Tag: small business

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business

Retail Online

These are the features ranked according to the number of top 500 retailers that are using them (as per Internet Retailer Magazine):

  1. keyword search
  2. daily/seasonal specials
  3. enlarged product view
  4. what’s new
  5. affiliate program
  6. advanced search
  7. online gift certificates
  8. rich media
  9. outlet center
  10. email a friend
  11. coupons/rebates
  12. top sellers
  13. site personalization
  14. alternative payments
  15. store locator
  16. wish list
  17. customer reviews
  18. catalog quick order
  19. mapping
  20. product customization

Interesting enough as well that most consumers (according to Forrester) are willing to decline paying for “flare”:

Fewer consumers are willing to pay for extras such as gift wrapping, or overnight delivery.
(26% of respondents said they would pay for expedited delivery prior to the holiday season, down from 45% who said they would do so in 2006.)

Generally, what this means is that consumers want to get their purchase faster, easier and with less extras then before. For most of the prospective clients that call us, top five requests for web site are:

  1. Large pictures/ability for visitor to enlarge product image
  2. Search engine optimization/marketing
  3. Ability to quickly add and remove inventory items
  4. Ability to post featured/for sale items
  5. Ability to use various discount codes to track promotions

It is obvious that trends for small and large businesses are almost the same. The slight difference is attributed to overall approach to ways of doing business for small business owners and large retailers.

Categories
business

At The Crossroads of Starting A Small Business

Starting a small business is not a simple business. Depending on whether entrepreneur is a refugee or a risk-taker, the choice of what kind of small business to start could be difficult. My personal choice even transformed. When I was starting a small web-hosting business I had no idea what I will be dealing with. Clients were the least of my concern, as frauds, spammers, scammers and other inventive people were trying to make money on my business. Mainly because of that I have decided to migrate to web design and web development – not even because I am a web developer myself.For people who are afraid to take a risk of an unknown venture there is an easier road to success – buying into franchise. As thousands of franchise opportunities exist on the market today the only problem that remains is that of a right choice. Fortunately, there are a lot of resources available both online and offline (Entrepreneur magazine is one of my offline favorites). Do your homework, research your franchisor, talk to franchisees and make a decision.

Oh, yeah, and Starbucks is not a franchise. Or I wouldn’t be doing web design.

Categories
PR

Offline-Online Promotion For Small Businesses – Part 3

Small businesses, especially those that are not geographically “challenged”, should not limit themselves to small-scale marketing tools. Coupons, flyers, business cards, comp cards – it all can work for geographical regions of a small scale. Sending out postcards or distribute flyers can get really expensive as your targeted location grows in size. These marketing tools can’t distinguish among prospective clients, regular clients or, so-called, premium clients. Yes, big news, you have to keep promoting yourself to your premium clients too. It’s like dating – guy is supposed to bring flowers to his girlfriend or wife even after they moved in or got married.

Really neat idea was suggested by some of our customers. They give out free magazine subscriptions to their premium clients. Obviously, it’s not just any magazine – it’s the magazine about the industry they engaged it, and the magazine where their advertising shows up quite often. It may sound like a cheap trick. In fact – it’s just indirect marketing to your existing clients. Just a little something to keep them happy.