Ecommerce: 246 Billion reasons why it’s here to stay

In the 2013 financial year Australian businesses earned $246 billion through online sales, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

So what’s all the hype about? 

Why the continual growth for the industry in Australia and the world? 
And most importantly: if it suits your business, how can you participate? 

Even if you haven’t asked these questions, this article will be a great introduction to the ecommerce world.

Increasing your market reach:
With an online store you are globally accessible; anyone with an Internet connection has access to your products. Your potential customers have the ability to browse through and purchase from your full product range 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Alongside the fact that more than 50% of businesses have placed orders over the Internet, an ecommerce store provides a great visible location that a physical store might never achieve.

Increasing your product range:

Ecommerce stores provide the opportunity to broaden your product range because the products can be delivered directly to the customer from the supplier. The issue of physically stocking products can be a thing of the past.

Increasing convenience for customers:
You have the opportunity to provide a complete ease of experience for your customer. With a well-designed store, a customer can view a product, read everything they need to know – costs, warranties, specifications, relative equipment and parts; any information you would like them to be informed of – and make the purchase all within a matter of minutes, without any lengthy consultations or processes that are involved with physically shopping.

A company needs a brand that’s worth recognising:

Like any other form of marketing, it’s important to have consistent and professional branding because this affects your company’s credibility and the likelihood of a new prospect trusting your company with their hard earned cash. If you’re spending quite a lot of money on marketing you need to ensure your leads are coming from your specific target audience so that you have the best chance to turn those leads into sales. Once you’ve established a brand, it’s important to keep your branding consistent. This provides a way to differentiate the product, deliver key messages and encourage loyalty by allowing prospects to trust your product or service.

Which solution best suits you?
There are a variety of solutions on offer when it comes to online stores. Before you sign up with the first company that seems to provide everything you need, consider these factors:

·         How long you will be in business?

·         How much profit do you plan (or need) to make?

·         Who will be updating or adding website content?

·         How important is support from your web developer?

·         How many products do you wish to offer?

These are some of the bigger questions that are very important when making a decision for the long-term, because costs for upgrades and improvements could run into the thousands even for a small website if it’s not set up correctly.

There are solutions online that offer cheap monthly or annual fees in comparison to local custom solutions but the difference is that with cheaper options you may be limited in a specific area, whether it be development, design or the amount of products you can display. With a local custom solution it’s likely that your biggest expense will be the up-front development cost, and the ongoing costs will be considerably lower (if you’re selling a decent amount of stock and have trained staff adding content) in comparison to some alternatives which take a percentage on each sale.

Online stores are convenient, easily accessible and very efficient, and the industry is rapidly growing.

If you are looking to sell a small amount of stock and aren’t in it for the long haul a cheaper solution may be for you, but if you are looking to display most or all of your products, have local training and support and have a branding specialist who understands Australian business you should definitely consider a local custom solution.

Written by Cody Kerr and Kevin Burns.

If you are considering an online store please contact Cody, Director of Royal Graphics:

www.royalecommerce.com.au

info@royalecommerce.com.au

5 Reasons Why You Need a Website!

Web Design Brisbane

I have been inspired to reproduce the article I recently wrote in the Auto Electrical & Air Conditioning News Magazine, which is a magazine targeted at a anything auto electrical demographic.

So what are the 5 Reasons? Here we go...

1 – Constantly promote your Products and Services

Even when you aren’t at work, your website is. A website can outline your full range of services and products in far more detail than other advertising (Wouldn’t it be great for your customers to know the whole process before they even approach you). An online presence can be far more efficient than print media if the online marketing is being effective.

2 – Expand your reach

Website’s are not just local, they are global, your products and services can be accessed by people down the road and across the country from the comfort of their own space.

3 – Prospects find You (More Mobile than ever)!

Having a well–built website will increase the visibility of your site to the search engines that people use to find what they are looking for (You won’t automatically hit first page of Google, but that can be assisted with Search Engine Optimisation). Website’s are convenient, Australians are using their mobile phone as the entry point to their path to purchase, with 79 per cent using their devices to browse products on websites or apps (Mobility in Australian Retail: Telstra’s How Mobility is Changing the Rhythm of Australian Retail, Oct 2013). This makes it important that you have a responsive website that can be viewed on all devices.

4 – Boost your Credibility!

If you want your customers to have confidence with your business it is important you have a professional looking website. The confidence that your customers have with your business will keep them loyal and keep them coming back for more! Loyal customers will also refer you to their friends and acquaintances. Your clients are unlikely to be carrying around business cards but if they can point people in the direction of your website you have just had some traffic driven to your website! Your website can convey the professional and up-to-date image needed to compete in today’s increasingly aggressive marketplace. A professional website will improve your overall impression with the public and will show that you’re serious about what you do. If your line of work means you need particular checks, accreditations or licences in order to comply with legislation (or just to make people have more confidence in you), your website can outline these clearly and give them the confidence they need in order to take their first punt. So who do you believe? The customers, that’s who! A testimonial from a customer is far more powerful than any claim you make about yourself, however much you believe in it yourself. And your website is the perfect place to showcase these. With just a few mouse clicks, customers can get access to information on your hours, your services, your products, your prices etc. Furthermore, people who are regular email users will appreciate being able to send an email or asking questions via your website. It may be good to talk, but these days, electronic communication is becoming the norm for many. Make sure you’re keeping communication channels open and accessible, and your customers happy.

5 –Competition!

Does it seem your competitors are gaining an edge on you? It’s probably because they have a website! Wouldn’t it be great to have a level playing field, or better still, get the upper hand? Once again with 79% of people using mobile devices to browse for products, not having a website means handing business to your competitors. (Mobility in Australian Retail: Telstra’s How Mobility is Changing the Rhythm of Australian Retail, Oct 2013). Making sure you have a website that can be found and stands out, meaning you’ll seriously increase the chances of being top of people’s list of ‘preferred suppliers’. To put it bluntly, if you don’t have a website you will be losing business to companies that do.

Next issue we will cover another IT Topic such as Online Stores and Graphic Design.

More info: www.royalgraphics.com.au

Royal Graphics services also include: Graphic Design (Business Cards, Logo Design, Flyers, Catalogue Design, Brochures, Banners, etc), Web Design, Ecommerce and much more!