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See how enterprises are transforming into digital businesses.
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Marc Andreessen tells Charlie Rose and Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg at IAB MIXX 2012 how "software is eating the world." Jeffrey S. Hammond, VP, Principal Analyst Serving Application and Delivery Professionals at Forrester Research, explains that the ubiquity of mobile devices, the cloud and IoT have combined to disrupt business. He states that companies who do not embrace software, including continues delivery and rapid deployment, will not survive. We’re all living in the Age of the Customer. The key to victory is interacting on the customer’s terms, at their chosen time and place, through whatever device or channel they prefer. It means building a bridge between your existing systems record and new systems of customer engagement, giving you the digital agility to enhance the customer experience, streamline information-intensive operations and provide better service for a competitive advantage. A winner: Domino’s, which makes your local pizzeria a loser. Over the past decade, as companies like Domino’s incorporated technology into their business models, independent pizzerias lost 21% market share. Another winner: Under Armour. The brand’s latest campaign divides spending evenly between TV and digital, a major departure from the previous 70-30 split and a recognition that consumers now spend most of their time on smartphones. A loser: Meerkat, or maybe Meerkan’t. The app was big news at SXSW this time last year but is now ranked 445th among social apps, while rival Periscope is consistently in the top 10. Another loser: Uber and their new logo. This is literally amateur hour in the world of branding. Welcome to the app economy, where brick-and-mortar businesses just don’t cut it. You need to be in the app business and we can take you there. Seize the opportunity to connect with customers and ace your digital transformation journey. The biggest loser this week: Any brand that has fallen behind on mobile investment as Google announced it fuels more searches on mobile and tablet than on desktop. Brands, however, might need to update their definition of what constitutes mobile investments. For example, all 50 brands in L2’s Hotels study have some sort of mobile site, but features are sparse. Less than a third feature reviews and just 6% play video on mobile. This is a huge missed opportunity for hotel brands as OTAs will step in, as TripAdvisor did when hotels were slow to introduce reviews. Another big loser: the American worker. While tech companies try to maintain their status as job creators, the facts show another story. For example, it takes six people at Facebook, eight people at Google, and 60 to 70 people at an ad agency like Publicis to generate $10 million in revenue. Zulily’s stock has jumped 7% after Alibaba bought a stake, placing it as a short-term winner. But the win is likely to remain short term as consumers now want omnichannel store model that delivers in physical stores, mobile and desktop. Another winner? Coffee drinkers as even Keurig is unable to come between them and their pods. If you own a small restaurant or bakery, then you're a small business owner. So, then you're probably asking, why do I need a website? Running your own business is not easy, and you’re to-do-list is guaranteed to never end. That being said, you should not use this as an excuse to procrastinate on your online visibility. A website, is an essential part of positioning yourself online with a strong, professional destination that gives customers the impression you mean business and the opportunity for them to engage with your business. With that being said here are a few reasons why You need a website  Impressions Count
Today, the world is moving towards an ecommerce online platform, people Google before they shop, visit online review sites before they buy and “check-in” via social media as they go about their days. You want your first impression to be the best it can be. It all starts with your website, consumers are making decisions about whether or not they will even visit your store, restaurant or Bakery. If you do not have an online presence or a good online presence, consumers are more likely to dismiss your store completely. Online Window Shopping Today, there are more ways to check out stores or restaurants, other than walking down your local Main Street. Consumers routinely visit Yahoo, Bing, Google, Yelp and other online sites, seeking where they plan to make their next purchases. If you want your business to be well represented on these sites, you need a website– but by also being represented among each of the online search engines, review sites and other online spots your business may be considered for customer review. Beyond having your URL address available, also be sure your street address, phone number and email is easily visible. Social media links are also important, but they should only be displayed if you are active on those platforms. No Website Means Losing Money By now its clear that websites are essential for small businesses to build their online presence. This opens the door to more opportunities, weather it be increased foot traffic or allowing customers to review your business itself and what you have to offer. This said, if you have a bad website it is better to have no website. While no website equals missed opportunities, a bad website can actually be worse since it literally makes your business look bad. With so many templates based websites available today, such as WordPress, for you to customize for your unique business, there’s truly no excuse for your website to look unprofessional and sloppy. If you can’t proudly promote the website you have currently live and available for the world to see online, take it down. A bad website is far worse than no website – but let’s be clear… both are bad for business. Whether you own a small business with less than 10 employees or a large business with over 100 employees, your website should appear as if you have a team dedicated exclusively to keeping your online presence strong and noteworthy. The key here is “appear” versus actually having someone updating your website everyday. For most small businesses, this is simply not necessary. However, having a professional, polished looking website that functions easily and offers customers easy navigation, strong photo images, professional quality content and an overall experience that engages them enough for them to want to do business with you is key. Allen, a 24-years old student from Hangzhou, China never dreamed his side-hustle would turn into a viable business. Imagine his surprise when, after playing around with Shopify and Oberlo, step-by-step he led himself from getting to know how eCommerce works into hitting $800,000 in sales in the last year. Being an easy-going guy, he agreed to share the lessons he learned along the way with Oberlo readers.
Why Dropshipping? “There’s a paradigm that one should take business very seriously, but actually otherwise is true.” says Allen. He was always in favor of just doing things for fun to see where they might go. Before launching Leo Gary, Allen had already played with a few stores, as he says, just for fun, but he never made any significant sales with those attempts. “It was interesting for me to see how eCommerce works and put my free evenings to good use.” Because he was funding his startup from his personal savings, he was looking for ways to cut costs at each and every step, which is why he got into drop shipping with Shopifyand Oberlo. With dropshipping, eCommerce store-owners don’t need to stock inventory or buy products in advance and can efficiently launch and test a business with a very small budget. When you receive an order, you just buy it from a supplier and have it shipped directly to your customer. |