Finding Success with a Brick and Click Business

For years and years people were debating how to make a brick and mortar business better. Then came eCommerce. With its nearly limitless audience reach, low startup cost, and even lower maintenance cost, it quickly became the golden child of retail.

But, brick and mortar businesses have begun finding new life by combining the personal touch of a physical location with the audience reach of eCommerce. How? Brick and click. 

What are Brick and Click Businesses? 

Brick and click businesses, also known as click and mortar, have a physical location as well as an online presence. These businesses typically have a fully-functioning eCommerce store to supplement their physical store, as well as social media accounts and a blog to help them reach a wider audience.

The Perks of Brick and Click

Brick and click businesses come with numerous perks thanks to their unique blend of business models. The best part? These perks are fairly universal for successful brick and click businesses. 

• Wider audience reach: Physical stores can be great at attracting local attention, thanks to their ever-present nature. When it comes to attracting those outside the town? Things get a little tricky. Fortunately an online presence gives these stores a huge boost, allowing them to reach customers all over the globe. With an optimized blog they can find even larger audiences, too.
  
  Similarly, an online store that opens a physical location can gain the attention of locals and travelers that may have been unaware of the brand’s existence.
  
  
• More complete customer journey: By offering a physical location and a website, brands can give customers a more complete customer experience. For example, a customer that was shopping in the store can then go home, hop on the brand’s site, and read the latest news and updates on the blog, shop for friends and family on the eCommerce side of things, and share the brand’s content or products on social media. Similarly, those who were shopping online can opt to visit to the store afterward and get that personal touch only a brick and mortar can provide.
  
  
• Improved analytics: Both brick and mortar and eCommerce sites can gain unique data about customers and their shopping habits. eCommerce is great at tracking someone’s journey through the site as well as their shopping habits, while stores can track how often someone visits, what they bought, and even what they demoed in some cases.
  
  By offering an online store and a physical store, these analytics can be combined to give an even more complete picture of a customer base and their habits. This can result in a more personalized and powerful experience for the customers. 

Running a Brick and Click Business

Brick and click businesses are gaining in popularity, and for good reason: they offer the best of both worlds. Even better, transitioning to a brick and click model isn’t totally impossible for many brands, you simply need to do some prep work. 

Whether you’re running a successful eCommerce store or have a thriving brick and mortar location, the journey toward brick and click success is pretty similar. Fundera has created a useful guide on brick and click businesses that can help you find your own success with this unique model!