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My plan is to have a retail clothing store, but I am planning to start online first, to gain revenue for my eventual goal of owning a brick & mortar, high-end boutique. My issue is that while I have extensive experience with in-store retail, I have none in online retail. What advice do you have for me? - C.C.

You indicated that you are concerned that although you have extensive experience with in-store Retail, you have none in online retail. Online retail can be a challenge for a number of reasons:

Traffic

When you open a brick & mortar store, you will get some “accidental” walk-in customers just by being in a high-traffic area, from neighboring stores, etc. Online, there is no accidental traffic until your website has made its way up the search engines, which may take 6 months to a year of dedicated effort. The bottom line, you must do both online and offline marketing and advertising to drive traffic (and customers) to your website in addition to your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts.

Shopping Experience

Online shopping is a two-dimensional medium. Because you can’t touch, feel or try on the clothing and other products, it is harder to shop online. You can compensate for this using videos, rich descriptions, customer reviews, and a generous return & exchange policy.

Connecting With Customers

Online shopping is substantially anonymous. Unless your customer chooses to identify themselves to you (by sigining up for your newsletter or mailing list, by asking a question, or by making a purchase), it is hard for you to understand what they are looking for and either suggest items to them or make adjustments to your inventory. Compensate for this by creating ways for your potential customers to interact with you – social media such as Facebook or Twitter, a mailing list/newsletter, live chat to ask questions, an easy way to send you a question straight from your website.

Other Ways to Get Started

In addition to an online store, there are other ways to start your business without having a brick and mortar presence. You could present your merchandise using a party-plan type environment (such as Pampered Chef does). Another option is a private showing at the home of a potential customer...you would take merchandise in their size that meets what they are looking for and allow them to try on and purchase directly from you. This is time intensive, however, could build you a very loyal customer base.