By Emma Sturgis

There is no doubt the arrival of Amazon in the retail sector has changed the way business is done in the present and will be done in the future. The use of online retail opportunities has seen many brick and mortar companies close their physical locations and concentrate on the digital sector. Changing marketplaces are opening up more physical opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to shift their focus from the online sector to the traditional brick and mortar stores we all know and love.

Choose the right location

Before you start looking for storage cabinets for your new shop, take a little time to consider where your business will have the best opportunity for success. You should look at where the majority of your customers are based and find a location in the heart of your target market. The atmosphere of the area your shop is in can have an influence as well. A food market will have more success located closer to neighborhoods in a slower paced shopping area. However, a coffee shop would have more success in a busy city close to office buildings where there is plenty of pedestrian traffic.

Invest in technology

There are very few options open to you for creating an entirely new business that will not have competitors battling for the same clients and customers. One of the best ways you can make sure you are jumping to the head of the market is to ensure you are offering the best possible outcome when it comes to technology use. An excellent point of sale system is a must alongside ordering options scaling your online presence with your physical location for the best results.

Don’t neglect your online business

Once you have set out to create a physical location and begin to attract customers it is easy to forget about your loyal clients at your online store. Instead, you should look to cross-promote your two business sites and create a single brand that can be enjoyed by clients of all types. You should be looking to bring clients into your physical location from your online realm and vice versa to make sure both sectors become as much of a success as possible. Social media is a great resource for promoting online businesses, which will result in more traffic in your physical store space as well.

Big data is your friend

If you are using online retail technology you have a large amount of data at your fingerprints that can be used to aid your physical location. Your brick and mortar location will probably be a reflection of your online store with the products and services enjoyed by your online clients taking center stage in your brick and mortar location. Data drives the business forward in the 21st-Century and making sure you have the chance to look at what is working and what is not being enjoyed by your customers should be used in both the physical and digital sectors.

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Emma Sturgis is a freelance writer based out of Boston, MA. She writes most often on health and education. When not writing, she enjoys reading and watching film noir. Say hi on Twitter @EmmaSturgis2