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Everyone’s heard the phrase, the internet is practically exploding with e-Commerce solutions that promise to make you an instant millionaire… et cetera. There are so many solutions, platforms, products and vendors in the market today that it can quite easily get very confusing for any business owner.
But let’s get back to the basics, to give you an understanding of exactly what is e-Commerce? e-Commerce is simply selling products or services through an online environment. There are some definitions out there that will classify any order you receive via email as an e-Commerce order, we tend to see this view as ‘a little ambitious’ a definition for e-Commerce. After all, if an emailed order fits the definition, why not a fax? They both arrive over a network as a binary packet of data, right?
But this is getting away from the point, which is, to shine a big ugly spotlight on the really important part of the term e-Commerce. Most people (vendors usually), will have you believe it’s the ‘e’. As in, we put the ‘e’ in ‘e-Commerce’. The fact that your order arrives via an electronic medium vs an ‘analogue’ one (ie, someone walking into your store) is irrelevant. To us at Outsourced EDM, this is like arguing over whether vinyl sounds better than cd, it’s the content that counts – always. Content is king.
It’s the Commerce part that is the critical factor in any successful e-Commerce venture, not the delivery medium. More and more, people are less impressed with the fact that they can be shopping from their PC, they expect the same levels of service, satisfaction and value as they would from any bricks and mortar operation. In fact, if you do have a storefront you can advertise in your online store, this becomes a valuable asset to your brand online and should be treated as such. Customers like to know that they are dealing with people in shops, it’s the psychology of the thing.
So, remember what’s made you successful as a business, in Commerce. The same values that were true 20 years ago in a shopfront are even more important in today’s digital marketplaces. Value, customer service, integrity, standing behind the products and the value propositions you make to your customers, these virtues are independent of the medium that business is conducted in. Too often we see that people get focused on the delivery mechanism of your value proposition, which is cheapening that proposition.
It’s insights like this, that allow Outsourced EDM to assist your business in generating the online presence that will stand out from the crowd and put you ahead of your competitors. Contact us today to see how we can help you open this channel and compliment your already successful business practices.