Without e-commerce, will you have a business at all in 5 years?

In today’s fast moving market this is a question we often ask ourselves. Certainly, there are still bricks-and-mortar businesses providing services, such as hairdressers, barbers, and dry cleaners, that could argue they have no need for e-commerce. 

Traditional service-based businesses like these rely heavily on in-person interactions and may feel immune to the digital shift. We’ll come back to this point later. However, for businesses that offer professional services or sell products, the question becomes more pressing: can you really afford not to have an element of e-commerce?

In our opinion, the days of relying solely on ‘salesmen’, ‘consultants’, ‘marketing’ or ‘word of mouth’ to drive business growth are numbered if e-commerce isn’t part of the mix. 

Why is that?

Buyer Journey

The way people buy products and make decisions has fundamentally changed. Buyers and consumers want the ability to browse, research, and purchase at their convenience—whether it’s in the middle of the night, during a lunch break, in the office or while relaxing at home. 

They value flexibility in the hours they ‘buy’ and the platforms they use, whether that's a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. If your business is ignoring this shift, it risks losing a significant portion of potential customers, potentially to your competitors, who expect these conveniences.

We've been saying this since the late '90s and early '00s, after a trip to Japan opened our eyes to the rise of i-mode—a platform for early mobile phones that let people shop online. Take-up was off the scale.

Back then, online shopping in the UK was almost unheard of, and I remember grappling with the concept. But that experience inspired us to build our first online store less than a year later, ‘cable tying’ two ISDN lines together, one for upload, one for download, to exploit more speed, putting us ahead of the curve (and possibly too early to market), but that was 25 years ago.

Take-up in e-commerce since then has been astronomical. 

Pre-Paid Meetings

Platforms like Shopify Plus or Shopify Plus B2B make it easy to scale, reach broader audiences, and generate revenue 24/7, which is something traditional sales models simply cannot compete with. 

Even service-based businesses are increasingly adding online booking systems, digital consultations, or the ability to purchase add-on products through e-commerce platforms.

As an example we recently upgraded our own payment system and it’s been a game-changer, adding a payment feature to our online meeting booking system. Now, the first 15 minutes of online meetings are free, after that, meetings with non-clients or non-retained clients are paid in advance. The result? Increased revenue, far fewer no-shows, cancellations or late arrivals!

Using  HubSpot subscriptions, integrated with Hubspot/Stripe payments we also automated our invoicing for regular monthly clients—saving us time and effort. 

The digital economy has blurred the lines between in-person and online interactions, making it clear that e-commerce is no longer optional—it’s essential.

As we’ll explore further, even businesses that feel they have no need for e-commerce may find opportunities to innovate and grow by embracing the digital shift. The question is no longer if you should adopt e-commerce, but how you can integrate it into your business strategy effectively?

Barbers and Dog Groomers

Let’s talk about service providers who might not traditionally see a need for e-commerce—think hairdressers, barbers or dog groomers. But why not embrace it?

Take our dog groomer, for example. The process goes something like this: we visit their website, make a booking, and then wait for a call a few days later to reschedule because the original slot isn’t available. Sound familiar? 

The problem? Their booking system isn’t optimised with a proper e-commerce platform like Shopify, allowing us to prepay, nor is it fully integrated with their calendar. Simple fixes if you know what you’re doing—but tricky if you don’t.

On the flip side, during COVID, our barbers switched to an online booking-only system at that time. It’s a bit clunky but gets the job done. Although they too are missing the option to take pre-payment which could help their business with cashflow and reduced no-shows.

The bottom line is simple: after years of building e-commerce sites, managing our own businesses, and even integrating e-commerce into our Airbnb, one truth stands out—making it easier for people to book, buy, and pay, always leads to better results. 

Streamlining Payments

Streamlining the process benefits both your customers and your business.

We recently gave a client’s payment processes on a Shopify store a serious upgrade and by integrating new payment options like direct bank transfer, ACH (popular in the U.S.), and credit card, their customers will have more flexibility at checkout. 

These changes are designed to streamline transactions, boost cash flow, and make payments easier for everyone. We know this will pay off (pun intended!) in the months and years ahead.

And it makes us wonder—if you’re not in e-commerce, is it time to rethink how your business handles order processing and payments? Because if you don’t your competitors most certainly are.

Get in Touch

If you'd like to learn more how your business can benefit from integrating e-commerce reach out today.