Does A Sydney Convenience Store Need A Website?
A seemingly unscathed victim of the modern age has been the Sydney Convenience Store. A business model prided on its proximity to customer needs and its value proposition in the name: convenience.
As a Sydney Web Developer have spent over five years in technology building websites for businesses in Sydney, and not in one of those years had I come across a use case for technical adoption by Convenience Stores outside the needs of point-of-sale systems and physical security. However, a friend of mine recently travelled to Sydney, and his visit prompted a severe change of heart.
My friend was on an obsessive mission to find breakfast cereals and candy imported from the United States at different Sydney Convenience Stores. I am not joking when I tell you he walked 20,000 steps around Sydney in one day, going to every Convenience Store in Sydney he could find in search of American cereals, until he finally found what he was looking for at a Convenience Store in the suburb of Waterloo.
My friend found this Convenience Store after resorting to rest at his hotel due to hurting his ankle from all his walking, and finally decided to use Google to find what he was after. His Google search: “American cereals”, yielded website results for Convenience Stores in the area that stocked the American Cereals my friend was after.
My friend goes to the Convenience Store and purchases ten boxes of cereals to take home with him.
This, starting my curiosity as a Sydney Web Developer into the needs of a Sydney Convenience Store needing a website.
I went to this Convenience Store in Sydney where my friend purchased the international goods in Waterloo and spoke to the owner myself. He told me that my friend’s quest for international snacks and produce was not a lone occasion, and in fact, the owner had made a custom website to service this very demographic. He told me of the influx in foot traffic he had witnessed because of his custom website as he featured the international products that he stocked in store on his website.
It seems that there are thousands of people all over Sydney every day, who are looking for certain international products that cannot be found at larger chains such as Coles and Woolworths. And, every day, these customers are left frustrated because they are not able to find what they are looking for if the store doesn’t have a website.
This story is a perfect example of how Sydney Convenience Stores can use custom websites to showcase their product offerings and drive foot traffic into their store. The beauty of Australia is the multiculturalism, especially in Sydney, and stores that stock goods that you would not typically find in Coles or Woolworths, have a unique selling point and attraction. This variety in goods should be showcased to the public and a website is a great way to do this.
Consider this, my friend is just one out of many people who search for international products such as American cereals every day. Your Sydney Convenience Store may be importing goods from all over the world. When a consumer wants to buy something, they typically look online to see if the store stocks what they are looking for. Imagine a mother who needs a last minute spice to complete her dinner so she can feed her family, or a gamer whose batteries have just run out on his controller. They will be going to Google to search websites for businesses in the area that stock what they are after. If you have a website to showcase your product range, they will be surely coming in store.
