local store and online store.

Can they coexist?

[brnm98105]

I have a Brick and Mortar store that I would like to sell a few products online. But not all due to the fact I dont have the infastructure to handle shipping of all the items we carry. Maybe one day. I get calls from all over the country daily about people on my site and cant figure out where the buy know buttons are. I need advice. Here are a few scenarios I've thought might work. Please let me know your opinion.

1. I get a separate domain for the items I want to sell and link to it
2. I put a buy know next to the items I do want to sell. (which I think may frustrate and confuse customers because they cant buy everything).
3. Make a 2 links on my nav bar to say "online store" and "retail store" and have a separate sections.

Any thoughts?

[Receptional Andy]

I would suggest investing in a basic shopping cart system, and then link any product people can actually buy online to the relevant page on the shopping cart site. Include an "online store" link in your main navigation.

You should be able to do this relatively cheaply and quickly. You can see this as "dipping your toe in the water" in terms of ecommerce, and if it works out for you, you'll have a clear idea of the cost/benefit involved in expanding your online operations.

[HugeNerd]

brnm98105, I think you should be fine using a single domain for both your retail and ecommerce stores. I would then put a banner on the site stating that not all items are available via the internet due to shipping concerns. Internet consumers, in my opinion, have a pretty good understanding of shipping -- they have no more desire to purchase an item and have it arrive damaged/high freight costs/signature delivery etc. In short, they don't want hassles in shipping any more than you do. So, IMHO, if you let them know that you cannot ship the item in order to keep a high level of customer service/satisfaction, they will understand. No need to seperate them out and do extra work!

I think with a single domain you can avoid having duplicate content, which if I am understanding you correctly could be a potential problem. This is because any content shown on the "online store" would also be available in the "retail store" part of the website.

[Rugles]

Oh, ya. Put it all on one domain. Otherwise you have to concern yourself with acquiring links for 2 websites instead of one. Plus, I would assume your current website already ranks in the SE's. That would give you a headstart in selling product. No sense in going through all that effort and not have any revenue.

Good luck by the way .. unless you plan on competing with me ;-) .

[jake66]

They can co-exist, but be extremely careful what you put on your website.

If you make a section "we can get this" ... customers aren't going to see the headline "CAN GET". They're going to walk in and expect it to be there (and for CHEAPER than what you offer on the web, regardless of what currency your website handles in default!)

[tangor]

Some years back I had a B&M that did okay in the local community. Put up a website (live in VERY LARGE METRO AREA) and that really helped. Eventually added internet sales cross-indexed to our house inventory and did pretty good then there was a blooey heard world wide that killed the leisure widget niche I occupied for two years. Killed that biz. HOWEVER, it worked great, so just stay on top of it if you advertise local and international... you either have it, or you don't, and if items are unique enough then if item is sold in either venue you post "sold" (or remove) on the web ASAP so your potential customers aren't undies-twisted either way. This does lead to some interesting in house stuff (posting ASAP), but if you've got the time and personnel should not be a problem.

[pbradish]

My advice is to invest in a shopping cart and host both portions of the website on a single domain.

With a single domain you will have an easier time with marketing, and you won't run the risk of confusing potential customers. I'd be willing to bet that you are likely missing out on BIG BUSINESS by not selling your products directly online via credit cad, paypal, etc.

Learn as much as you can and take things slow. Who knows, by the next time the holiday season come around, you could be rolling in the dough.

[brnm98105]

Thanks for all of your advice. I will keep all of it on the same site with a "Not all products are available
to purchase online. To see all products that are... Visit Our Online Store" on all pages towards the top. So that way all clients see it at all times in case they get lost.