What are the Steps to Grow your Hyperlocal Retail Shop
India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with the retail market expected to grow to $1 trillion by the end of 2021.
Owing to the current coronavirus scare, consumers have now shifted their preferences towards eCommerce stores even for their day-to-day purchases. Although eCommerce has seen a drastic growth in India since the few months, mom and pop stores still continue to contribute more than 50% of the total retail sales in the country.
But given the present scenario, more and more offline retailers are now shifting their base online to cater to more customers and increase their sales. These offline retailers who are going digital can be termed as hyperlocal retail stores.
Let us take a look at how you can grow your hyperlocal retail shop in the competitive eCommerce space-
Create Your Own Website
The first step towards growing your hyperlocal retail business is to create your own website. Since more and more people are now resorting to online shopping, it is an absolute must to create an online store along with your offline retail shop. This will ensure you always stay ahead of the game from your competitors.
If you feel it will be difficult for you to create an online store all by yourself, worry not as we have Shiprocket Social for you. With Shiprocket Social, you can create your own eCommerce website with ease where you just need to add your business details, create your own customized store, list your products, and start selling. Yes, it is this simple!
Check out more about Shiprocket Social here.
Make sure you include the correct images, and product descriptions when you list your products online.
Connect with a Hyperlocal Delivery Partner
Ensuring the delivery of your items is one of the most important parts of running a successful business. Given the current social distancing norms, it might seem impossible for you to deliver products while maintaining the best hygiene practices.
With the advancement of technology, you can always rely on it to deliver items to your customers.
Usually, local stores like brick-and-mortar shops, pharmacies, restaurants, etc. have their own delivery agents that help them with deliveries. But with the right technology, you can easily assign delivery partners and get started.
If you ship within a specific pin code reach, you can ship with SARAL.
SARAL is Shiprocket’s hyperlocal delivery app that lets sellers ship items within a 50 km radius and provides same-day delivery to customers.
It enables you to ship with multiple delivery partners like Dunzo, We Fast, and Shadowfax and not rely on the services of just one. The best part is a user-friendly application that you can easily download from the play store to get started.
Promote Your eCommerce Store Online
The next step is to ensure that your audience is aware that you are now shipping items through your online store directly to their doorstep. This is possible only through the proper marketing of your store. Long gone are the days when businesses promoted themselves using posters, flyers, etc. This is a digital era. This is the era where you must explore other options like google’s my business listing, SEO optimization for local keywords, etc in order to increase your store’s visibility.
Social media is a very important tool that you must use in order to promote your store online. Since a maximum number of individuals shop online or use social media for one reason or another, it is important that you set up a page on Facebook and promote it among several groups to gain more visibility.
You can also run location-specific ads to target customers who live within your delivery radius. This will help you reach your target audience more easily.
Manage Your Inventory
Track your inventory closely once you go online so that you never have to face any inventory stockout situation. It will be really disappointing if you have to witness days when there are incoming orders, but you’re not able to sell because no products are available with you.
Do market research and understand what products are most required and then stock them up accordingly. It is a waste if you store products that are not being sold and end up housing more unsold products than profits
Train Your Employees
It’s extremely important to train your employees on how to take incoming orders, proper packaging techniques, and how to schedule pickups on the hyperlocal delivery app that you are using to ship. This is necessary because your staff should be able to take care of it in your absence. Given the current situation, your employees should also be adequately trained in maintaining proper safety and hygiene
For example, washing hands regularly must be made mandatory so that proper hygiene is maintained across your store.
Read more about how to grow your hyperlocal retail shop here.
Conclusion
Now that you have the tips with you on how to grow your hyperlocal store, it is time to take your offline retail store online and witness a boost in your daily sales. Remember, customers are now more and more shifting towards online shopping and in order to stay ahead of the curve, you must adopt the strategies based on your customers’ needs.
