Technology enters our homes by force. It is an unstoppable race and no one can afford to be left behind, much less those who have a commercial activity and who have to interact with a constantly evolving market.
Digital tools are ubiquitous throughout our day. We always have something to check on our smartphone or tablet: a message, a notification, an email, a new contact from the Social ... technology is becoming more and more sophisticated and more and more a tool to be used in "mobility", on the move, facilitating us in everyday life .
If I need to consult a street guide I click on the google maps APP while if I have to check the weather conditions for tomorrow I click on the Weather APP ... everything is easier, everything is within reach.
The world is moving in this direction and so it is with all the activities we carry out during the day. Technology is an important variable in all sectors of consumption from the car to the home.
My dear friend Giacomo Dall'Olio as well as a member of Bike Net Consulting has always given the example of the evolution in transport to those who denigrate the advancing future: first they used to ride a bicycle, then they invented the car, then the train, the ship and the plane… it is possible to choose a means other than the plane to go from Milan to New York but you want to put comfort?
Today, technology allows us to use digital devices such as PCs, tablets and smartphones by simply clicking an icon on the screen and scrolling through the contents. It doesn't matter how complicated it is to program these devices. All the technology inside them is within reach and usable with a click.
So what are the criticalities to transport our business online or to create a new one? We must first of all think that ours is a commercial project and not just a technological one. To sell it is necessary to create interest in our business and therefore it means dedicating time to our customers on the web but also publishing engaging topics.
The concept is very simple: you have to publish engaging news and articles like those of magazines or web magazines do to attract the attention of consumers.
What is the best product to market on the web? Definitely the one you know best! The web gives you the opportunity to get to know and communicate directly with your customers or potentials who are at all hours of the day. Ecommerce is a store that basically never closes. The opportunity is to make yourself available to customers in your available time and manage everything through an e-mail exchange; the telephone number on the contact page certifies your availability and strengthens the customer service in managing problems. The correct management of a return or a product defect builds customer loyalty to make subsequent purchases.
Ecommerce provides you with a showcase to the world. Choosing a good forwarder facilitates the seller / buyer relationship thanks to the "tracking" service that allows the parcel to be tracked wherever it is.
The showcase on the web opens up new channels, new intermediaries and new points of contact since there is a direct relationship with customers and with all the company's stakeholders - everywhere commerce -. All this, as I said, without time limits and seven days a week.
What are the characteristics of the product / service that lead to commercial success? the uniqueness of the product is evaluated, the quality / price ratio (and so therefore the "designer" products have more chances of being sold since the navigators have the parameters of the price and know their value), the seriousness of the seller (it is important the concept of brand reputation that is built with sales feedback and presence on social networks), the customer care service I mentioned earlier for problem management and various other variables.
Statistics on the web say that, roughly, every hundred - 100 - visitors one buys. This is the reason why success is linked to the web traffic that you are able to generate on your ecommerce.
Social media are an excellent channel to approach potential customers but it is not the only one. It is possible to plan an advertising campaign on google using google adwords or to optimize your site with all the keywords and concepts that refer to your business. The dynamics of use is very simple and with a little study you can personally apply yourself in the design of the SEM (Search Engine Marketing) campaign, however I always recommend relying on experts to save time and work correctly.
Every marketer knows that the success of a commercial operation does not come from a single sale but from repeated ones. It is for this reason that once you have created interest in your business it is useful to work to collect all the names and email addresses of customers to seduce them with offers and promotions. To this end, it is interesting to use other IT tools such as the newsletter service to send targeted messages, assess the impact on customers and form groups of customers with similar interests.
What do you need to create interest in your online company?
The traditional way is communication by voice, by telephone or in print - such as flyers or postal letters - but also participation in trade fairs and sector events.
Another choice is to social media where dedicated pages, groups and communities are created to talk about our business and tell our world with photos and videos.
A third is to advertise online with marketing campaigns on search engines in order to channel the flow of visits to our ecommerce (always remembering that generating more user flow statistically corresponds to the greater probability of concluding a sale).
The last frontier of ecommerce is availability on the go because a site with certain characteristics (type of Responsive Design) allows usability on smartphones and tablets "winking" to all those people who are a little more technological and want to shop during breaks of the day or while traveling for work.
Andrea Incandela
www.digife.it, Bike Net Consulting.
