B2C ECommerce Selling on the Internet

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B2C E-CommerceSelling on the Internet

• Alan Barefield
• University of Tennessee
• Agricultural Extension Service

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What is the biggest problem with selling to
consumers on the Internet today?
Inexperienced people with overinflated
expectations who create online stores with the
belief that once theyve done the work, the
dollars will roll in. (Carroll and Broadhead,
page 3)
A majority of people who start a business . . .
assume that once they open, customers will flock
in without any marketing or promotion. Unless
you are McDonalds, this will not happen. Pat
Bishop, The Daily Oklahoman
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If this wont work, what will?

• Think about how the traditional bricks and
  mortar business model became successful
• Utilize these principles to develop an online
  marketing strategy
• Implement that strategy
• Constantly monitor, assess, and update this
  strategy

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What are we talking about?
An Online Marketing Plan!
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Traditional Marketing Considerations

• Provide a product or service that somebody needs
  or wants
• Provide superior customer service in the form of
  technical assistance, product information, etc.
• Develop a relationship with the customer
• Strive for satisfied customers and repeat
  business rather than new customers

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Internet Marketing Components
World Wide Web Site
E-mail
These are the typical online marketing components
that are within the reach of todays typical
small business. There will be others in the
future.
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Lets look at e-mail first

• Why is e-mail so great?
• Its everywhere
• Enables the business to maximize its relationship
  with the customer
• Who are the most valuable customers?
• Offers individualized service
• Establishment of meaningful dialogues
• Its about communication

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Lets look at e-mail first

• Why is e-mail so bad?
• Its everywhere
• Spam is everywhere. Spam is unsolicited, usually
  commercial, E-mail sent to a large number of
  addresses (Merriam-Websters Collegiate
  Dictionary). Spam is the tele-marketing of the
  internet.
• Why? Internet service is a cost to us, not the
  merchant.
• The customer wants to be in control

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E-mail advantages

• Its proactive websites must wait for visitors
• Its timely customers can be notified in real
  time
• Its personal no two e-mail inboxes are alike
• Its cost-effective costs less than telephone
  calls or mail but not everyone has e-mail
• Its measurable response activity can be
  measured and tracked you can see what works and
  what doesnt

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E-mail myths

• Asking people what they want never works
• This is not a myth in the offline world
• Works on the internet because you are delivering
  value to your customers based on their wants and
  needs
• Tell them why you want the information
• Only get the bare essentials at first (prove your
  worth)
• Make it easy to unsubscribe

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E-mail myths

• I have only one chance to ask my customers
  questions
• Remember, your goal is to strive for customer
  retention
• If you retain them, they will come back and you
  can get more information
• If they dont come back, you are not meeting
  their wants or needs

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E-mail myths

• My customers will not want my e-mail
• Your customers will want to hear from you
  occasionally, but regularly, if you provide them
  with information that they deem valuable
• If you have nothing of value to give them, you
  have bigger problems than can be addressed in
  this conference

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E-mail myths

• E-mail marketing is easy
• Sending spam is easy
• Providing personalized service can be extremely
  difficult and time consuming
• You have to plan to provide this type of service
• Requires both marketing and information
  technology expertise if the customer base is large

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E-mail myths

• E-mail marketing is free
• If the customer base is large, you will need to
  develop or purchase e-mail marketing software
• However, unless spam is your goal, a continous
  and effective e-mail marketing program requires a
  great deal of time and management
• Are you saying that your time is worth nothing?

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E-mail myths

• Information technology will just install some
  software to run our e-mail marketing programs
• There is no off-the-shelf software to do this
• Even if there were, each companys needs are
  unique
• While information technology support of some type
  needs to be present
• An e-mail marketing strategy is a marketing
  function

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Permission marketing

• Since an e-mail strategy is proactive, get your
  customers permission otherwise it is spam
• Rules of permission marketing
• Permission must be granted it cant be assumed
• Permission is selfish
• Permission can be revoked as easily as its
  granted
• Permission cant be transferred

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Permission marketing

• Tests of permission marketing
• Does every marketing effort encourage a learning
  relationship with the customer?
• Does it invite customers to start communicating?
• Do you track the people who have given you
  permission?
• If a customer gives you permission, do you have
  anything to say?

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Levels of permission marketing

• Intravenous treatment the emergency room
• Green stamps frequent flyer miles
• Personal relationships neighborhood butcher
  giving you ribeyes instead of sirloin at no
  charge
• Branding people usually choose the known over
  the unknown
• Situational selling a sales clerk recommends a
  video
• Spam calling a stranger at home during dinner
  without permission

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E-mail design

• The subject line is critical
• Get their attention in the opening sentence
• Deliver value
• Layout/design should be readable professional
• Personalize to the degree you can afford
• Provide a clickthrough as the response
• Carefully design the landing page
• Test measure, test measure, test measure.
  Then refine.

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Types of e-mail designsHTML design
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Types of e-mail designsPlain text design
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Ten ways to fail at e-commerce

• Spread the responsibilities of converting to
  e-commerce among several people
• Form a committee (particularly a committee of
  busy people)
• Develop the simplest approach possible
• Choose vendors who are dismissive of your
  traditional business, but whose abilities you are
  the least capable of assessing

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Ten ways to fail at e-commerce

• Operate the same way on the web as you do
  off-line (after all, the Internet is just a tool)
• Insist that the e-commerce venture meet every
  existing company standard (cost controls,
  recruitment sources, purchasing policies, etc)
• Dont encourage different units to cooperate
  reward each one separately

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Ten ways to fail at e-commerce

• Compare performance with traditional industry
  competitors
• Give employees tools that they are unable to use
  and require changes they are confused about
  making. When the these take too much time and
  make the work harder, punish the employees.
• The company, not the customer, is in the drivers
  seat

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Components of an on-line store

• Display mechanism
• Commonly thought of as the website
• Provides a place to display your wares
• Registration system for customers
• Transaction and Order Processing System
• Shopping cart
• Order processing system
• Secure transaction path to payment gateway

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Effective on-line store considerations

• Image and appearance
• Content
• Reliability
• Credibility, trust, respect
• Product information
• Design and navigation
• Order information
• Shipping information

• Exchanges, returns, and warranties
• Pricing information
• Checkout procedures
• Customer service, support
• Channel integration
• Market research

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E-commerce ideas

• Dont put your entire store online
• Turn your inventory over as quickly as possible
• Customers like to see what they are buying
• Keep shipping costs to a minimum and dont
  blindside your customers with them
• Use the Internet to know your customers and their
  demographics better than ever before

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Developing your website (online store)

• Visit several commercial websites to determine
  what you can do with an online store

• www.allhishorses.com
• www.ezhauling.com
• www.honeyjelly.com
• www.slawsa.com
• www.amazon.com
• store.yahoo.com

• www.williamscreekretreat.com
• www.sweetwatervalley.com
• www.gardens2grow.com
• www.radioshack.com
• www.landsend.com
• www.coach.com

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Sources

• Brondmo, Hans Peter. The Eng_at_ged Customer.
  Harper Business.
• Carroll, Jim and Rick Broadhead. Selling Online.
  Dearborn Trade.
• Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. The Tenn Deadly Mistakes
  of Wanna-Dots. Harvard Business Review. January
  2001.
• Rapp, Stan and Chuck Martin. Max-e-Marketing In
  The Net Future. McGraw-Hill.
• Stern, Jim. World Wide Web Marketing (3rd
  Edition). John Wiley Sons, Inc.
  www.wiley.com/compbooks or www.amazon.com