Out-Smarts Marketing Services

Still not convinced that e-commerce is the way to go? Then consider these:
1. It allows you to instantaneously access a much wider customer base and geographical reach.
2. It makes it easier for your customers to do business with you at their convenience.
3. Makes it easier to partner with affiliate companies who in turn sell your products to their customer base.
4. It means you can be open for business 24×7.
5. Adding an e-commerce site will help build awareness of your offering.
6. It increases traffic to your site.
7. Its ideal for providing product specifications, photos and other details that make the decision making process easier for buyers.
8. Lower cost of sales, distribution and process.
9. Builds customer loyalty.
10. Allows your company to hone in on a highly targeted market niche.

The reasons to be cheerful have been bountiful this month as we traveled the virtual world. Links include everything from on line CRM to complete and utter whimsy and we have more reasons than usual for February:

Myplick - never battle with uploading a Powerpoint again.

Buzzshout - want to find out about the latest web technologies? Buzzshout is the place to go.

Highrise - simple on-line CRM to allow you to easily manage your contacts. Great if you’re just starting out but not so easy if your contacts aren’t in Outlook and your forced to manually upload.

Got vmail - this service helps you manage your calls, provides toll free numbers and an answering service.

NCIX - this one is bricks and mortar and online and its great to have an alternative to the cowboys at FutureShop and Best Buy.

meez - while away your Friday afternoon creating an avator for your social networking profiles. Mine is “so meez”.

Strutta - Vancouver is a buzz with the yet to be launched Strutta. Is it a bird, is it a plane? Who knows (our launch invite got lost in the mail) but rumor has it its something to do with online video and gaming.

I remember trying to sell an e-commerce platform to Cotton Ginny back in 1995.  At that time the main issue we had to convince them of was that people would actually be willing to buy on-line despite the perceived “security” risks.   Thankfully, ecommerce has come a long way since then.   I am always fascinated to hear news from this sector and am a regular attendee at Elasticpath’s webinars.  I was excited when I was invited to live blog today’s webinar - Love Your Landing Page: Tips to Increase Ecommerce Conversion featuring Ayat Shukairt, Managing Partner, INVESP Consulting.  In listening to the discussion, its apparent that many of the factors I preach to clients when considering their web presence are also very valid for retailers using online stores such and that some issues haven’t changed in the last decade or so.  When creating your retail landing page be aware of the following points highlighted during the webinar:

• understand your audience very well and their personnas and hone in on them (cater for emotional buyers as well as logical);
• keep it visually simple with impact (by making good use of white space);
• as soon as someone comes to the page it should be obvious to them what you are selling so use that top left section of the page for impact;
• make it easy for prospects to navigate the store; 
• create urgency - use incentives to encourage your audience to act and buy (percentage incentives often work better than dollar amounts);
• product images should be clear and impressive - showcase the product well;   
• focus on what the product is going to do for the prospective buyer and not just on its features;
• test, test, test - don’t be afraid to start small (say 500 products and see what works and what doesn’t);
• deal with  anticipated concerns - yes security is still an issue. Counter their doubts and make prospects feel secure by using messages regarding the security you have in place or anti hacking guarantees;

I see that 13 years on Cotton Ginny still doesn’t have an on-line retail store which is a pity but no surprise.  I find Canadian retail organisations woefully behind both the US and the UK in their ecommerce adoption.  This was mirrored in today’s presentation as most if not all of the examples provided were US based organisations.  At Christmas I had to resort to shopping at LL Bean for North American purchases and Mark and Spencer’s for UK gifts because I couldn’t find any Canadian retailers offering a suitable service. Sad but true.So come on Canada! - check out Elasticpath or similar ecommerce offerings and start taking advantage of the vast opportunity that on-line sales brings and save me some money in customs fees when you’re at it!