With the reopening and the slow return to ‘normality’, “it is more important than ever not to abandon your online store but rather to continue exploiting the potential of e-commerce”. The exhortation comes from PayPlug which emphasizes the “multiplication of sales opportunities and to reach new geographically distant customers with online commerce and allow purchases at any time, regardless of shop hours”. “In recent months, characterized by intermittent openings and closings, traders have understood the importance of enhancing multiple sales channels and not depending on one, so as not to suffer losses and not find themselves discovered in case of problems” explains Gloria Ferrante , Italy Marketing Manager of PayPlug, the online payment solution for e-commerce designed for small and medium-sized businesses. “On the other hand – he continues – consumers’ purchasing habits have changed: they are more demanding and informed as well as willing and inclined to switch from one sales channel to another according to their needs, with a view to convenience. For this reason – explains Ferrante – it is essential for businesses to opt for an omnichannel strategy, which therefore integrates different sales channels, coordinated and interchangeable, to ensure a shopping experience without obstacles and within everyone’s reach “. And in this scenario, PayPlug shares 6 tips to make the most of both the online and offline store in view of the reopening: 1 – Giving access to multiple purchasing channels. To multiply sales opportunities, it is essential to give consumers access to as many purchase channels as possible, to meet their different needs. From an omnichannel perspective, e-commerce must therefore be combined with offline sales, giving different customer buying possibilities: from sales on social media to conversational commerce through messaging apps, passing through click & collect, i.e. the possibility to order online and collect in store. The latter turns out to be one of the preferred methods by users: during the lockdown it recorded a growth of 349% and is a trend that aims to consolidate thanks to the great flexibility and convenience *. A mode of purchase that is actually also excellent for the merchant. 2 – Manage the virtual showcase as you would with the physical one. A site represents the image and identity of a brand and the virtual showcase is just as important as the physical one, especially when dealing with a new audience. This is why it is essential to highlight your catalog – always updated – by exploiting the power of images, but without forgetting technical information, prices or legal notices, thus also guaranteeing transparency in terms of sale and purchase. These are elements that help to transmit trust, a fundamental factor for the activity of merchants: both to acquire new customers and to retain existing ones. Finally, it is essential to create a quality site, investing in terms of User Experience to welcome the customer with open arms, even if only virtually, and avoid abandoning the cart which – according to Statista – in 16% of cases is linked to problems. of experience in navigation. 3 – Index the physical store on Google. E-commerce and physical point of sale must communicate with each other and work in parallel. For this it is good to enter all the most important contact information, such as opening hours, address and telephone number. A powerful ally from this point of view is Google My Business, which allows the merchant to enter the link to the website, the menu (if you are a restaurant), opening hours and contacts, free of charge and in a tab dedicated to your business. the customer to release public reviews, to stimulate word of mouth. 4 – Optimize business management. In the last two years, 9 out of 10 Italians have used different coordinated and interchangeable channels, taking advantage of omnichannel, for their shopping. In any case, the level of satisfaction depends on whether or not you can have an unhindered shopping experience, regardless of the purchase channel chosen **. For this PayPlug advises merchants to equip themselves with digital solutions that allow them to centralize information and monitor all activities through a single tool (possibly easy to install and use): from the control of transactions to that of deliveries, passing through constant communication between online and in-store sales and inventory updates. 5 – Define the target and the sales strategy. When you manage two different but connected realities, such as a physical and a digital store, you need to better define your online or offline sales strategy or a combination of both by well defining your target and audience. It is therefore good to better structure the management of customer relations, from comments to private messages passing through emails, as well as equip yourself with marketing and CRM tools that allow you to intercept the needs of customers by sending the right message to the right customer, and above all at the right time. 6 – Offer a simple and reassuring payment experience. To ensure that a shopping experience, both online and offline, ends in the best possible way, it is necessary to ensure the customer the possibility to pay comfortably and safely. It is therefore necessary to have payment solutions compatible with the latest updates and which allow you to take advantage of the refunds provided for by the cashless plan (“cashback” for end consumers and “tax credit” for merchants).