We've been ordering produce from a local wholesaler for a few months now. They have flat-rate next-day delivery and are 3 miles away so it makes sense to order bulky things from them instead of getting smaller quantities from our regular grocery store.
The problem is that since their business is setup as a wholesaler, they have nothing online about the products or prices. We get emailed a handwritten price list or some flyers as a PDF each week.
It works but it takes a good 15 minutes per order to call in, get prices, check ingredients, etc. And I'm prepared with a good idea of what I want. That's all time I'm taking up from their staff.
A website with the product details or even just the price lists could save hours of their staff's time. Even more if they had a Shopify store where you could place orders.
I've helped clients "get online" for years so I understand that some businesses just aren't setup for it or it hasn't been a priority. It's just difficult every time I see the amount of friction purely offline businesses have and know all of the efficiency improvements they'd have with an online store.
This friction can cause customers to switch to a competitor though. Even online there are friction sources that your customers have to overcome before they'll buy.
If you don't reduce that friction customers will leave and buy elsewhere.
Repeat Customer Insights can help you understand your customer's behavior including some defection. With its collection of behavior reports, you can see what they're actually doing and who hasn't come back.
Eric Davis
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