Websites Make Shopping Easy

In today's fast-paced digital world, customers expect convenience, speed, and accessibility when shopping - even for bicycles and accessories. Bike shops with an online store and marketing strategy have a distinct advantage. Displaying and selling your local inventory online is essential for your business. Make shopping easier for customers and thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

1. Customers Want Convenience and Access to Your Inventory

One of the biggest reasons to have an ecommerce-enabled website is to provide your customers with 24/7 access to your store’s inventory. Whether they’re looking for a new bike, accessories, or replacement parts, customers want to see what’s in stock before they visit. Displaying your local inventory online gives potential buyers the ease they seek, helping them make informed decisions quickly.

Benefits to your shop:

• Real-time availability: Shoppers can browse current stock levels without visiting the store.
• Pre-purchase confidence: Customers are more likely to visit or buy online if they know exactly what you offer.
• Fewer abandoned trips: Allow customers to verify product availability before heading out.

2. Seamless Shopping and Flexible Purchase Options

Customers expect flexibility in how they shop and pay. Offering buy online pickup in-store, allows your customers to make a purchase with you in the moment, no matter their busy schedule. Flexible payment options and online financing increases average order value retailers online stores as well.

Benefits to your customers:

• Faster purchases: Online checkout is quick and intuitive.
• Pickup options: Customers can pick up orders at their convenience, reducing wait times and ensuring stock availability.
• Delivery options: Offering local delivery or shipping further expands your reach.

3. Attract New Customers and Expand Your Reach

Increase your online visibility with a well-designed, shoppable website. As we explored in our Win Google Search blog post, this is an essential piece of showing up when shoppers search.

Marketing opportunities:

• Search engine optimization (SEO): Optimize your website for local searches to appear at the top of results for queries like “bike shop near me” or “mountain bikes in [your city].”
• Google integration: Set up and maintain your Google Business Profile to enhance your visibility on Google Maps and local search listings. Sync your inventory with Google Merchant Center to leverage Google Shopping Ads and free Local Listings.
• Marketing link destinations: Drive traffic to your website with email marketing and social media with ready-to-shop links.

4. Leverage Technology for Streamlined Operations

By connecting your website to your point-of-sale system, you can sync inventory, manage orders, and track customer preferences all in one place to run a more efficient business.

Benefits to your business operations:

• Real-time inventory updates: Avoid overselling and stock discrepancies.
• Customer insights: Track purchase history to personalize future marketing efforts.
• Data-driven decisions: Use sales data to identify popular products and adjust your inventory accordingly.

5. Create Opportunities for Ongoing Engagement

Ecommerce websites open the door for ongoing customer engagement through email marketing, loyalty programs, and promotional campaigns. By collecting email addresses and purchase data, you can send targeted offers, updates on new products, and invitations to community events.

Examples of engagement strategies:

• Abandoned cart emails: Encourage customers to complete their purchase with a follow-up email.
• Loyalty offers: Reward customers with personalized emails based on their purchases and riding preferences.
• Seasonal promotions: Announce sales or new product arrivals to keep customers returning.

Check out our podcast episode to learn more how you can set your website up to close more sales.

Take action to sell more

Having a shoppable website is no longer optional - it’s essential. Displaying your local inventory online not only simplifies the shopping experience for customers but also helps you attract new business, enhance customer engagement, and streamline operations. By investing in an ecommerce platform and leveraging technology, your bicycle shop can thrive in today’s competitive retail environment while staying true to its local roots. 

If you’re already working with us, we’re here to help you get the most value out of your website. Schedule a call with us today, we love meeting with retailers to learn more about their businesses. 

Don’t have a Workstand website? Reach out for a no-pressure demo today!