This year has been a trying time for all of us, especially brick-and-mortar comic shop owners. Unfortunately, many retail locations have closed down due to the virus and the associated lockdowns. In order to stay in business, brick and mortar stores across the board are realizing that they need to embrace a mix of online and offline sales to survive. Here are four ways you can help to ensure your business survives and indeed thrives in “The New Normal“.
Open an Online Store
The first course of action any comic store retailer should take is to open an online store. Many areas are still under lockdown and with another potential wave of COVID-19 coming due to the approaching flu-season, further lockdowns may be necessary. Depending on the guidelines of the area your comic store is located, lockdowns may mean zero traffic to your store. Even in cases where customers are allowed to shop as long as they are adhering to social distancing guidelines, they are less likely to shop retail right now regardless. This situation of course is a ticking time-bomb as no retail location can survive without sales for too long. Opening an online store using our services and the Shopify platform will allow you to continue making sales with very little technology knowledge required.
Opening an online store doesn’t mean you have to close down your retail location either. With the Shopify platform’s POS integration, you can easily sync inventory between your retail store and your online store.
Offer Curbside Pickup
Offering the option for a customer to order an item with curbside pickup is another strategy to help your store survive the virus. No matter what is happening in our world, many people still enjoy the process of visiting a store and getting an item without having to wait for shipping, even if they cannot go inside. Customers that search for your comic store and see that you offer curbside pickup may be more likely to visit your store if there is no need for in-person contact.
Deliver Your Products
On the flip side of things, there are many people who just don’t like going shopping whether there’s an invading virus or not. Having the option to order a comic or other product from your store, and have the items delivered can help keep sales going during lockdown, and outside of lockdown as well. In the case that you can have zero customers physically inside your store, giving them the option to order via phone or the aforementioned online store and receive the item through the mail will help keep your retail store afloat.
Utilize Subscription Management Software
Many experts agree that going the subscription route for your business is one of the best ways to maximize revenue. Subscription services are everywhere now. They are in software, film, television, coffee, snacks, pet items, you name it, there’s a subscription service for it. Comic books are no exception either. Like the online store, it may seem like a daunting task at first, but with our help, we can make setting up a subscription for your products quick and easy. Check out our free eBook that will cover many of the major topics of making money with a comic subscription service such as:
- How to make subscriptions easier
- Why your customers will add more comics
- How much easier weekly pulls will be for you
- How you can place your initial orders in minutes, not hours.
These are just four of the ways you can help your comic store survive the second wave of COVID-19. In addition, employing these methods to your store will likely boost sales after the pandemic as well. For more information about how Manage Comics can simplify and streamline comic subscriptions and to see how we can help you create a predictable revenue stream, book a one on one meeting with Brian of Manage Comics today.
