What effect will a service such as Tictail have on eCommerce?
Tictail is a Swedish start up being launched a couple of weeks ago. Tictail is simplifying the process of starting your eCommerce store, removing the tech barrier and making selling online more accessible for a bigger market. So what are the effects we can see come from such a service?
What will happen when more people have their own store to maintain, their own analytics account to overview and their own conversion rate to improve. If you ask me I think that if more people sell online, more people will also buy online.
The reason for this is that when people get eCommerce brought into their everyday life they will subconsciously change their attitude and mindset, and from that their behavior. Since they now are their own seller online the skepticism against shopping online will probably be reduced because they can relate to the person on the other side of the screen. To shop something online will suddenly be placed higher in top-of-mind instead of going offline. In addition you also have an aspect of exploring and curiosity about what others are doing which will generate more sales. These are just some examples of how attitude will change behavior.
When having your online store suddenly becomes as accessible as having a social media account, there will definitely be benefits for the market as a whole. The online sales will speed up the development to become equally as big of a marketplace as the offline sales, and eventually even bigger with the help of among other services that makes eCommerce more accessible for more people.
Remember to let the failures of yesterday nurture the possibilities of tomorrow
The outcome of being an eCommerce Business student at Hyper Island
Friday I graduated from my education in eCommerce Business at Hyper Island. This year has been intense and the learning curve steep. We have gotten to know the eCommerce industry, which include knowledge in how to build, maintain and grow your eCommerce business. In addition we have also gotten to know key influencers in this blooming industry.
If I were to say who this education is for, I would say entrepreneurs, those who want to start their own business. The other persons are the intrapreneurs those who can work disruptively in order to innovate inside an already existing organization. The seed that is being placed inside you which is slowly growing within the walls of Hyper Island is to question current state and challenge status quo.
One of the biggest learnings have also been about my self, because of the fact that I have been placed in situations where I had to reflect over my own reactions when facing different challenges. During this year I have also gotten to know others view of me from many feedback sessions with my classmates. To sum this up this is me from the perspective of others:
Hyper Island has left me with good knowledge, a big network and fantastic insights about the eCommerce industry as well as myself.
Why success in eCommerce calls for a strong brand
A strong branding strategy is an important part of the success for your eCommerce business.
Building a companys brand is one of the tools to be used in order of creating great business results. When considering a company which only sales channel is online it becomes even more crucial for success. The reason for this is that eCommerce businesses face at least two challenges that traditional brick- and mortar business do not in the same extent. And your brand is the best tool to use in order of overcoming these challenges.
First of all the online marketplace has no physical barriers that is limiting the customer into choosing brands that are represented in a specific area. In the online world it’s very easy for the customer to continue browsing to find other options. Options that are basically “endless”, and could be delivered from a competitor far from your physical location. It therefore becomes even more important to ensure a top-of-mind state for your brand and make the customers have such a connection to your brand that they won’t shop anywhere else despite of these “endless” options. The competition on the online marketplace is increasing everyday, having new players entering the market. This means that the competition is stepping up, and this challenge is becoming bigger everyday.
The other challenge is how to create credibility, and making the customer feel safe buying from you. Still today we see that customers feel big hesitation shopping online, questioning the quality and characteristics of the products and foremost regarding giving out their payment information. One often used solution for solving this challenge is to place brands which represents “safe payments” on sites in order of creating this credibility. There is no reason for why other brands should have to be placed side by side by your own in order of making the customer feel safe to leave their information with you.
Because of this it’s important to establish what your brand represent and strategically execute that in every touch point with your customers and prospects. Touch points that range from onsite experiences to customer service etc. In order of doing so you will have greater likeliness to strengthen the relationship with your target group and overcome the challenges eCommerce players faces in greater extent than a traditional brick- and mortar business.
What’s your take on this, and how are you building the brand for your eCommerce business?
The grass is greener where you water it - Neil Barringham
