i have a boutique, been in the same spot for six years. rent is going up, customers are dropping, but i know nothing about online sales.
some say "close the shop, go online," others say "if you close the shop you're done for." i'm totally confused.
how do you think i should decide?
as someone who manages e-commerce: i can't answer this with a yes or no, but i can suggest a way to decide.
first, measure this: where do your current customers come from? are they passersby, or do they call and come specifically for you? if the answer is "passersby," closing the shop means losing most of your customers. if it's "people who call," location isn't that critical.
simple way to measure this: for two weeks, ask every customer "where did you hear about us" and make a tally. two weeks of notes is better than six months of guessing.
second: try online before closing. while the shop is open, set up a small store, sell for three months. online sales have their own costs: shipping, returns, photos, customer service. don't decide without seeing these.
guys i went through exactly this, let me share, maybe it helps.
i didn't close the shop but downsized, moved to a cheaper place, and started selling via instagram and my own site in the meantime. the first six months were tough because taking photos, writing product descriptions, and tracking shipments are separate jobs, none of which existed in the shop.
now about half my sales are online but i didn't close the shop because customers want to try before they buy, especially on their first purchase. they do their second purchase online. so the shop has become more of a trust anchor than a sales point.
i'm a store manager, what Sevgi Hanım said applies to us too. we call this "the store is a storefront."
also, if you have a store, you can fulfill online orders from the store, so no separate warehouse cost. at a small scale, this is a big advantage.
warning from the shipping side: factor in the return rate. returns are high in clothing, especially due to sizing issues.
stores that provide a proper size chart and describe products by measurements rather than just on a model see a significant drop in returns. returns aren't just about shipping costs, it means that product sits unsold for two weeks.
I was thinking the same thing. Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.
Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval. Hope this helps.
I have a question, don't want to go off-topic though. Everyone rushing into e-commerce gets stuck at the same point.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think this advice fits everyone. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.
If I were you, I'd go this route.
Let me share my experience. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.
Hope this helps.
let me speak from the other side; I'm on the supplier side and hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.
proven by experience.
Doki · Brand identity · 2024
the discussion got scattered let me summarize but tbh when making decisions write down the worst-case scenario too not just the best.
trying to do this alone is the most expensive way then anyway hope this helps.
Quick summary for newcomers: Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.
Proven by experience.
Sorry but this doesn't apply in every case... A two-week notebook guides you more than a six-month forecast.
If you have questions, write them; Ill answer as best I can.
this is exacty what we experienced. the harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.
good luck with that.
The answer above hits the nail on the head. Changing habits is harder and more expensive than setting up a system.
The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it. If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.
Doki · Corporate website · 2025
We got stuck at the same point for a while. Don't enter any agreement without an exit plan.
Correct me if I'm wrong.