Do I need a website?

Introduction

In order to stay in line with Mind State's philosophy of not selling to customer products they do not need, we placed this article on our website to give our customers a marketing view of website selling.

There were so many exagrated hopes during the .com era that convinced business to quickly push their website out on the internet, because "millions of customers are just waiting to purchase products from your business". Then came an onslot of eager companies to cash in on internet sales. We now know that many of these websites and their hosting companies disappeared for lack of sales.

There are large amounts of products being purchased online. According to an article in the Portland Business Journal, "The National Retail Association is forecasting $204 billion in retail sales over the Internet in 2008. The sales categories expected to do the best include apparel, with $26.6 billion; computers, with $23.9 billion; and autos, with $19.3 billion." These are huge numbers, but there are also numerous competitors. Thus, the very first goal of every business is to gain a share or their slice of pie in the internet market.

To sum it up, everyone needs a website.

Attracting Customers

It is important that you first determine whether your products are unique or non-unique. Is your company one of only a few companies that offer your products? If yes, that would be unique.

Unique Products

Unique products listings naming your company are more easily found. When search engines (google, MSN, Yahoo, etc) lists the results of queries for unique products, they will be seen within the first few listings. No special effort is needed to push these listings to the top of the list. This may include a monthly fee of $100-1200 per month.

Non-internet marketing promotions may be required to inform or remind your customers that your company's products exists. Your company might also have to create a need with your customers. Create a product need with promotions like,
"Mr. Customer, you are going to be left out because..(reason), if you don't purchase from us at ABC Company."

Non-Unique Products

Non-unique products usually confuse the customer. When search engines (google, MSN, Yahoo, etc) lists the results of queries for these products, customers will be overwhelmed with listings. Special effort is needed to push your product/company listings to the top of the list.

Non-unique products will most likely require non-internet promotions. Businesses must develop ways to get customers to remember them, ABC Company, when making purchases of your types of products. It is building a customer base. Your company may currently have a customer base (returning customers), but this base may differ from those shoppers on your website.
Non-internet marketing promotions include:
- trade-show stands
- event solicitations (parades, rodeos, car shows)
- door-to-door promotions

Non-internet promotions may be required to inform or remind your customers that your company's sells products and are supporting them. Your company might also have to create a "I care" relationship with your customers. Create a "I care" relationship with promotions like,
"Mr. Customer, you are not going to make the right purchase with other companies because..(reason). You need to purchase from us at ABC Company."

I have Customers. Do I need a website?

Website sales will simplify purchases. Where ever a customer might be at that moment, they can still view your products. They will not have to search for a catalog or thumb through the phone book. What is even more convenient, is that they can purchase at that moment, while they are feeling the need.

Websites also provide a convenient method of offering special product promotions and pricing. Your local grocery has to print fliers and mail them to every customer in town to demonstrate special promotions. Your internet purchasing customers can see your promotions when they arrive at your site, or they can receive email alerts to remind them of promotions.

Websites also provide technical means for tracking customers and purchases, which is known as reporting. Each online purchase can be tallied and displayed in reports to teach you about your customer's purchasing habits.

Listing My Products. Wow!

In order for your products to be searchable, they need to be listed somewhere (text content or database list) so they can be seen by a search engine. If your product is in a cute picture format such as a .gif, .jpg or PDF, then it is not searchable.

Website searches.

If the number of products on your website exceeds 20-40 items, you should really consider search capability within your website. Internet purchasers may become impatient and not want to click through every menu item to view every product.

Lots and Lots of Products.

If the number of products on you want to offer on your website exceeds 200 items, then entering the listings for each products becomes a cost factor.

If the scores of product listings is constantly changing, then you will need to factor in a regular product entry cost, where someone will continuously key in new listings and remove old ones.

Other options for input are links to wholesale websites that already list the products. The downside of listing the wholesaler website pages is that errors occur when the customer will have to transfer the wholesale item #, color, size, etc. to your purchasing screen.

Another option is aquiring an electronic list or scanning paper copies of product lists. Mind State has developed many applications for scraping data from these sources for uploading product content into databases and websites.

Sum it Up.

Your website will be a tool for customers to quickly purchase your products and aquire product information. The mere presence on the internet will probably not promote sales until an internet base of customers is developed. This internet base of customers is most likely built through the sales paths that are depicted in successful non-internet marketing programs.