My 2c, having watched several niche traders disappear and others thrive.
One of the trends for niche market traders, is to only have an online presence.
High Street, and even backstreet, rents and rates are crippling to small businesses. Some have industrial units, some even manufacturer in the shed at home. A lot of niche market traders also spend a lot of time at shows, and they may not have enough people to man a store back home.
The downsides are that
- there is not always someone to answer the phone.
- not all traders are savvy about eBusiness.
- there is no shop to go and 'look and feel' the merchandise (but as most models shops can be some distance away we would only rarely go).
- for some traders it is no more than a paying hobby (frustrating to many potential customers wanting to order or awaiting a response, or delivery)
The upsides are
- we can order 24 hours (altough we may have to wait a few days if the trader is away).
- the trader can carry more stock
- with a strong online presence the trader is more likely to be there next year.
There is a catch 22 here. Some traders do so little trade that they rarely check email etc. Or is it the other way round.
From a business perspective.
With smart phones there is no longer an excuse not to check email while we are away. We don't even need to fire up the computer. We can also check to see if the website is working. If we don't you will lose some of our customers to other traders who are easier/more convenient to deal with. It is something we can do at the hotel, or slack time, if we are at the show. It does not take long, and every email is a potential sale. We can even do it in the car while we wait for someone at the hairdressers.
From a personal customer perspective.
Having travelled 120 miles to visit one trader, who never answered the phone or email, I arrive to find that he had gone out shopping for the day. I know this as his mobile number was on a card in his workshop window, and I called him. I only wanted to spend 400 quid. As it was I spent the money on something else, a loss of revenue to the hobby trade.
All the bigger traders have an online presence, some only have an online presence. They are nearly all newish enterprises. Most of the shops that have gone did not have an online presence. Some of the traders we know and love have a global customer base. Without the internet they would be just another high street trader, if they were still trading.
