Online or physical shop

[Sunnydaysinjune]

Currently have an online shop, I sell a wide variety of items from pets to small furniture, not my own website - I sell through bigger online shops, however I’m toying with the idea of finding a premises, obviously I’m going have to pay out more than I do right now rent, utilities, etc however I’m thinking that I would make more sales than I do right now, and the cut the online stores make with my p&p would sort of equal.. it would just be a small discount store.. I’m in a busy city so footfall isn’t a issue. Opinions please! Do you prefer to order from Amazon at the the click of a button? Would you go into a discount store on a high street looking for a bargain?

I don’t actually sell pets! Pet accessories just to clarify! 🤣

Have you looked into rent prices in your chosen location? Then factored in how long the lease is for, shop fitting costs, insurance, rates, water, gas/electric, staff costs unless you are going to work on your own there every day including without a lunch break, and commit to every weekend.
Then there's competition, daily footfall (is it every day or just weekends/holidays).
After you've done all that, do you think you can make a profit based on your current profit margins? How much stuff would you have to sell? For example, in my business I would have to be turning over double what I turnover online in order to make a physical shop worth while. Double turnover with a far smaller amount of potential customers isn't doable.

Most indie places do both nowadays. I would've thought you'd make more money having an online option.

I also vote for at least keeping an online option if not focusing more on going fully online with your own website. Even if you open a physical store, you should keep an online presence (like have a Facebook page or Instagram profile). So it would help if you could link a website for people to be able to order your products too.