Is your online retail store ready to bump?
While there is no doubt that more consumers are moving towards purchasing online, the online space is starting to become quite crowded and those entering this space are now finding margins being squeezed and achieving a front page search ranking is becoming harder. Additionally, the cost of acquisition by CPC or other SEM is increasing.
So how does your business stand out in the online environment?
The fundamentals still apply:
- Know your space and keep it niche!
- Understand that success in online involves continual investment in your business across all front of house and back of house processes.
- Invest in making changes to the front page of your website and your landing pages at least quarterly.
- Ensure you have a structured 12 month SEO plan in place.
- Ensure you have a structured 12 month SEM plan in plan.
- Ensure you are marketing your online business in the Social Media space and that your branding is consistent across all channels.
- Innovate- Innovate – Innovate and Innovate some more!
More than ever before consumers are demanding innovation from companies they deal with and the research indicates that for online retailers innovation is key. This can be as simple as making innovative changes to your front page or other landing pages or for example the Commonwealth Bank is about to release an app for the iphone, which will enable customers to pay each other by bumping their phones together.
While there has been mixed success to date, the research is still predicting that Social Networking is about to redefine how financial transactions are undertaken. One of the big issues for retailers now is the polarisation of its consumer base. Consumers over 35 are still primarily in store shoppers however those under 35 are rapidly changing the way they transact and many are transacting exclusively online.
The team @ Neto are spending considerable R&D on developing innovative ways for online retailers to interact with their customers. We are about to launch a competition for the best online retailing innovative idea and look forward to hearing from any online retailers who would like to submit a proposal.
