How Small Businesses Can Win With E-Commerce
“Organizations will become both smaller and bigger at the same time; they will be flatter, more flexible, and more dispersed…Life will be unreasonable in the sense that we shall have to make things happen for us rather than wait for them to happen.” Charles Handy, British academic, business consultant and author.
For businesses there are many advantages to using e-commerce; one of the greatest advantages is that online commerce is a great equalizer, allowing small businesses to compete on an even playing field with larger businesses. However, do not take on the big players; you need to differentiate yourself from them. For small businesses it is essential that a site is created and then registered properly, so that it shows up on premier search engines and other sites that attract your target market. It is equally important that, if you are on a premier search engine, you show up on the first or second page of search results, because most people are unlikely to look any further. Either you need to learn the necessary skills to achieve this, or pay someone with sufficient IT capability.
Having a website up and running is not the end of the matter, the site and business still needs to stand out from the crowd; that is, it needs to communicate your competitive advantage. With more flexibility than larger counterparts, small businesses can usually successfully compete in a niche product area, in a niche location, or in a niche service . D-Mediastore is a good example of a company providing a niche service in a niche location. Being located in Columbus Ohio and offering CD Duplication and DVD Duplication Services gives D-Mediastore an advantage over larger companies who may not focus on a smaller city like Columbus Ohio. Another example is D & D Media Group, also located in Columbus Ohio. D & D Media Group offers Columbus Ohio website design, E-Commerce website design, and Ohio Internet Marketing. D & D Media Group follows the sample lead as D-Mediastore offering web services in a niche location.
The point is to make sure you have focused on a particular market, and that you can serve it better than the bigger players. Specialised sites, focusing on a particular good or service or with a good understanding of their market are most likely to benefit from word-of-mouth promotion and have better chances of being found by search engines. Real Groovy is a great example of combining niche products and an understanding of the local market. Real Groovy, the record store has some of the largest physical music stores in the country, but also has a website that covers 18,000 titles, both new and used; but their greatest success was their ability to make money from their site after one month!
It is important that small businesses market their websites offline through traditional media, as well as online. Your business’ URL (website address) should appear in all communication produced by your business; it should be in your print and broadcast advertisements, on your letterheads, emails and business cards. Your URL should be included in all white and yellow page listings. If your product has packaging - put it on your package. If you print brochures, put it on those. Put your web address on everything!
In addition to more invasive offline advertising, you will need some internet marketing, which (thankfully) is just as cost-effective and efficient for little businesses as for the big players. E-Commerce Times reports that opt-in e-mail programs have been found to be effective in helping small businesses attract targeted and interested customers to their sites. Note though that we are not talking about email spam, or unsolicited commercial email, which often backfires and repels potential customers. Once the visitors arrive at your site, appropriate website technology can offer personalized service, track orders, handle returns and perform other essential tasks. If you provide good personalized customer service, particularly following-up to ensure customers got what they wanted; you will build a loyal customer base and will begin to see repeat purchasing!
