These days, the whole world is online and e-commerce is changing the way that SMEs do business. Making use of efficient and effective retail integrated e-commerce models, you can significantly grow your business into something more successful than you could have ever imagined. Here we will take a look at just four of the many ways that integrating e-commerce into your retail enterprise can be to your benefit.
Benefits of Retail Integrated E-Commerce
1. Attract New Business
Gone are the days when small businesses had to hope for passerby’s to notice their boutique or rely upon word of mouth in order to make sales. In the online world, it has never been easier to attract consumers through successful keyword optimization strategies. Because every single one of your products, categories, departments, etc. can have their own customized search engine meta tags (ie: titles, keywords, descriptions), your business is far more likely to show up in your potential customer’s search results and capture their attention. With integrated e-commerce programs you can also monitor which key words seem to be drawing in the most clientele so that you can maximize the usage of those tags.
2. Keep Customers Coming Back
Once you have attracted customers to your page, it is important that you keep them browsing through your products and returning for more. The beauty of retail integrated e-commerce is that it simplifies the process of keeping consumer’s attention. By utilizing features and coding that suggest related or alternate products, product upgrades or add-ons, verbiage like “Customers who bought A also bought B”, customer ratings, ads for coupons and special offers, etc. are all great ways to keep consumers browsing through your online store. It’s also a smart idea to allow customers to obtain “e-coupons” that can be utilized within your actual retail location via their smart phone or tablet.
3. Operate in “Real Time”
In this fast-paced society, your consumers expect quick transactions and real time operation. By integrating e-commerce models into your retail business you can instantly make updates to your product inventory, descriptions, availability, and prices. Not only is this ideal for making online sales, but it also plays a huge role in your ability to make on-site sales at your physical retail location. 73 percent of consumers have admitted to utilizing their smart phones or tablets while shopping and 47 percent of these use them to more closely investigate a product prior to purchase. More surprising is that 93 percent of those people who utilize apps in store will make a purchase on-site, the same day. These figures make it clear that quick and accurate product updates and descriptions are critical to making sales.
4. Understand Your Customers
One of the greatest attributes of retail integrated e-commerce is that it enables you to continuously get to know your customers better. Each time your consumers log into your website, you will get a better picture of what it is that they are interested in and how to better meet their needs. By “remembering” previously viewed or purchased products, your online system can present buyers with customized suggestions and offers that will yield a higher response rate – leaving both your business and your customers satisfied. Online purchases and in-store purchases can also be integrated through web based customer loyalty programs that will enable your buyers to accumulate points that lead to further savings by making purchases either on the internet or at your physical location. By being able to access their loyalty points through mobile apps, your consumers will also be more likely to spend more while visiting your store.
For details on Integrated Retail solutions and how can it help your business write to us on [email protected]
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