Industry facts
58% of the consumers ranked manufacturers’ websites as the preferred destination for product and purchase information.
Companies like Apple, Dell. are great showcases of the success of direct consumer connection from a manufacturer, enabling a uniform, rich and high quality brand perception as well as driving high sales volumes.
Forrester Research reported that 77% of consumers expect manufacturer web sites to have the best product information leading to purchase.
80% of online consumers will buy online in the next 6 months – Neilson 2010
85% of online shoppers research online before buying offline–(IAMAI)
Having a single business to provide both
online and offline experience
It is common for retailers to treat their online business as a separate entity. You require a coherent “bricks and clicks” business that spans across your physical and online presence to make the most of both. Moreover, it is hard to give a consistent experience to consumers inside the store and online.
Retailers do not have in-house technology expertise
Technology is often a capital intensive department and retailers are often weary of getting into an area which they are not experts in. It is important for retailers to be able to acquire and manage technology without requiring technical expertise or huge investments.
Acquiring customers from the Internet is difficult
Online marketing is a new concept for most retailers and they find it hard to convert their offline strategies to online strategies. Moreover, using different online marketing approaches to make customer acquisition cost effective appears to be a complex activity to retailers.
Showcase products and offers effectively
Consumers want to know of all the products and offers available from a retailer. They also want to be able to quickly find the product or offer that they are interested in. So product discovery and showcasing is a critical challenge for most retailers.
Expensive & Difficult to manage Payment systems & logistics
Getting a flexible payment solution and logistics solution for a retailers’ digital commerce requirements is a complex job. It is hard to find affordable and reliable solutions that will take care of such core requirements such as payment and shipping.
A consumer lost online, is a consumer lost
Many retailers view online and offline retail sales as different domains. The reality is that a customer who is looking for you and does not find you or finds a competitor or gets a not-so-good impression about you on the Internet might choose not to do business with you.
