Sun, 07 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT
How to prevent your business from getting left behind in the digital era
The digital age has arrived and your digital presence is your front door to the world.
Gone are the days where being online means just having a website. In the last ten years the digital space has rapidly advanced whilst simultaneously securing and growing its role in the business world. It couldn’t be a more important time to stay informed, adapt your business and keep up with the digital-savvy times - or lose out to those who do.
But how?
The rise of the digital age has also seen an increase and expansion in ecommerce platforms, allowing consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with ease from anywhere in the world. This is only expected to accelerate over the next few years.
Whether you are developing or sprucing up your website or ecommerce platform, it is very important to consider the user’s experience. The web user is your potential customer. A well designed user experience is what can differentiate your business in the competitive online space.
Optimizing your digital presence for mobile is no longer recommended, but required for the success of your business. A study conducted in 2015 by mobile surveying company GeoPell and World Wide Worx suggested that 40% of South Africans use mobile phones to browse the internet and access social media sites.
Love it or hate it, social media has become a part of our daily lives and is all around us every day. Nowadays, you need to represent your business through these channels – and very importantly, think about the way in which your brand is being presented to the “always-connected” consumer. Don’t feel that you have to be on every single social media platform. Rather focus on mastering your presence and engaging consistently on two or three platforms that are relevant to your customers and target market. If you have an ecommerce platform on your site, investigate how you can use social media to drive real conversions and increase your Return on Investment.
With the addition of the “buy-button” to many social media platforms, the future landscape of ecommerce could look very different. Many recent articles suggest that the future of commerce is in fact rooted in social media or gamification – just think Pokemon Go.
The world has never been more connected and consumers have instantaneous access to multiple channels. This is why multi-channel selling is an important consideration that ecommerce sellers have to consider. Consumers love using multi-vendor websites as it gives them the option to choose from a wide selection of items from various sellers. If you do not have your own ecommerce platform this is also a great way to sell and promote your products and presence in the digital space.
Now SCNet offers small businesses the opportunity to promote their brand and products through SCNet’s ecommerce platform with an extensive reach of over 50 000 users. It’s easy, secure and has zero set up costs, making it possible for you to enter into the ecommerce arena.
Whatever you choose to do going forward, the digital world isn’t going anywhere and there is an abundance of information, data and analytics available online to help you along the way. Start by evaluating your digital presence and establishing a digital plan-of-action going forward.
To check out the SCNet Deals Marketplace you can click here to visit and find out more.
Or for more information, or to promote your business through the SCNet Deals Marketplace call us on 0861272638 or email us on info@scnet.co.za.