In times of economic crisis, most sectors of the economy is affected in some way. It is no different with retail: the big stores growing less than expected and betting on promotions to try to attract the consumer. Despite negative to some, this scenario can be reversed into something very positive, especially for small and medium sized retailers. These players have an important advantage. On account of the size of the business, are more flexible, less bureaucratic and able to respond quickly to the needs of the consumer.
But to be able to take advantage of the good opportunities that a crisis offers, it is necessary to have knowledge about the profile of the consumer, establish processes that facilitate the management of the business and to count with tools that assist in the management. At this point, the technology can be an important ally to small and medium retailer, primarily of e-commerce.
in Addition to helping in the management of the business, the technology can be an important means of sales and also to attract new customers. A survey conducted by Ibope for the Secretary of Communication of the Presidency of the Republic shows that 26% of brazilians use the internet daily, making it the second most accessed in Brazil, behind only television.
The technology provides endless possibilities, but below I highlight some of them which are crucial to the success of e-commerce.
Mobility
A study released recently by Accenture confirms a trend already perceived by the retailers: increased use of smartphones for online shopping. According to the survey, 80% of companies that offer shopping experience more wide have better performance than their competitors. The consultancy points out that 61% of consumers have used smartphones most often in the past year to search for what they wanted, 44% expect to purchase more products via smartphones this year, and 63% find it easy to purchase with the unit.
Numbers animators, right? But the study also shows that only 31% of retailers have smartphones able to have applications with the ability to process online purchases. Another point of attention is to ensure that the consumer has the same purchasing experience regardless of the device used. Unfortunately, it is very common to access a website through the smartphone and not be able to view the right products or having difficulties to find the products that you want, which occurs in most cases by the fact that these channels are not adapted to all platforms.
The retailer who bet on a friendly site and easy to access on all platforms will certainly be as a response to the increase in sales. This is an investment relatively low, and that it pays for itself in a short time. Incidentally, this is not a matter of ROI, but rather that you bet on mobility is a question of survival of the business today.
CRM
The small and medium retailer can not make the mistake of thinking that the customer relationship management, or CRM (Customer Relationship Management), is subject only to the great. It is critical to track the customer journey, making it possible to identify new possibilities of sale, in addition to retaining the buyer.
THE CRM can also be used to direct the communication strategy and marketing. After all, if you do not know your consumer, know what he wants to hear and when? How to know the products he consumes and when it consumes? Only with this vision it is possible to be more assertive and not wasting time with actions that will not generate too many results.
Regardless of the size of your business, use CRM, know your customer. Certainly this will improve the relationship with the consumer and boost sales.
Automation
Another subject that may seem unattainable for small and medium sized e-commerce is automation. The word can refer to robots and large machines, is the truth. But the automation can come from something that, for the consumer, it should be very simple: software which will help you a lot in the routine of work.
no longer is today that many companies, regardless of size, see in technology an opportunity for growth and efficiency gain. Started to resort to solutions flexible, scalable, and affordable, based on concepts such as cloud computing and Big Data, to eliminate bureaucracy and make processes more agile. Another notable benefit is that many small and medium businesses, including online retailers, have to pay only for what they consume these services, which can be customized.
The facilities offered by technology also affect the logistics. No point in getting to know the client, make good promotions, and sell amazing products if it is not possible to deliver them quickly and securely in the customer’s house. The logistics ends up being a bottleneck for many small and medium retailers, since it demands a lot of time and care in packing and posting of products. To scale the importance of the theme, only the stock and the handling are responsible for 37,4% of the expenditures, according to a survey conducted in 2015 by the Brazilian Association of ecommerce (ABComm).
The good news is that there are new logistics solutions simple and advanced that help to reduce the time spent in the packaging and transport of products. For many entrepreneurs, this is critical so that they can focus on other strategic issues, such as the growth of the business.
The technology can assist in all stages of business, whether it is in prospecting, retaining, sending goods or administration. Just don’t be afraid to bet on innovation and rely on trusted partners. Have you innovated in your business?
Carlos Gaspar – Chief Technology officer of startup logistics Mandaê.
No comments:
Post a Comment