Are you a manufacturing company that is thinking of expanding into online sales as a way to make more money? Or are you considering starting an E-Commerce website as a new business, and aren’t sure if online sales will make you more money than traditional B2B sales?
Regardless of the reason you’ve ended up on this page, it’s clear you have some questions about Online and traditional sales and the advantages and disadvantages of each. At Q7 Consulting we’ve learned the ins and outs of how to expand or change to On-line sales and what you need to do to prepare your systems and processes.
Hereunder you can find basic steps that you need to take into consideration:
Ensure Management support. – Active support from Senior Management as well as from Marketing & Sales Management is crucial for your success. Online Sales will change the company significantly and your stakeholders must be fully aware of this.
Market Viability – Evaluate well the Market Viability for your products. Identify your Target Market.
Conduct Online Market Research – Explore well the Internet. Make use of Social Media and Digital Platforms. Conduct Keyword searches. Ensure there is demand.
Conduct a Competitive Analysis – Explore well the Internet on potential competitors. Make SWOT analysis.
Consider Online Business Laws for Internet Selling – For different markets and/countries, certain laws apply.
Choose the right E-Commerce Platform for your Business – Depending on your current IT systems, the identified markets and type of customers, you will have to select your E-Commerce platform.
Drive traffic to your Online store – You might have to consider automated Email Marketing Tools.
Organize well your Shipping, Fulfillment & Returns – Your company probably has these processes in place, but now these processes must run smoothly and predictably. They need to be automated end-to-end so that you can make fully through what you promise on your website.
Measure your Success – You will need to conduct Analytics in order to see how your business is performing. Both for your Online sales as your traditional sales. The result of your Analytics is the input for the next step.
Improve every day – E-Commerce platforms allow you to easily communicate with your customers. Making small changes becomes easier. But every change needs to be supported as well by your underlying systems and processes.