Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 4: Making In-Store Customers Loyal Online Shoppers

In This Chapter

• Pairing your storefront and your Web site in your customers' minds
• Making in-store customers an online offer (they can't refuse)
• Supporting and informing your customers
• Giving customers a starring role

Some people who operate traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts don't consider what others may see as obvious: the connection between their storefront customers and their online business. These store owners may be concerned that if the brick-and-mortar customers start using the Web sites, customers may stop visiting the store, buy less often, or even forget about the store altogether.

A customer is a customer is a customer, whether he or she walks through your front door or pulls up the home page of your Web site.

The more options you give your customers, the better chance you have of keeping them. Having your in-store customers take advantage of your online business can increase revenues — both in-store and online — and create a longer-lasting, more valuable customer overall. Although some businesses have shut their doors permanently and moved online, most store owners find a healthy mix of the two venues. And the increased range of options that this dual presence offers customers makes ringing up purchases at both sites more appealing to those customers.

In this chapter, we describe how you can go about ...