E-business key to success during holiday season
For generations, there wasn't much disruption in the retail business. Then along came the mother of all disrupters, the Internet.
According to the credit card industry, Internet sales in general are growing by double-digits each year, compared to traditional retail growth rates in the low single-digit percentages. Clearly, these are disrupting numbers. But what about during the holidays?
A survey by E-Commerce Times indicated that 75% of holiday shoppers plan to do so online, and a third plan to buy half or more of their holiday purchases online. All of this might sound like bad news for small businesses, but hold on.
In the same report, two-thirds of respondents said they expected to make holiday purchases from "niche" retailers, which is to say, small retailers. Customers are not only buying more online but like doing it with a small business.
So how do small business retailers prevent the e-business disrupter force from turning into their Death Star? By incorporating an online strategy with the traditional. Here's how:
Online storefront
First, of course, you MUST have a web presence - a website that demonstrates who you are, what you sell, where you're located and how to contact you. This will be on the test: Customers expect to find you online, whether or not they expect to buy from you online.
E-shopping
Make it easy for customers to see what you offer for sale. If you sell gifts, identify what kind. If you have a restaurant, post your menu. The research firm, Forrester, predicts that by 2014, over half of all retail sales will be influenced by online research before customers buy. That's e-shopping.
E-customer service
E-service could be as simple as asking for a customer's email address so you can report the progress of their order.
E-commerce
One of the best ways to get rich is to sell something while you sleep. For a small business, that's e-commerce, where customers lay their digital money on your virtual barrelhead. Forrester predicts online sales will reach $248.7 billion in the next five years. Today, an e-commerce component on a small business website is neither complicated nor expensive.
You don't have to conquer the Internet to be successful; but long-term survival in the 21st century, especially for retailers during the critical holiday season, requires incorporating an online strategy with the traditional, Main Street strategy.
Write this on a rock ... It's not either/or, but both/and - traditional and online.
Jim Blasingame is creator and host of the Small Business Advocate Show.
Copyright 2010, author retains ownership. All Rights Reserved.
