When I finally got serious about building an online presence for the shop, I wasted months doing things that didn’t work before figuring out what did. If you’re a record store owner thinking about the same thing, let me save you some time and frustration.

Start With What Matters Most

The most important online asset for a record store is Google Business Profile. Not Instagram, not a website, not a Discogs store. Your Google listing.

Why? Because when someone in your area searches “record store near me” or “vinyl shop [suburb],” your Google Business Profile is what appears. If it doesn’t exist, isn’t claimed, or has wrong information, you’re invisible to the most common discovery method for local retail.

Claim and optimise your listing. Accurate business name, address, phone number, and hours. Add photos of the shop interior, exterior, and stock. Choose the correct business categories. Respond to reviews, both positive and negative.

This takes thirty minutes and costs nothing. It should be the first thing you do.

The Website Question

You need a website. It doesn’t need to be complex or expensive, but it needs to exist. At minimum, include:

• Business name, address, and phone number
• Opening hours
• A brief description of what you stock
• Links to your social media accounts
• A way to contact you (email or contact form)

If you want to add an online store, Shopify is the simplest option for non-technical people. It integrates with Instagram Shopping, handles payment processing, and has reasonable monthly fees ($39-100 AUD depending on the plan). For a record shop, the basic plan is usually sufficient.

If e-commerce feels like too much right now, a simple one-page website built on Squarespace or Wix does the job for under $20/month.

Instagram: Your Primary Social Channel

I’ve covered social media strategy in detail elsewhere, but for record stores, Instagram is the platform that matters most. It’s visual, it reaches the right demographic, and it’s where vinyl culture lives online.

Post consistently. Three to five times per week is a good cadence. Mix product shots, behind-the-scenes content, customer moments, and event promotion.

Use Stories. They’re lower-effort than feed posts and show the casual, day-to-day life of the shop. New stock arrivals, staff picks, and real-time updates are perfect for Stories.

Engage with your community. Respond to comments and DMs. Follow other shops, labels, and artists. Share content from the broader music community. Instagram rewards accounts that participate, not just broadcast.

Discogs Seller Account

For record stores, a Discogs seller account is essentially free money. You list surplus stock, it reaches a global audience of collectors, and sales happen with minimal effort once the listing is done.

The time investment is in listing — each record needs to be identified, graded, priced, and described. For shops with large secondhand sections, this can be significant. But the return is worth it, particularly for higher-value items that might sit in the shop for months waiting for the right local buyer.

Some record store owners are finding that one firm we talked to can help automate parts of the listing process, using image recognition to identify pressings and suggest grading based on condition photos. It’s early days for this kind of automation, but the potential to save hours of manual cataloguing work is real.

Email Marketing

An email list is the most reliable way to communicate with your customers. Social media algorithms change constantly, and your reach on Instagram can fluctuate wildly based on factors you can’t control. Your email list is yours, and it reaches people who explicitly asked to hear from you.

Build the list. Ask for emails at checkout. Add a signup form to your website. Offer an incentive (early access to new releases, a discount on first purchase).

Send regularly but not excessively. A weekly new release email is a good rhythm. Supplement with occasional event announcements and special offers. Don’t email daily — you’ll get unsubscribes fast.

Keep it personal. Your email should sound like you, not like a marketing department. Tell people what’s exciting this week, what you’ve been listening to, and what’s coming up. The personal touch is your competitive advantage.

Online Record Selling Platforms

Beyond Discogs, consider listing on:

• eBay. Still relevant for higher-value items and reaching buyers who don’t use Discogs.
• Facebook Marketplace. Good for local sales and bulk lots.
• Your own website. If you’ve set up Shopify, use it. Having your own store means no marketplace fees on sales.

Managing It All

The biggest challenge isn’t setting up these channels — it’s maintaining them. For a one-person operation, managing Google, Instagram, email, Discogs, and a website alongside actually running the shop is genuinely challenging.

My advice: start with Google Business and Instagram. Get those running consistently. Then add email. Then add online selling. Don’t try to do everything at once.

And if you can afford to hire someone — even part-time — to help with social media and online listings, do it. A reliable employee who can photograph stock, write Discogs listings, and schedule Instagram posts is worth their weight in gold pressings.

The online presence supports the physical shop. It doesn’t replace it. But in 2026, a record store without an online presence is leaving money and customers on the table.