The Internet Isn't Option for Your Christian Store

Catholic InternetS T O R E F R O N T S

The Internet Is Not OptionalPresented by Ian Rutherford


Sponsored by howtorunacatholicstore.com

Who Am I?• Ian Rutherford, founder and President of Aquinas and

More (www.aquinasandmore.com)• Family with eleven kids and a dozen chickens living on

the prairie in Colorado• [email protected]• Blog: howtorunacatholicstore.com



• Where the market is now (the use of the Internet is not shrinking)

• Considerations before you jump on to the Internet• What you should keep doing• What steps you should take to get on-line

What are we going to talk about?



• 70.3% of Americans from the ages of 14 and up have made at least one on-line purchase in the last year.1

Who’s using the Internet?



Who’s using the Internet?• 38% of 23-28 yo have used smartphones

to purchase. 2

• 12% have used tablets. 2

• 23% have used a game console. 2



• Ecommerce grew 15.4% in 2011 and up to 20% of all purchases could be on-line within 20 years (I think it will be sooner) 2

Who’s using the Internet?



• 72% want to be able to look on-line to see if products are in-stock at local stores. 1

• 24% of book sales are now on-line with digital quickly becoming a huge part of the total market. 1

• 38%ofretailsalesareinfluencedbytheweb.2

• 79% of smartphone users have or would like to use location-based coupons. 2

How does this relate to your store?



• You must consider the time involved• You can’t just make a splash and forget about it• Being on-line requires that you commit to forming

relationships with your customers• There is a learning curve

• You must consider the cost involved• Is your time worth it?• You CAN do many things on-line without tangible

costs but you may want to do paid advertising as well.

Wait! Don’t jump yet...



• You used to:• Yellow pages – 27% decline in use over 10 years. 3

• Postcardsandfliers• Church ads

• KEEP WHAT WORKS!

Where to start - Pre-sale



• Google Places

Pre-sales, continued

https://plus.google.com/101007993103946228223/about?gl=US&hl=en-US



• Yelp


http://www.yelp.com/biz/aquinas-and-more-catholic-goods-colorado-springs



• Facebook• 845 million active users• 46% are over 45• 40% are between

22 and 45• 47% have incomes

between $50,000 and $99,000


http://www.facebook.com/aquinasandmore



• Pinterest• 21 million unique visitors• 35% are over 45• 54% are between 22

and 45• Quickly becoming a top

waytobringtraffictocompany websites


http://pinterest.com/aquinasandmore



• Twitter? Meh...


http://twitter.com/aquinasnmore



• Considerations before starting• Time to build• Time to maintain• Skills to build • Skills to maintain• Cost of an e-commerce site

Your Own Ecommerce Store



• Some Available Options• Do-it-yourself from scratch• Useaprebuiltstorethatyoufillwithproduct

• monstercommerce.com• Yahoo stores

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ecommerce/• Useapre-filledstorefront

• Deeper Calling - http://deepercalling.com• Catholic Internet Storefronts

http://bit.ly/catholicstorefront

Your Own Ecommerce Store



In Store Changes• Again, don’t get rid of what works!• Foursquare• Email newsletters• Website Kiosk• QR codes (what’s that?)

get free QR codes at qrstuff.com ?



• Make sure that you get contact information from your customers so you can actually get them to come back

• Always put information about your on-line presence in bags and be sure to tell them about it

• Be sure to let people know that you are on-line

• Trackhowyourcustomersfindyou to make sure your marketing is working

POS considerations

4727 N Academy Blvd Ste A

Colorado Springs, CO 80918

PHONE: 1-719-495-7493

FAX: 1-719-495-7505

[email protected]

www.aquinasandmore.com

Name

Get one punch for every $10.00 you spend.

Fill your card to receive a FREE $5 gift certificate.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FAITHFUL SHOPPER MEMBER



• Send email newsletters• Ask for reviews of purchases if you have a way to put

them on a website• Get a website for your store

Post visit



Endnotes1) http://bit.ly/MCqaVs2) http://bit.ly/SdIraX3) http://selnd.com/Nky9VQ

Questions? Suggestions?

The Internet Isn't Option for Your Christian Store

Technology

Transcript of The Internet Isn't Option for Your Christian Store