What are the incentives and disincentives of using the web as a business channel to market?

What are the incentives and disincentives of using the web as a business channel to market? And can the disincentives be overcome?

When doing business, customers are looking for a product or service that fulfills their needs, as well as value for money. Doing business online is a great way to drive buying decision-making and complete the sales and fulfillment process. So, what are the incentives for customers doing this and what will drive them away?

Incentives for customers to do business online:

• Availability and reach of information and services on the web – the internet never closes and isn’t subject to geographical boundaries.
• The range of search engines, specific sites that focus on key services (eg. iSelect, TrueLocal, eBay and ourbrisbane) and many well-known brand names allow customers to find the information they are after quickly and easily. Businesses should ensure that they are search engine friendly and have their website link listed on appropriate websites.
• Richness of information. Blackmores is a great example of a site that offers rich content, with specialist areas dedicated to women’s, men’s and children’s health, pregnancy, weight management and much more. Businesses should have as much of their content online as possible to assist the customer with their information needs. This will go some way to building up trust with the customer (subject to the information being objective) and assist with search engine results.
• Customers can do their research and, where relevant, buy and purchase online in their own time and in their own environment. Businesses should embrace this, and ensure there is adequate information on their site to inform the customer without the need for them to seek it out it elsewhere.
• Customers can be anonymous until they want to be identified. They can access information but engage the provider on their terms using online or traditional means (phone or direct). Businesses should provide a range of ways to engage website visitors online and offline by offering online subscriptions and membership options, easy-to-use electronic forms, click to call or click to chat tools, as well as providing a central phone number and your office details.
• Additional value from using the web that is not offered through traditional means, including: online functionality to assist with the buying process (eg. calculators or comparison tools), online discounts, honeymoon offers, bundling of products/services and loyalty programs that can only be accessed through the online channel. Businesses should look at what they can provide to drive customers to do business with them online. But it has to add value to their target customers to have the desired impact.
• Customers require information that is objective and as relevant as possible. TripAdvisor is a good example of a site that does this well, as travelers themselves generate the information. There are blogs and wikis that have threads relating to anything your customer wants to know.

Businesses should at the very least use testimonials, references and case studies in support of their offering. Providing an online forum on their site and/or identifying where these forums of online conversation are taking place also needs to be considered. Whether your business is going to act on these conversations or just observe them will require some careful consideration.

Disincentives for customers to do business online:

• If the customer’s experience using the website is poor, they will be dissatisfied. This poor experience is likely to be due to uninspiring design, complex site architecture, a lack of intuitive navigation and/or lack of relevant and easily understood content. Businesses should ensure they invest wisely in building a website that matches their customer’s expectations, and fits with their business needs and position in the market place.
• Insufficient content or information to help a customer make a buying decision. If they can’t get it from your website, they will move on. Businesses need to achieve the right balance of information. They need to look at it from the customer’s eyes not from the business’s perspective. ‘What am I, as a customer, looking for on the website to assist me?’
• Too much selling; not enough value. Even if the sales process can only be fulfilled offline, the website can play a pivotal role in supporting the customer in making the decision. Buying a car is a very good example, where research is often gathered online so that when the customer is ready to go to the seller, all they want to do is kick the tyres and negotiate on the price. If you have genuinely assisted the customer with valuable information online, you are likely to get first chance at the sale. Businesses should ensure their website doesn’t act as just another cog of the sales process, but that it is a genuinely valuable tool that engages the consumer and assists them with their purchasing decision.
• Security is still a key aspect for customers. Customers need to be constantly reassured that their personal and financial information is safe. Business should use the appropriate functionality and tools that are consistent with industry standards and best practice.
• When buying online, there is generally a delay in the customer receiving the product/service and additional costs (eg. postage and handling). Customers want instant buying gratification – to use what they have bought there and then – and to purchase for the best price. Businesses need to provide as much information about their product and service as possible, and offer free or reasonably-priced postage so that the overall price is still less than if they bought it from a physical shop. Careful thought needs to go into the online segment of your business model and how it works with existing offline channels. You don’t want one channel cannibalising the other, or channel wars. But you do want to provide the customer with choices, otherwise they may get all the information from you but still buy elsewhere.

Using online as a channel is not the end-all to solving business problems or creating business opportunities, but it can certainly help. The online marketplace is booming and you’re missing out if your business doesn’t have a strong online presence. Just having a website is not enough these days. If it’s poorly delivered, it can do you more of a disservice than if you had no online presence at all. Just like a physical store or showroom, your space in the online world must be orderly, polished, informative and inviting to your customer to get results.

Mark Nicklin is the Managing Director of Digital Strategy for Bullseye.