketing. Since e-business does not require foot traffic, it forces the retailer to invest in various strategies to source web traffic. For instance, seamstress should use paid ads to facilitate revenue generation over a short duration (Xiao et al., 2019). During the process, the business has to integrate the features of the physical store with an online platform to retain and build the brand. Moreover, the businesswoman should value using email addresses, especially professional ones, to enhance communication. Such practices will ensure the tailor improves the presence of the products online.
Transforming from traditional store to ecommerce might be challenging for most business owners. However, having a proper strategy makes the whole process simple and viable both in the short and long term. The seamstress should consider creating a user-friendly e-business platform to attract more clients. Similarly, proper packaging and shipping arrangements should be established to ensure the products reach the buyers accordingly. In addition, the tailor should reflect on the customer service ranging from possible problems to the medium of communication, since this will enable the entity to manage possible shortcomings. When the above approaches are implemented effectively, the local seamstress will transition from brick-and-mortar operations successfully to ecommerce while experiencing growth and business expansion.
References
Daugherty, P. J., Bolumole, Y., & Grawe, S. J. (2018). The new age of customer impatience: An agenda for reawakening logistics customer service research. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. Web.
Hänninen, M., & Smedlund, A. (2018). On retail digital platforms suppliers have to become responsive customer service organizations. Strategy & Leadership. Web.
Vathalulu, K. (2021). Review of e-commerce business in India. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(2), 1401-1404. Web.
Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Dong, J. Q., Fabian, N., & Haenlein, M. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889-901. Web.
Xiao, J., Wu, Y., Xie, K., & Hu, Q. (2019). Managing the e-commerce disruption with IT-based innovations: Insights from strategic renewal perspectives. Information & Management, 56(1), 122-139. Web.