A few years ago, the e-commerce industry was forced to take off its rose-colored glasses. Or, more precisely, it had them unceremoniously ripped off. When the dot-com bubble burst, Internet investors began backing off, and brick-and-mortar retailers were suddenly more cautious about extending fully into e-commerce. Was this knee-jerk reaction warranted? What opportunities remain in the aftermath of the e-commerce shakedown? And how can cautious e-tailers successfully tread the recessionary waters of post-boom cyberspace and compete sucessfully with Web giants like Amazon and eBay?
Contrary to reports, it is more than possible for a small business to compete successfully. The Internet today is a slimmed-down, fitter, more sensible version of its former self. An industry that was riddled with overspeculation, overinvestment, and unsustainable growth has been forced to bite the bullet. Now, with the extraneous matter removed, the "new, improved" e-commerce environment presents some real, down-to-earth opportunities for switched-on businesses. Here are six ways you can benefit right now from today's e-commerce environment.
Set Your Target Price
Consumers are spending big money online; the Internet has long been considered a venue for those in search of a bargain. When a recession starts to bite, people become even more price-focused, so Internet shopping has the potential to actually benefit from an economic downturn. Be a smart e-tailer: Build sales by offering price breaks and/or extra benefits to the online customer.
Inform Your Customer
When times get hard, consumers want to find out as much as they possibly can about what they're spending their money on. In other words, they want to thoroughly research their market to make sure they're not getting ripped off. The Internet, of course, provides the ideal platform to facilitate this. Provide a generous amount of product information -- in fact, give your customers more than they actually need -- and you will make it much easier for them to choose. They'll more than likely choose you.
Satisfy the Shopper
The economic downturn is an ideal time for you to focus on customer satisfaction and brand identity. That could mean providing more service options on your Webfront. An example of this is the Eastman Chemical Company, which beefed up its Web site by adding tools that allow the customer to pinpoint exactly what type and how much of a certain chemical to purchase for a specific project. According to Eastman executive Fred Buehler, the immediate goal of the project wasn't to save money but rather to build customer loyalty. "Inevitably cost savings will come through fewer customer service calls, but we implemented these features because they are what we would want if we were customers," he says. Eastman knows that recessions don't last, and that companies that build depth to their online operations are the ones that will reap rewards when the inevitable upswing begins.
Streamline Your Online and Brick-and-Mortar Operations
JupiterResearch reveals an interesting effect of the consumer urge to get online: Not only do people take for granted that their favorite B&M retailer will have an online presence, they also expect to get cheaper products online and/or a nice little bonus for being online customers. Take advantage of this insight by offering shoppers "online only" deals in your traditional media advertising.
Jupiter also found that how a company positions itself online will have a noticeable impact on its traditional business. A recent survey by the e-commerce strategy provider saw that 70 percent of customers will curtail their spending at a company's brick-and-mortar store if they have an unpleasant online shopping experience with that company. The message, then, is clear. As a 21st-century retailer, you should have an online presence and go out of your way to make your cybercustomers' visits as pleasant as possible. Fundamental to this is to ensure that the back end of the operation -- order processing and delivery -- is simple, quick, and efficient. Also offer a generous warranty policy, with its terms clearly displayed on the Web site.
Go Internal
Perhaps the most effective way that your business can utilize Internet technology lies in streamlining the flow of communication within your organization. Use intranet applications as the backbone of your communication. This will inevitably speed up supply chains, reduce downtime, and save money.
Streamline Your Staff
The IT boom saw the asking price for people with specialized Web skills go through the roof. One distinct advantage of the e-commerce meltdown, which drove companies to go offshore or cut back on services, has been that salary rates for skilled e-workers have steadily come back down to earth. With the economy slowing and the tech industry settling into a mature outlook, there is a wealth of available labor right here in the United States. These top professionals are available for hire either directly or through service providers that specialize in screening for and managing diverse groups of highly skilled technical people. This, then, provides an ideal climate for you to add IT support and services to your company infrastructure at an affordable price without having to go offshore or hire someone in-house.
The lesson is to be sensibly conservative with regard to employee numbers and job specifications. The dot-com graveyard is littered with operations that employed far more bodies than were really needed to do the job effectively. As profits start to shrink again, small to medium-sized businesses need to pare down their IT staff to a core number who are trained in more than one specialized area of the operation. Cross-training will result in a smaller, more streamlined, and more economical team.
Opportunity Is Still Knocking
"Business-to-consumer Internet commerce is alive and well," is the prognosis of Internet research company IDC. IDC has always contended that the shakedown that saw so many dot-coms go the way of the dinosaur was nothing more than a necessary correction to an infant industry -- one that has since matured and grown leaner, meaner, and more able to survive any new economic downturns.
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