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March 2008 Articles
Tactics for beating the competition - Net.Matters - March 2008
With new web technologies being developed as we speak, it is no wonder that online retailers have to stay focused on which methodologies will work best for increasing online sales and retaining customer loyalty. Not all the technologies will be applicable to all websites - the level of interaction with your client base will depend on age range, gender, retail sector, products on offer - the list is endless. The tactics listed here can be used as a guide...
| 1. | Interaction |
Customer feedback is important. Enable your customers to interact with the website by offering virtual customer support agents, opt-ins for product information, news and special offers. Obviously, the type of product or service you are selling will determine to some extent which interaction will work the best. Selling insurance may benefit from virtual one-to-one communication whilst selling specialist car parts may require more in-depth technical reviews from a user review section. |
| 2. | Personalisation | We have already touched on this in our first Net.Matters article - specifically for email campaigns to your customer base. Offer "customers who bought this also bought this" - providing intelligent suggestions for related products is another means of enticing the customer to buy more. |
| 3. | RSS | Enabling customers to sign up for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can be drip-fed straight to clients, keeping them up to date with sales, special offers and seasonal promotions. |
| 4. | User communities | Online forums are an effective way of sharing information about your products and can promote brand loyalty. Customer service should not be replaced with self-help forums but the latter can enhance potential buyers' perception of your products and services by letting them browse feedback from other buyers. |
| 5. | Blogging | As long as blogs are kept current and relevant, they can be used to provide product information and guidance. |
| 6. | Social networking | Consider whether your website matches a particular demographic. Can you establish links with social network sites to create interest in your product line? |
| 7. | Tagging | By tagging pages of direct relevance/usefulness to the browser, the buyer is generating a profile of his/her preferences. Reviewing user tags can help websites to tailor products for their market. |
| 8. | Wikis | Enabling users to update web content can be an effective way of sharing information quickly. If your site offers products with detailed technical specs., wikis are a useful means to update information with relative ease. |
| 9. | Podcasts | Products that are best evaluated whilst seen in action will benefit from this tactic. Product footage that can be downloaded by the buyer can be assessed almost as if the buyer is physically in the store. |
