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

Bridging Your Offline Store with Your Online Store

All too often, a retailer is eager to have an e-commerce alternative and then takes a somewhat haphazard approach. Most traditional entrepreneurs who are unfamiliar with the Internet tend to view the physical store and the online store as two separate, different entities. When you treat your brick-and-mortar store and your online store differently, customers have two different experiences with your company — and become confused about which experience truly represents your brand.

Seamlessly bridge your brick-and-mortar store (your company's history) with your online store (your brand's future). With this approach, you can provide a single, cohesive user experience. Focus on these three critical areas: identity, image, and, integration.

In this section, we show you how one company — Williams-Sonoma — does an outstanding job of meeting these three objectives. Williams-Sonoma remains one of our favorite examples of how an established retailer keeps its Web site's design and functionality current while staying true to its brand's in-store image.

Finding your identity

Identity incorporates all the physical characteristics that your customers associate with your store. It's your logo, your color palettes, your store layout, and any other details that contribute to your store's distinctiveness.

When you visit the brick-and-mortar Williams-Sonoma, you see a lot of soft, muted, neutral colors as a backdrop on the walls. The color scheme ...