Not many blogs are written these days about the need to have an online presence and how that adds to your bottom-line. The reason is obvious – much has already been talked about this and there’s much to catch-up in the ever-changing digital world. While businesses are expected to stay technologically updated with their business processes optimised to the changing market behaviour, the reality is often the opposite. If your business doesn’t have a strong online presence or think that’s unnecessary as your business falls under the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise category, here’s a blog to remind you how your customer purchase preference’s and shopping habits have changed in the last few years.
Shop hops to site hops
Shop hopping and trawling through racks of goods was once the only way to find the right product suiting your need. However, with the flourishing of smart phones, internet and mobile apps, the purchase process and buyer habits have drastically changed at unprecedented levels. Be it grocery, apparel, furniture, electronic appliances or other goods, everything is available at finger tips for the urban and semi-urban population. All that needs to be done is to hop through a few websites or mobile apps, place the order and goods will be delivered at your doorstep.
Whim to well-researched shopping
‘I bought it on a whim’ was once a common saying among shoppers. Not anymore! Whether it is apparel, gadgets, home décor, electronic appliances or high value purchases, everything goes through an online research phase, before arriving at the purchase decision. The modern buyers spends a considerable amount of time in search engines to remain updated about the latest technologies and trends. In other words, the Gen X and Millennial shoppers knows exactly what they want and how much to pay for it. As a seller, what’s important is to ask the question “Is my business visible in their online searches?”
Word-of-mouth to online reviews
There were days when one would call his family and friends to take opinion or rely on the word-of-mouth before purchasing a mobile phone or another device for home. Come 2016, it’s not family and friends, but online reviews from total strangers who has the power to make or break a sale. If a product is continuously receiving low rating and bad reviews, that’s more than enough to kill a product.
Being local to sourcing global
If it was a decade or two back, buyers were left with no option but to bank on the sellers in their locality or in the nearby cities for sourcing goods and chattels. The opening up of online marketplaces like Amazon, Souq, Ebay, Flipkart and many others, offer shoppers an abundance of options, brands and price ranges to choose from. Digital marketplaces like AliExpress and some others even allow shoppers to purchase products from abroad, without having to go through the hassles of getting custom clearances and import formalities.
