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Optimize Your Website

websites

Businesses should leave an impression. These days, most first-impressions are made by websites. Read on to discover how you can optimize this essential online-tool.

Websites: Where to start

Making a website is just like making a quilt — it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.

The first place to start is by choosing a partner that understands your business. For example, some software providers have solutions for assembling kits, fractional yards and fat quarters that can integrate into inventory management processes.

These same software providers can also add other tools including classes and block of the month subscriptions.

Website goals

The next step is to decide what sort of goals you have for your website.

From the above, increasing productivity is an obvious goal. You can go one-step further and tie in back-end business systems to your site as well. Further, you can make changes in one place and it will automatically update your website and in-store system.

It goes without saying, but your website should also help in two large ways: increase sales and drive foot traffic. To accomplish both of these, you’ll need to inform customers of your products and services, as well as determine how each section of your website will increase revenue. We’ll touch on both of those next week.

Inspiration for this post came from “Increase Your Website’s Value” by Brad Tanner of Rain Retail Software and was published in the April 2022 issue of American Quilt Retailer.


If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

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Affordable Foot Traffic

Affordable foot traffic—is that even a thing? And what does it even mean? If you want to increase your foot traffic without breaking the bank, follow these suggestions.

  1. Ask yourself one question: what is one thing my business could to to _______? Then answer that question honestly.
  2. The second step is to fill in that blank! What is one thing my business could do to increase foot traffic? Host an event! When you answer that question honestly, you’ll probably come up with an event that you would want to attend if it wasn’t your store. Don’t forget to think outside the box, the event should attract a new demographic and offer a sale. And since events are low budget the biggest resource you’ll use is the time it takes to plan it.
  3. Use social media. Email blasts should be sent every 15 days, and budget to spend at least $2 a day on Facebook ads.
  4. Offer coupons. Coupons are different then sales, every store can offer a sale. Set yourself apart by using coupons; statistics show 96% of consumers use coupons and 85% of consumers look for coupons before visiting a store. The more you know!
  5. Last but not least, put time and effort into your store display— it is more important than many business owners realize. The display can also be one of the most fun parts of running a store, so have fun with it!

foot traffic

All of these things take advanced planning, so be sure to include these topics in your company meetings. Not to use one liners, but these are tried and true statements: remember, more hands make light work and the early bird gets the worm.


If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.