Why choose brick and click to increase your customer base? What are its advantages?

Are you a business manager and want to expand your business to include e-commerce or are you a freelancer and want to open a physical store.

Do you want to learn more about brick and click?

Are you panicking and don't know how to set up and run a brick-and-click store?

You can rest assured. Appvizer helps you, in this article you can find out more about this business model! 😉

See all software eCommerce

What is a brick and click store?

It is a business model used by business managers to run their online e-commerce and physical store. This designation appeared in the early 2000s, "brick" refers to the traditional store business, while "click" refers to the online business of companies. The purpose of this concept is not to oppose the two activities, but rather to highlight their complementarity and strength when combined.

In addition, this designation is used to differentiate businesses that sell exclusively online from those that have both an online and offline presence.In a nutshell, the brick-and-click model is the strategy used by those who operate an e-commerce and a physical store for the same business.In recent years, e-commerce has been growing steadily, and this has prompted many sellers to open up to e-commerce as well.

Many merchants are unconvinced about opening an online business as there is high competition and they fear that they will not succeed.If you are one of them, I can advise you to analyze the market on which you make your sales and the behavior of your customers .

Some stores that used to be exclusively physical are taking the plunge by developing online. Other companies that were initially present exclusively online (pure players), however, are deciding to open physical stores.

With digitization, companies feel compelled to increase their revenue and reach a significant number of customers to open their e-commerce.

The brick and click business model can be a way for physical stores to expand into online commerce as well, but also a way for e-commerce companies to gain a greater reputation by opening their store.

What are the advantages of brick and click?

The combination of offline and online activities, in the form of brick and click can offer many benefits to businesses among them:

• Increasing visibility:By opening an online store and having a physical store, you will have a greater opportunity to make your company or store known to more consumers. In addition, while an online presence allows you to make yourself known regardless of geographic location, thus allowing even those who are far away to get to know your store and make their purchases on the other hand, physical stores can help facilitate brand memorization, but also strengthen brand image by offering a human experience to the customer in the store.

• Openness to multichannel: with the combination of using a point of sale and the e-commerce website, you can increase sales opportunities. A consumer can browse the Web site, register his or her favorite products, sign up for a newsletter so that he or she can stay up-to-date on any new products, or go to a physical store so that he or she can see the products directly and request more information from the sales staff.In addition, with the development of brick-and-click, companies are offering different choices to customers who order online to pick up their products: at home, at a corner store, a click-and-collect, etc. The multiplicity of channels has a great advantage in that it allows customers to purchase in the most convenient way according to their own standards.

• Deliver a differentiating customer experience:The brick and click is finally a golden opportunity to deliver a differentiating customer experience.By combining the best of the physical and digital worlds, you can create a sensory and digital experience and thus deliver an exceptional overall experience.

• Get to know your customers better: another benefit of combining physical and digital channels is the ability to greatly improve customer insight.If you combine a CRM tool, companies can analyze customer behavior both on the e-commerce site and in the store.This way they can have more information about how long they have been customers, in products consulted, products purchased, the frequency of their purchases, and their satisfaction with the products featured. In addition, a CRM tool facilitates inventory management and customer expectation management.

More and more companies are practicing brick-and-click, that is, offering an experience both in-store and online. The reasons are considerable: better visibility for the brand, higher chances of conversion, and the ability to offer an original experience adapted to new consumer needs.

How to start a brick-and-click business

In order to start a Brick and Click business, you need to know how to use Google Trends and Google Analytics.

Google Trends can allow you to see where a particular customer is coming from so you can see in which geographic area more sales are being made.

Google Analytics, on the other hand, allows you to view the entire customer journey on your site.

Also regarding the physical store, you need to have a robust card reader and also take into account customers using Google Play and Apple Pay.

Why do some consumers prefer physical stores?

Not all customers like online shopping, there are some who prefer to go to a physical store to see the products directly and not wait for the order to arrive. Therefore, it is appropriate to offer customers both choices.

A retailer needs to know the cause that leads customers to want to buy in a physical store in order to meet consumers' needsmore and more .Some people think that making an online purchase is risky especially when the purchase is of an expensive item.

Inventory management

A good merchant, must know how to manage his customers' orders and must be very precise in inventory management to avoid stock breakage. In the case of brick-and-click you must also integrate online and offline inventory. By integrating the two types of commerce you can offer customers click and collect service by allowing customers to select a product and go to the store only to pick it up.The advantage of synchronizing online and offline inventory is that you can manage the business globally in one place. There are many platforms that offer software so that you can manage your business easily.

How click-to-brick strategy has developed in retail

Click-to-brick strategies is a strategy in which the link between online and offline commerce is leveraged to try to increase the number of customers coming to physical stores, using online advertising campaigns.

How to measure results for click-to-brick campaigns

To launch a click-to-brick campaign you can use several channels including Google Ads and Facebook, which can be considered the best platforms for this purpose.If you want to use this strategy, you must have multiple stores.The challenge these types of campaigns face is to get as much information as possible about users.

See all software eCommerce

What is an effective click-to-brick strategy

Implementing an effective click-to-brick strategy requires:

• Choose a geographic segmentation, choose the location of the store and their distance, consider the competition and the products offered.
• Accompany users in their choice: through advertising campaigns, catalogs showing the products present and their price.
• Update the opening and closing times of each store and indicate their location.