digital marketing eCommerce connectivity & hosting content management web 2.0 & social media
eCommerce
The global economic decline has tidied up the high street. There were on the bandwagon. Putting together an ecommerce site is not what
so many high street stores that just shouldn’t have been there. Why restricts these retailers; their ecommerce show stoppers are a set
buy a physical CD at Zavvi when you can download it straight to your of logistical and business issues that are often not easily resolved.
iPod? Why rent a DVD at your corner store when you can watch it on- It has become imperative that any issues are overcome, as it’s not
demand or have it delivered to your door from Lovefilm? viable long term for multi-channel retailers to have disconnected
Over the next few years, those tasks that prove to be frustrating in a
legacy systems that do not talk to each other. Their key strength lies
high street retail environment will disappear. They will move to online
in delivering a fully integrated experience across all their channels.
and mobile, both of which are more convenient and enhance the
Having this experience and systems integration helps organisations
customer experience. For example, the online search and selection
cope with embracing technologies, like the sudden growth of the
process for books with reviews and ratings provides a much richer and
Apple iPhone. If you don’t have the basics sorted you will not have
easier experience than shopping on the high street. It also makes it
the opportunity to capitalise on emerging technology to grow your
easier to compare prices, with tools like Snaptell which enables you
business.
to take pictures of books and barcodes and then search for them We strongly believe that there are going to be quite a few winners
online. In addition, ebook readers like the Amazon Kindle, with its online through this financial crisis. Many fashion and even furniture clients
content delivery makes buying books as easy as the click of a button, are achieving record revenues, because they are delivering a
with instant gratification for the reader. A customer walking around the great customer experience across all customer touch points. These
store with pricing comparison sites on their mobile doesn’t bode well successful companies have embraced the customer as being integral
for the future of high street retailers. to their organisation, driving both long-
So what do you do? The reality is that many of these changes take
term strategy and product development.
time and there is still money to be made, even in a declining market.
The real question you have to ask yourself
However the real energy has to be put into finding your future business
is... what is your future business?
model and this is likely to be online. Early adopters’ embraced Visit imano on stand e2005.
ecommerce over ten years ago, but there are still numerous high
ravi damani - CEO of Imano,
street retailers like Benneton and Gap in the UK that are yet to get
a leading ecommerce agency
CrM: a head-start in the post recession economy
While I don’t believe we are going to spend the next decade living be more than glad of the business. In short they want to feel reassured,
in Anderson shelters eating baked beans there is no doubt that the appreciated and most of all special. They want some gratitude.
recession has markedly changed both business and consumer spending
This is not an unreasonable attitude. Anyone buying a large engine petrol
in the short term.
four wheel drive for example could feel aggrieved if they don’t have rose
Expenditure is being analysed in a completely different way and petals scattered before them as they walk through the parking lot.
anything deemed a luxury is becoming a much more considered
In an internet enabled world where we can compare hundreds of prices
purchase. Companies considered national institutions are crumbling and
in seconds brand loyalty should mean absolutely nothing. Yet in the
money is felt to be safest under the mattress.
middle of a recession we have the priceless opportunity to cultivate it.
As we inevitably move back towards a more stable economic
We can cut costs and try to buy business in the short term or we can
landscape this type of behaviour will continue. Consumers who became
cultivate good feeling with our existing and new clients. This is not a short
jobless and businesses that suffered will continue to be cautious. The
term gain as this loyalty will continue after the recession. People will stick
memory of sleepless nights will linger longer than any practical concerns;
with the suppliers they see themselves as having “rode out the storm” with.
we are, after all, emotive creatures.
CRM is the front-line in creating this feeling. A well used CRM system
The question is how do we make money in a time when the largest of
will allow your customers to see your company, whatever its size, as
advertisers have dropped the standard “best value” advertising for the
one entity. It can give it personality. It needs to be integrated; your
much blunter “cheapest”? The glib answer is, as always, give the people
back end, e-commerce and your Web 2.0 community need to
what they want.
work alongside it. Used properly however your CRM gives you a rare
Initial analysis of behavioural changes has indicated a shift in where opportunity during this recession.
people prefer to spend their money. Corporations are suffering a
Make some money and build brand
backlash of distrust and purchasers are looking for a different type of
loyalty, it would be a shame to miss out.
solution, or, and here is the key, one that feels different.
Visit priam on stand e1005.
Potential purchasers are looking for relationships. They want to feel they
are in partnership with suppliers, as if they are part of something. Decision
neil spektor – Marketing Manager,
makers are well aware that there are plenty of other suppliers that would
Priam Software
20 www.internetworld.co.uk
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