120 OCTOBER2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE392
MOVE YOUR
BUSINESS ONLINE
Madeline Bennettlau
nchesanew
seriesaimedathelping
highstreet
shopsandsmallbusin
essesby
outliningtheeasiestway
to sell
andofferservicesonlin
e
HOWTO
T
hehighstreethasbeenhithardby
thecoronaviruspandemic,with
thousandsofshopsshuttingand
many more jobs lost. Forretailers and small
businesses with only abasic web presence
and no means to trade online,now is thetime
to make the shift intoe-commerce.
As Shimona Mehta, head of EMEA at
e-commerce platform Shopify Plus, explains,
“The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated
the need formerchants not to become
dependent on one single channel. As bricks
and mortar shops were forced to close their
doors, we’ve seen e-commerce providing a
lifeline formany businesses.
“Atthe peak of the pandemic, new online
store creations on Shopify grew by 70%. We
no longer should expect customers to come
to us –retailers need to go the customer or
risk losing out completely,” sheadds.
BUILDINGYOUR OWNWEBSITE
Setting up awebsitefrom scratch can feel
like adaunting task, especially if you haven’t
done it before.However,there’s ahost of
tools available that make it easy to build a
professional-looking site, withoutthe need
forany coding or design experience.
Patrick Schaudel, head of Product Unit
Online Applications, SME at web-hosting
service Ionos, says, “The first step to
enhancing your brand online is to choose a
domain name,more commonly known as a
web address or URL, that is reflective of your
business name and offering. This helps
customers easily identify your services when
searching online.
“If your brand is in aspecific sector or
industry,reference this within your website
URL where possible.For example,ifyour
business is titled ‘Organic Treats’ and you
work within the confectionery sector,try
‘Organic Sweet Treats’ to make it easier for
your customer base to find you.
“It’s cheap to set up adomain name,
and some web services providers offer it
free.Whatever name you choose,make
sure you use the same name across all
online platforms, like social media handles,
forbrand consistency.”
Once you’ve chosen your domain name,
homepage construction kits are available to
createfully customisable templates, with a
toolkit of options youcan select from, such
as atheme and layout; you just need to input
your brand information foreachweb page.
The designs often include‘smart sections’
so you can drag and drop the content on to
the page.And make sure you opt fora
responsive design, so your siteautomatically
edits forthe device it’s displaying on, whether
desktop,tablet or mobile.
Schaudel adds, “Next, think about the
visual impact of your websiteand ‘customer
journey’.You want atheme that reflects
your brand or personality and acolour
scheme that ties all the content together.
Your homepage should attract attention, so
lead with an image that reflects what your
business does and is eye-catching. Remember
that you must have alicence to use any
GenuinePartsUK(NI)
Michael and Chris Cleary,fromCrossgar,CountyDown, started their
business after returning from their travels around Australia. They
purchased ajob lotofautomotive partsand listed the items on eBay,
and found that theyquickly gained sales and customers.
After perfecting their eBaystore,theybegan to expand and grow their
business. Theycontacted local car manufacturers, and built relationships
with big names like Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Audi and Skoda.
Over the first fewmonths, business boomed and the duo made
the decision to rent acommercial premises to keep up with all of
their eBayorders.
From humble beginnings selling on eBayofftheir kitchen table,they
now have an annual turnover of £100,000. Their younger sister,Ellen,
has even joined the company to help packaging and sending off the
orders –it’sreallyafamily affair.
