India is going through a digital revolution and more and more people spend time online these days.

With the advent of smartphones, you can now shop with the click of button anywhere and at anytime. Online shopping has become very popular these days because of how convenient and hassle-free it is.

But when it comes to purchasing sporting goods and apparel, is online sports goods store better than retail stores?

Based on your overall business objectives, one needs to decide whether they need a retail storefront or an online store.

Here are some of the points illustrating the difference between the two mediums.

Expenses

If we are talking solely about the costs, then opening an online sports store would be far cheaper than a retail sporting goods storefront.

There is no rent to pay for other utility bills, other than the expenditure associated with web hosting and technical support. You do not have to pay for employees and for doing up the interiors. The costs for online sporting goods shops are related to website and for paying to procure your preferred domain.

Inventory

Sometimes for some consumers it may be more preferable for them to actually visit a retail storefront and feel the product and apparel prior to making a decision to purchase it.

When it comes to apparel, some people want to actually try out the garment before buying it. But we also live in a hectic world. Sometimes people simply don't have the time to visit a physical store. In such cases, an online store is extremely helpful. So you can buy a cricket bat online after browsing through different online portals where they feature bats in varying sizes and specifications.

You can pick the one that suits you the most, all with the click of a button while sitting at home.

Competition

Since we live in a digital era, there are lots of online shops out there, particularly online sporting goods stores.
If you wish to search for a badminton shop online, there might be many that might pop up, thus heating up the competition. But in retail stores, you can choose to place your shop in an area where there is less competition when it comes to sporting goods you plan to sell.

When it comes to purchasing sports shoes in a retail store, the prospective customer base would be the surrounding area but to buy sports shoes online in India, you have to sift through several hundred online portals selling sports shoes in different sizes, colours and brands.

Marketing

Acquiring a loyal customer base is one of the most important elements of running a successful retail sporting business, be it online or offline. Marketing strategy to be used for promoting a physical retail outlet could be expensive especially if you wish to change or modify the logos, signs etc.

But on the other hand, the marketing options for online store are endless as logos or signs can be changed quickly and also play around with the way you wish to display your products on your website.