So now that the 4th of July is over, I’m going to make you roll your eyes, just like you do at every grocery store that is already starting to set out their Halloween merchandise. It may seem really early, but they’re doing it for good reason. . . holiday shopping starts as soon as the product is available and on shelves. And as summer heats up, people start looking ahead to what’s next. . . so now is a good time to start thinking about late-year holiday shoppers! This is especially applicable to folks that have (or want to start) an online store.
It takes a significant amount of time to gather all of the specs to successfully launch an online store. It could take you at least a few months to gather all of your product details, pricing and photos, and to setup payment and shipping types. You’ll also want to think about fulfillment of online order. What is volume going to be like? Do you have the resources available to package and ship your products, in addition to your brick-and-mortar store operations? Then, of course, there’s the actual creation of the website and getting your products online and in front of people’s eyes. So yes, right now, a couple months out from the start of shopping season, is a good time to start working on your e-commerce store.
You don’t have to start from complete scratch. . . you could start by selling your products on an online marketplace like Amazon, Etsy, or Shopify. That could potentially save you some overhead and time. However, having an e-commerce store on your own site may be less expensive than you imagine and easier to implement than you think. Just reach out to us and use your free consultation to get help exploring your online selling options and build a plan for your online store this coming holiday shopping season!
