3 Tips About Internet Commerce You Can t Afford To Miss
One of the clearest advantages of an electronic channel, represented by e-commerce websites, is the ability for the company to get in touch with their end-customers without an intermediary.
It indicates the capability to recognize and treat each customer individually in a personalized way (mass customization). Many bank web pages ask to their customers to specify their needs or interests; one example is a customer might be excited about financing services, others in asset management services and so on. The result is a customer "profile", which produces a corresponding profile for the commercial offer: consequently the web page reconfigures itself on the basis of the interests declared by the customer and shows only offers which are presumed to be compatible with his needs.
Direct contact with the market also allows companies to provide better technical details about the services or products. This relieves sellers from having to answer to customer's questions and permits the product's features and functionalities to be properly presented to customers, something that was not necessarily assured when product illustration is performed through intermediaries, as a result of wholesalers and shop assistants.
Through e-commerce, web pages marketing messages are presented correctly, the strengths of the products are clearly highlighted to customers and analytical background different features compared to competing products may be adequately emphasized.
An essential good thing about direct contact with the customer is the fact that the company can receive real-time feedback from the market.
By studying online purchases created by customers, the website pages most frequently accessed by users or e-mail messages sent by customers, the company will immediately realize how the market has seen a new product. They can react with a whole new advertise campaign. The collection of these details may be used to quickly correct any errors in marketing. As opposed to using the old information channels, companies should anticipate to have more possibilities to catch weak but worrying signals.
Through e-commerce Sites trading operations could also be performed more quickly and effectively.
A price change, if approved, may be seen by all at once, avoiding sales clerks or sellers mistakes. A commercial campaign, published on a website, becomes immediately operational for the entire market, without spending period to align the sales forces to the new directives.
In the example of digital products, the electronic channel guarantees the immediate delivery of goods with no need to produce a physical copy of the product sent to the customer. Even in the matter of physical products sellers can achieve considerable benefits if you take orders using the web. Requests via the internet arrive in real time to sales management, which alleviates the necessity for one or more central warehouses, saving in the storage of goods in periphery warehouses.
An extreme effect of electronic commerce can be represented by the reorganization of the commercial sector, with the disappearance of some figures like commercial intermediaries as well as the restructuring of the supply chain upstream from the producer.
A computer company that receives orders from customers only by an e-commerce website could conveniently get replenishment orders of computer components to its suppliers and taking delivery of what is only required to meet its commitments to customers. This would generate an extremely efficient supply chain by reducing inventory and work-in-process.
A digital commercial network allows for greater flexibility with respect to a physical network. A crowded shop can not attract other customers, who shall keep away from it.
The Net sites, if properly dimensioned, can handle spikes of visitors without visible degradation of response times (web sites for example Microsoft or Yahoo handle several million hits a day).
The e-shops may also stay open twenty four hours a day, seven days per week, answering questions from all over the world without worry or timetables or holidays. Flexibility is additionally with regards to ability to respond to marketplace. Using information gathered in real time through its websites, the company can modify its proposals, promoting products that have difficulties, making more attractive deals if users indicate weakness in respect to competition. When compared with a conventional commercial network in which the company proposes more products than the market's demand, for e-commerce it really is the opposite. The market "pulls" as well as the company follows, trying to stimulate demand, but only from the inclinations observed in the market.
The e-commerce also brings new business opportunities
The capability to sell directly online to a wide audience of customers could generate new areas of business. It is, by way of example, the situation of financial information within the evolution of financial markets (stock exchanges, foreign exchange, etc.). You will discover several Internet providers who joined this business that sell quotes, financial news in real time, or offer possibilities to work online through the stock exchange. In general it's possible to create many information selling services, which customers are disposed to pay. Currently you can subscribe to a market research firm in order to receive studies and research reports from their Web sites. One area where new services are developing rapidly is tourism. Within this area, you will discover numerous Information Providers that allow you to get information about tourist destinations and make reservations at hotels. As an example, the subsector for skiing holidays is developing a very strong competition online between French regions, Swiss cantons and Italian valleys, with very interesting opportunities from tourist viewpoint.
