If you run an ecommerce with physical stores, youâve probably already received questions like:
âWhere can I find your nearest store?â
An interactive store locator is the perfect solution to these questions. It allows your customers to easily find your physical stores directly from the ecommerce site, enhancing the user experience, reducing frustration, and increasing conversion chances. Integrating a store map not only makes it easier for customers to access your stores, but it also helps boost the visibility of your business by combining the convenience of online shopping with the opportunity for in-store purchases.
Why add a store locator to your ecommerce with physical stores?
Any ecommerce with physical stores will greatly benefit from the integration of a store locator. Here are a few reasons why:
- Improves the user experience: Not everyone wants to buy online; some prefer to go directly to a store to try or pick up a product. A store locator enhances this experience by showing the location of stores and details such as opening hours, product availability, or current promotions.
- Increases conversion: When a customer easily finds a physical store, they are more likely to make an offline purchase, positively influencing your ecommerce revenue.
- Improved local SEO: Each store on the map can be optimized with local keywords, helping to improve visibility on local search engines, which is essential for attracting new customers in targeted geographic areas.
A store locator is a great tool to combine online and offline sales, ensuring that customers always have access to the nearest stores.
Works with major ecommerce CMS platforms
Regardless of the platform you use for your ecommerce, StoreMap is compatible with all major CMS platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Webflow, among others. You donât need to be a tech expert to add a store map to your ecommerce site. Our solution is easy to integrate with just a few steps, reducing the need to install complex and sometimes incompatible plugins.
Specifically, on WordPress, integrating StoreMap is simple and fast, without the need to modify the source code or create complicated APIs. If you have a WooCommerce store, itâs even easier because StoreMap integrates perfectly with this CMS.
Avoid plugins and built-in Google Maps
Many ecommerce sites use Google Maps to embed a store map, but there are limitations. The main issues with this solution are:
- Google APIs require complex setup, including the need to generate an API key.
- Page load times significantly increase as each map request requires a connection to Google and sometimes more time for the map rendering.
- Customizations are limited, and they do not allow you to add filters for languages or store categories, which you can easily do with StoreMap.io.
With StoreMap.io, creating the map is much simpler, faster, and most importantly highly customizable. You can add filters for product type, brand, availability, and even customize the map design to align with your branding. Additionally, the loading speed is optimized, improving the customer experience and reducing the bounce rate.
Main features for ecommerce with physical stores
StoreMap offers many advanced features that make it ideal for any ecommerce with physical stores:
- Advanced filters: Your customers can filter stores by criteria like product availability, merchandise categories, brands, or other tags. For example, if a customer is looking for a product from a specific brand, they can immediately find stores that carry it, without having to navigate through hundreds of options.
- Custom calls to action: Next to each store, you can insert calls to action like âBuy onlineâ or âFind the nearest store.â This facilitates the connection between your ecommerce and physical stores.
- Multilingual management: If you have an international ecommerce, you can add custom maps for each country or language, improving the experience for users worldwide.
- Customizable design: With StoreMap, you can customize the mapâs appearance to reflect your brand, using colors, icon styles, and custom layouts.
Expand your ecommerce with physical stores in multiple countries
If you operate in multiple countries, StoreMap is the ideal solution. You can create different maps for each market and make them visible through dedicated subdomains, such as:
- example.com/en â global stores
- example.com/es â stores in Spain
- example.com/it â stores in Italy
This solution is perfect for your international customers, who can easily find the nearest store to them, regardless of their language or country.
Local SEO and performance for ecommerce with physical stores
Another advantage of a store locator is the positive impact on local SEO. Each store you add to the map can be optimized for specific geographic keywords, such as:
- â[brand] store + cityâ
- âwhere to buy [product] + areaâ
- âofficial [product] retailers + countryâ
With an optimized URL structure and the inclusion of local information in meta tags and descriptions, each physical store becomes a potentially interesting page for search engines, improving the ranking in local results. This way, your stores will be easily found by people searching for products or services in your area.
Mobile device support
In a mobile-first world, itâs essential that your store map works perfectly on all devices. With StoreMap, every map is fully responsive, ensuring that your customers can easily find stores on smartphones and tablets as well. This is a crucial aspect for local sales, as many people search for store information via mobile devices while on the go.
A seamless user experience
With StoreMap, integrating the map is not just a technical task, but also an opportunity to improve the overall user experience. The map is intuitive, fast, and customizable. It not only helps customers find the nearest store but also guides them through the entire purchasing process, both online and offline.
Additionally, you can monitor the map's performance using powerful analytics tools that allow you to understand how your users interact with the map and how to further improve their experience.
Learn more about StoreMap and how to easily add a store locator to your ecommerce with physical stores, enhancing customer experience, increasing conversion, and optimizing local SEO for your stores.