I recently attacked the issue with mega-corporations invading the small business market and the effects to the small business owners books. While every good business owner would like to assume that their current clients are loyal to them. The truth is your personality is not enough today to make the sale you need to keep the doors open. Often forgetting to revisit the drawing board as we did so much when we were getting started. Sticking to our old “tried and true” techniques is the start of all major mistakes in customer retention. Yet, there is hope for small business owners still! You have the ability to quickly adapt to the changing markets without the need to spend huge bucks.
The average cost of hosting an online shopping cart ranges from $0 a month (with ads from host) to $100 a month (large hosting storage). The cost of a Real-Storefront can cost you hundreds even thousands a month. Your average “off the shelf” mega- corporation is spending tens of thousands to maintain there local presence. More often than not without a once of sweat. So where is the hope for the small business?
The reality is that you may not be able to compete with the every changing visually appealing real-storefront of the MC’s (mega- corperations) in your area. In fact if you would like to be completely honest, you are not even in the same ball park as they are. However, you have an opportunity to compete with the best of them online. But don’t relax just yet! You have to be as (if not more) creative with your online presence as you are with your real-storefront. The cost to change your OSF (online storefront) to meet the demands of your consumers is exponentially less than your RSF (real-storefront). You have the ability to communicate to thousands of potential clients online. You have the ability to be completely mobile. While there are thousands of excuses not to jump on the e-commerce train; the fact is, if you’re not on it you aren’t going the direction you know you should be.
The e-commerce community loves to talk! Much like other online communities, there is tons of resources online to accurately track the ever changing trends of your market. For those of you that have already discovered social media and e-commerce, you are going the right direction. For those of you that aren’t, why?
The following was published by Mary Zeiher (www.associatedcontent.com).
Top Ten Reasons We Shop Online
- Able to shop 24 hours a day (76%)2. Saves time (74%)3. Avoiding crowds (65%)4. Saves gas (59%)5. Sales/Discounts/Promotions (55%)6. Low prices (53%)
7. Comparison shopping (48%)
8. Selection (40%)
9. Available product information (37%)
10. Items are in stock (37%)
So don’t lose out on your next sale! Take back your business!
