Why do we need a website ?

RETAIL DIGITISATION -

I am a digital enthusiast, and I started my digital experience in 2002 with my 1st email account on yahoo.com in a cyber café at Ranchi. Since then, I have been exploring digital tools and techniques and witnessing the paradigm shift in thinking.

In those days, Social media was meant for more entertainment and networking and less for business. It was a part of fashion to have an email address and be online on yahoo messenger and google talk. We as an audience used to spend our money and time in cybercafés, and a few handfuls of people on the other side used to make money. They were the early batch of marketers, and few of them went beyond and created the history like jack and mark, who made a Twitter and Facebook.?

In this series of retail digitisation, I am writing about my experience, which may help some retail marketing professionals and retailers reach the most extensive customer base with the help of digital ways.

When I was working with disthv, the govt implemented the digitisation of DTH business, which means each user has to use the Set-Top-Box so the broadcasters can get the exact details of users. At that time, most Indian households had a cable connection, in which one cable operator could connect as many households with one source. Customers enjoyed approximately 100 channels for 100 rupees, so the customer and provide both were happy, but govt and broadcasters were not getting either data or royalty.

DishTV initiated a massive retail branding campaign, including opening recharge outlets in every nook and corner and putting the DishTV available here signage and POSM at each recharge center. More than 18000 recharge outlets existed in 2012-14 in the Rest of Maharashtra.

We used to call this campaign - Retail digitisation, which was the wrong reference; it was just creating visibility to support customers for a seamless recharge experience. However, it was not so successful because, with the rise of jio, customers were getting empowered to recharge their DTH connection online.

Let's come to 2022. you may skip this piece of article because the theme of this article is to create a digital presence in today's context, so history doesn't matter.

Part of Retail Digitisation Series -> Creating the digital presence.

1. Why do we need digitisation?
2. How do we adapt to the digital transformation?
3. What needs to be done to digitised our business.

WHY? Let's find out why?

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Almost all the customers start their day with a mobile phone. When I open my wake up 1st, I check my WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Until I took a sip of tea, I checked all notifications on my mobile. This is happening to everyone; I am sure all my friends in reading are experiencing the same thing.

Dual Identity -?We work 10 to 6 as professionals, or sellers. The rest of the time, we are pure customers, and 90% of that time, we either search, read, or watch something digitally. This is why brick and mortar or offline retail is not as relevant as it used to be and online or omnichannel retail is the future.?

But why do we need a website??

A Facebook page or LinkedIn company profile is enough to connect the audience, then why do we need to spend at least Rs. 5000 to make a website?

Have you seen anyone putting on hoardings or giving newspaper ads without opening their shop or office? Ideally, we open a shop, start an office, and then promote it through TV, Radio, newspaper, roadshows, and one-to-one meetings. Similarly, we need to create a presence on the web and then promote it through digital tools like social media platforms.

Therefore We must have a website, a proper virtual business establishment.

? Always Connected – 24x7

A website means an open and active business 24x7; customers can reach you anytime, anywhere, even outside business hours. Users can access the information at their convenience, in the comfort of their own home, with no added pressure to buy. Your website is a virtual shop or your virtual salesman who continues to find and secure new customers. This is the one place where all your social posts bring the customers. Consider Linkedin and Facebook your agents or sales executive who keep crawling new customers and bring them to your office to have a meeting with you to discuss the projects.

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??Inbound marketing –?you must have listened to this buzzword many times along with content marketing? What is that? Let me tell you. When your content is genuine, social media agents will bring the business who love your content to your services that suit their requirements.?

???Having a meaningful conversation -?Chat-bots and live chat options are great ways to connect instantly.?. The enquiry form helps to generate leads. The website basically provides quick and easy communication between buyers and sellers. It shows your company's objective, mission, why it stands for and the way forward. This is also an excellent way to promote your social media platforms and build a community with your customers.

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??Boost your business – Without a website, your visiting cards are incomplete. Your portfolio lacks credibility. You can not make the reputation of your company without a good website. For example, if you are an internet lease line provider and talk about cloud, email, and endpoint security but don't have a simple standard website? Why would an SME owner entertain you? They will naturally think that if you are not tech-savvy, how would you understand the requirement of the customer.

Remember the 90s when potential customers used to avoid doing business with those who didn't have a phone number or physical address, and the same logic happened with the website. At least having a website makes customers feel comfortable using your services, as they consider you the tech-savvy and contemporary who thinks that customer satisfaction is the primary objective of modern business houses.

Therefore, please invest in your website and give your business a legitimate status.

???Cost-cutting.?- A website cut the cost? Impossible. At least Rs. 4 to 5k is required to create a website. How can it cut the cost? But yes, it saves them money. A Website can reduce customer calls and complaints. Frequently asked questions, product demonstration videos, or PDFs help customers understand the product.?

A website can save the operating overheads such as backend staff, even the physical office, furniture and other staff.

??Beyond the boundaries: -?The ability to break through geographical barriers has never been easy, but a website is accessible worldwide, which means anyone can be your customer. Anyone in the world will be able to find your company and, as such, could be a potential customer. Through the website and its social handles, you can penetrate your presence in SME communities in a more effective way.

?? get the consumer insight: -?With various tools and dashboards such as google analytics can tell you the real consumer insights. Analytic tools allow you to identify your typical customer, how they found you, and what they like. Use the Pro QR code, and you will get the exact information of your customers who are silently watching you, isn't interesting? Wanna know more? Haha...get in touch with me or wait for the 2nd part of this series.?

??Do better advertising?- with the help of Google ad word or Facebook ad campaign, we can reach a large audience. Google Ad Or facebook paid advertising gives the control over your spending, target customer demographic, and various parameters is almost impossible in traditional marketing that, too in less budget. Excited? Arent you?? Imagine that you can reach up to thousands of customers by spending a few hundred rupees, which is nearly impossible in offline marketing. But this is possible when you have an excellent website placed. This is the better way to spend your marketing budget.?

??Competition is online, so if we don't get online, someone else will get the benefit. - yes, it is true. If you don't have a website, your existence is in question. Someone else who is alive, ready to serve, and agile can get all your potential customers, and you are wondering why your turnover is not moving ahead. Not having a website means you are missing out on gaining new customers. We have to ensure that no prospects must be missed and acquired by the competition.

??An opportunity to grow ?- Someone has said a few days before that if I do all such - digital and social media- who will do the business. You just improve your products and services and post them on social media plus, keep optimising the website, and the business will follow automatically.

??Customer Testimonial?- This could benefit you; all positive feedback can be uploaded into a testimonial; your customers are happy, so why not show it off? It's a great way to showcase your reputation and the love you earned in the market.

HOW –?Now, we will figure out how to create the digital footprints.

Creating the primary brand identity:?As enterprise owners, we must have a specific name and logo. Hire a graphic designer or tie-up with a local free-lancer graphic designer who can create designs per your thoughts. The 2nd important thing is to sit down with your team and brainstorm the business vision, values, and USP, making us different. For example, if I have a mobile shop- I may highlight authentic and genuine products and position the shop as the most authentic shop in the neighbourhood. If I have a business internet service provider, I will place it as the most dependable and customer friendly.

• Making a Logo.
• Fixing and documenting the positioning.
• Business philosophy and values.
• Creating the website -?A simple dynamic WordPress website will serve the purpose.
• Creating the Google My business and geo tagging.
• Making all social handles and keeping optimised it.

So these are all about online things, digital or virtual things. Now let's have some light on offline too. Why and how a website can - increase the footfall in the stores or Increase the qualified leads, which is fashionably called - MQM - marketing qualified leads? But I will open the secrets in a subsequent part of this series. Please let me know your feedback in the comment section. :)

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