Gone are the days where people get their information from television ads and telephone books. Consumers look for information the easiest way possible which is through the internet and it has become important now more than ever for every company to have a website.
Your website is like your shop or a store – that’s where visitors are converted to clients!
Research conducted by Frost and Sullivan predicts B2B e-commerce sales will reach $12 trillion globally by 2020, and this is a trend that is expected to continuously rise so it is important now more than ever to begin building your online store
Here are our 5 reasons why.
- People are looking for you online.
Ever wondered what the perfect chicken recipe was and found your self on Google looking it up? Or needed a quick handy way to fix the sink? Wanted to know what the latest model of a Camera or Phone set? Maybe you even Googled the fastest way to get somewhere or the best place to live in South Africa.
There are 3.5 billion searches on Google per day, and at this very moment, there is someone possibly in your area online and searching for your exact product or service.
Bottom line is, no matter what industry you’re in, people are already searching for you and therefor having your own website ensures that your business shows up when your client is already looking for you!
- Consumers Use Your Website as their main tool to contact you!
According to LSA’s (Local Search Association) April 2017 report, “The Digital Consumer Study,” 63 percent of consumers primarily use a company’s website to find and engage with the businesses and Research by YellowPages and LSA found that, on average, consumers use approximately three sources before making an individual purchase decision, and 30 percent automatically strike a business from consideration if they don’t have a website.
This makes the decision of having or not having the website very simple! If your competitor has a website then you most definitely need to have a website as well. If your competitor does not have one, you will have an advantage over them by having one for your business!
- Inform and Educate People About Your Brand
Because your website is your shop, this is your tool to inform and educate consumers about your brand and what you stand for. Adding a blog to your website not only improves your SEO but places your business in a unique position to give your clients more value and solidify your position as a thought leader in your field.
Having a website also improves your credibility in the eye of the public that should be coupled with a great social media presence where you amplify your messages. ,
Additionally, having landing pages on your website that include details on all your campaigns and/promotions helps to move customer’s further down the sales funnel.
- Wide, Global Reach
Not only is your website available 24/7, your website is available to a wide global village, which offers you the unique opportunity to increase and widen your customer reach.
By including a customer support page or FAQ you are able to improve customer interaction with your business and ensure that your customers queries are easily solved despite where they are from.
- Reduced Costs
How much would it cost you these days to set up a physical shop filled with stock? Probably not less then a 100,000 USD or much more. Starting your online shop is far less cheaper and with easily accessible tools like WordPress and Wix you can begin creating your website free of charge, earn some money and save up to invest into growing the site.
This also gives you the leverage to learn and test out different features and ideas for your website for a relatively low cost until you find out what works best for your business and your clients.
Hope we have ”sold” you on the necessity of an online or e-commerce shop in todays World of digital.
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