Has the pandemic negatively affected your business? Wondering what can be done to improve your business prospects? If your business does not have an online presence, it is the right time to explore business possibilities.
How often do you go to a physical store today to enquire about something you are about to purchase? The answer would be not very often or probably "not a possibility." Today when there are curbs on free movement outside homes, the internet has become the place to get all your things done.
Like it or not, we are moving to a 100% virtual world. Work, education, shopping, food, all of it is going online. With improved access to the internet and super speed networks, you can access just about anything with a computer or any other handheld device.
Sticking to a famous saying by Bill Gates, "If your business is not on the internet, your business will be out of business."
Failing to adapt to the changing environment will mean your business will cease to exist soon. These challenging times may allow your business to exploit the possibilities of going online.
Yes! This is the time to launch your business over the internet to ensure you are not left out in the race.
Here are the reasons why you should be considering the online prospects of your business.
- Build a Better Brand Image –
Today everything is available online, a mere click decides your purchase. Every purchase decision is initiated with an online search. With such a wide market available to be explored, if your business does not have a website, you will miss all the customers who consider online research as the preliminary step to their purchase decision.
Research suggests that a whopping number of 6 billion searches are made online daily worldwide. We cannot emphasize the importance of online presence more as the numbers tell you the exposure you will get once you establish your presence online.
There may also be consumers who never consider businesses that do not have a valid website or online store as an option. If your company has not yet ventured into the digital arena, there is no better time. Venture into the virtual world to gain more visibility and build the right brand image among the netizen crowd. Hiring a good branding agency will help you in creating a brand image in the minds of prospective consumers.
- Keep your business running 24/7 –
It is quite a daunting task for most physical business units to carry out business day and night. Some companies such as hotels, groceries do manage this by having staff working at different shifts. With the introduction of E-commerce, conducting business 24 hours a day and 365 days a year has become easy and doable.
Consumers can place orders and buy things at any time they wish. Your online store is open for them at any convenient time they want to make the purchase. Imagine the sales figures increase if you were to keep your physical shop open for extended hours. This is precisely what you will get if your business were to go online.
- Better Management and wooing of Customers –
With an online presence, you can improve how you can service your customers and attend to their queries. You can have customer support systems employing online chat windows, product-related blogs, FAQ's, or buying guides to help customers with common questions or concerns they might have.
E-commerce also opens up several ways to promote your business online, utilizing e-mail marketing, social media websites, and other online advertising platforms. To learn more about various online digital marketing techniques, you can take up digital marketing courses and plan to improve your business.
- Low Set-up costs –
Launching an eCommerce website for your business does not cost you a fortune. This is the reason we are witnessing an increase in the number of E-commerce business setups. The efforts and costs in setting up an online business are comparatively low than a brick and motor store.
You will not have to deal with the hardships or cost of finding a suitable location for your store, rent or lease expenses, and maintenance of the premises. You can set up your website with minimal costs. Just be sure you direct the expenses and efforts into marketing your business in the right way.
Today you have a plethora of options that allow you to design your site with little or no practical knowledge of coding.
You could also entrust the task to a website design agency that helps businesses to set up websites at nominal costs.
- Gain Global Customer Access –
With virtual stores, you will get access to a customer base that is not restricted by geography or region. You will be able to carry out your business with anyone from any corner of the world, provided they have internet access. Here, all you need is a good hold of the various means to increase traffic to your website.
Online marketing and business branding are crucial to survival in the online business world, with competition getting fierce daily.
- Reduced Operational Costs –
You do not have to invest heavily in your business's working capital as much as you spend for your physical stores. You will not have to keep a dedicated salesperson to promote your products and services. Digital marketing will take care of this with very little or no cost.
Everything is automated in an eCommerce website from the time an order is placed. You do not have also to spend a lot of time tracking your inventory, sales, etc. as everything gets recorded automatically.
Bottom line:
Are these not good enough reasons for you to switch or launch into the online mode of business. The pandemic has already set the stage for a complete shift from physical to the virtual way of business.
So, what are we waiting for? All you need to do accept the challenge and convert it into a viable business opportunity. Failing to innovate will make your business redundant. Explore the infinite possibilities by going online.
