Even though e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail operate in different spaces, there’s a lot you can learn from physical stores. After all, traditional retailers have been serving customers for decades. During this time, they’ve figured out how to build trust, create great in-store experiences, and keep people coming back—all things that matter just as much online.
Whether you run a niche online boutique or a large e-commerce brand, looking to brick-and-mortar strategies can give your business a fresh edge. Below are valuable lessons from physical retail that you can apply to your online store today.
1. Create an Inviting First Impression through Your Storefront
Think about how much effort brick-and-mortar stores put into their window displays. They invest in making their storefronts stand out in order to catch people’s attention and draw them inside. The same principle applies online.
Your homepage is your e-commerce site’s storefront. If it looks outdated or cluttered, customers won’t stick around or investigate what you can offer them. Make it a point, then, to invest in clean design, fast loading times, and clear messaging. Make sure your value proposition is front and center, too. This way, you can attract the people who are more likely to use your services or purchase the goods you have on hand. Remember that just like a great window display, your homepage should pique people’s curiosity and compel them to explore further.
2. Offer a Personal Touch to Online Interactions
People with a talent for sales are an invaluable asset in physical stores. Highly aware of people’s needs and their body language, these sales representatives elevate customer experiences by providing personalized help and recommendations. Now, it can be a challenge to connect with consumers when you’re running an e-commerce site. But even if you can’t chat face-to-face with online shoppers, you can still create a personalized experience.
You can do this by using tools that can recommend products based on the user’s browsing behavior or offering live chat for quick, real-time support. These little touches make a big difference by showing that you understand your customer, and that builds loyalty.
3. Give Users Easy Access to Flexible Payment Options
Another big lesson e-commerce can take from modern brick-and-mortar retail stores? Make customer checkouts efficient to avoid cart abandonment. These stores have evolved to accept a range of payment methods, including debit and credit card, e-wallets, and QR Ph. QR code payment in the Philippines, in particular, have become more common in recent years, which is why more merchants are now taking advantage of QR kits like Maya QR to be able to easily process QR Ph-compliant transactions. A customer simply has to scan a static QR code using their mobile banking app, enter the amount, and confirm the payment, or the merchant can generate a dynamic QR code that includes the payment details, which the customer then scans to complete the transaction.
Offering a variety of payment options enhances customer trust and ensures a more convenient experience, whether in-store or online. The good news is that accepting a wide range of payment methods for your e-commerce store is easy; just choose a versatile payment gateway that supports multiple methods. Maya Checkout, for example, enables merchants to seamlessly accept credit and debit cards, e-wallets, and even QR Ph payments, all through one integrated platform. With a user-friendly setup and robust security features, it’s an ideal solution for businesses looking to cater to diverse customer preferences and improve conversion rates.
4. Train and Empower Your Support Team to Offer Excellent Customer Service
In brick-and-mortar stores, well-trained staff can make or break a customer’s experience. They’re often the reason customers return—or don’t. Your support team plays the same role for your online store.
Make sure, then, that your support reps understand your products, policies, and tone of voice. Give your team members the tools they need to resolve issues quickly and turn negative customer experiences into positive ones. Also, provide your customers with multiple support channels like email, chat, and even social media to encourage them to offer feedback.
5. Design Your Website for Intuitive Browsing and Easy Discovery
People love browsing in physical stores, so much so that they sometimes come in for one thing and leave with five. Smart layout and product placement encourage discovery, and you can do the same online.
Help your customers stumble upon things they didn’t know they wanted. You can do this by making sure your product categories are easy to explore and by featuring “You May Also Like” suggestions. It’s an option to highlight seasonal collections or limited-time deals, too. Consider adding a “Bestsellers” or “Trending Now” section, just like an in-store end cap display.
6. Build Trust by Using Cues on Your Website
Brick-and-mortar stores benefit from offering tangible experiences. People can see the products, touch them, and talk to a real person if something goes wrong. E-commerce lacks that physical reassurance, so you need to build trust in other ways.
You can do this by using high-quality product photos that will allow consumers to closely inspect your wares. It also helps to have clear return policies, customer reviews, and real-time inventory updates. To help buyers feel confident about completing their transactions, display security badges at checkout and be transparent and upfront about shipping times and fees. These can make your store feel as dependable and transparent as a trusted neighborhood shop.
7. Use In-Store Events as Inspiration for Online Engagement
Retailers often hold in-store events like product demos, pop-ups, or seasonal promotions to drive foot traffic and boost sales. You can use the same mindset to make your online store feel lively and dynamic. Live shopping events and limited-time drops, for example, can give your online community something to look forward to and make them feel more engaged with your brand. Another option would be to run giveaways on social media or offer exclusive discounts for email subscribers. These events create excitement and give people a reason to visit your site again and again.
Leverage Best Practices from Brick-and-Mortar Retail and Adopt Maya Business Solutions Today
Are you looking for a more versatile payment gateway that can help your brand gain consumer trust? Sign up for Maya Business to be able to use Maya Checkout on your online store. This secure payment gateway makes it possible for your store to process transactions made using your customers’ preferred payment channels, be it payment cards, e-wallets, or bank transfers.
Setting up a Maya Business account also lets you open a Maya Business Deposit account and use it as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. Plus, you can send money to your partners and suppliers for free via InstaPay and PESONet, letting you save on transfer costs.
Signing up also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, which can serve as an additional source of funding for your business. Just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments. The more you use our solutions, the better the loan offer will be.
Enjoy the benefits of Maya Business solutions by completing the signup process today.
