As hard as it is to invest precious capital to start new projects, most retailers I talk to agree that investing in another sales channel like the internet provides a better return on investment than spending more on local advertising.  The theory is, local competition remains a constant while demand has dramatically decreased.  Expanding the target market provides more opportunity than simply fighting for a bigger portion of a declining local market.

Retailers are often under the assumption it is expensive to create an e-commerce website to sell online.  This does not have to be the case. Actually, a full functioning professional e-commerce site can be developed in short periods of time and for less than a single run in a local paper, magazine or specialty publication.

How Can a Small Business Retailer Succeed?

Possibly the best way for independent small business retailers to survive a bad economy is to expand their market via the internet. A retailer that does not have an online component to their sales strategy is at the mercy of the consumer spending patterns of their local market.

Instead of waiting for the local market to come back to life, retailers must reach out and offer their products to a larger market. Selling on the web enables small retailers to sell on a nationally or even internationally.

When consumers are spending less, you MUST offer your product to more potential customers to keep your sales volume and porfitability moving in the right direction.