Retail Store, to e-commerce or not?

[Bamcis]

Hi all,
I currently own a very small town (approx. 4000 people) retail shop that sells quilting and crafting supplies. I am in the process of creating our website and have been fighting with myself if we should offer online sales or not.

It seems like a no-brainer to offer online sales, but the more I think about it, the more considerations come to light. Keep in mind this is a small town in rural Alaska. One road in, one road out, and air travel is not always reliable due to high winds and heavy snowfall.

At first I thought shipping prices would be too expensive, and then I thought of flat rate boxes offered by USPS. Then shipping time came to mind. Even with Amazon Prime's 2-day shipping, it can take up to a week or longer to get things shipped to our isolated town.

Even if I could beat the competition’s prices (which would be hard), would people be willing to wait a week or longer to save an extra buck or two? This opens up more questions with what other ways would I be able to compete with the other online quilt stores?

I read once that once you start an online retail presence, you should never end it. Am I overthinking this whole situation? If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions or what not, it would be really appreciated.

Thanks much
-Bamcis
P.S. I know this isn’t Fastlane

 

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[Bamcis]

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