I was reading this great article last night and it got me thinking. The cost of gas has been hitting the consumer hard. Not only do they face the increased price of goods due to shipping costs, they now also have to face the rising cost of gas to fuel their trip to the mall or retail outlet. But, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel…

Run promotions around saving gas money! Offer your customers free or reduced shipping and remind them of how cost effective it is in comparison to a full tank of gas. The relative cost of shipping a product to the customer’s door has dropped as gas prices have risen. At $4 a gallon, driving 20 or 30 miles to the mall is no longer a cheap trip. The internet offers customers a wide variety of retail stores in one convenient place, saving them the time and money it takes to travel from store to store.  Online sales have jumped from $175 billion to $200 billion in the past year, an increase that many retailers are not seeing in their physical stores. While large retailers still have to maintain big stores, smaller more nimble e-commerce stores are able to move product from warehouse to customer quickly and more efficiently. With many E-commerce stores taking advantage of drop-shipping, they are saving costs associated with maintaining inventory and managing a supply chain.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start promoting your products, remind your customers of how they can save when shopping online and set yourself apart from your competitors.

Cheers!

-Webster J. Frogg