Companies have accelerated the shift to online channels to continue selling, and likewise consumers accelerated the adoption of online channels for shopping. For example, in the UK, online retail sales increased 13% in three months of 2020 from COVID-19 – the same amount that was achieved in the last 10 years in the UK. A traditional digital commerce launch takes 6-9 months with seven steps. With the changes across the globe, we can now do it in three steps in 7-100 days. If you want to stay relevant, digitize your company by following these three steps: organize, select, and improve.
Notify customers with an SMS, WhatsApp message, or Viber chat that you now have an online store. You can also inform them about new products and services, update them on package delivery, and remind them about items in their shopping cart.
Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo Conference Presentation, Jump-Start Digital Commerce in 100 Days, Sandy Shen, 9 – 12 November 2020|EMEA | Virtual
This first step begins with setting up a cross-functional team, both essential and supporting functions, as well as an executive sponsor. Keep in mind what will work best for your business. Maybe that’s just a task force or a digital team or perhaps you set up a separate business unit or subsidiary.
Next, define the customer experience using the customer journey map, focusing on the buying process to start:
LINK Mobile Invoice is a product designed to get you paid faster and reduce debt. For payment, simply send your customer an SMS or other message. The customer will get a link directing them to a landing page with your company’s logo and design, and then fill out the billing information.
You’ll want to maximize traffic to your site, increase conversion rates, and maximize order value. One of the key functions will be marketing, which works across the customer journey: driving traffic to the site and providing promotions and incentives to encourage purchases.
Use SMS and other channels to market new products or offer discounts with personalized messaging. Develop campaigns to increase brand awareness, boost traffic, generate leads, and expand sales. Learn more about marketing here.
The last part of step one is define the business:
Understand your target audience with LINK Collect. It allows you to gather data on customers, meaning you can provide more personalized content and richer experiences, as well as increase conversion rates. Use it at the beginning to learn more about your customer segmentation or after purchases with a customer satisfaction survey.
Reward loyal customers or attract new ones using LINK Coupon. Create a unique coupon, send it with a customized URL, and track results with our user-friendly coupon builder and dashboard.
Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo Conference Presentation, Jump-Start Digital Commerce in 100 Days, Sandy Shen, 9 – 12 November 2020|EMEA | Virtual
There are three possible go-to-market approaches. You can choose to start with one or any combination of them.
Direct customers to your pages through their preferred channels. Send them a message informing them about your new webpage or provide a discount to those who make a purchase online. Increase engagement by using the relevant channel. We offer SMS, Viber, RCS, WhatsApp, and Google Verified SMS.
It’s important to review how your business is doing and reflect on customer feedback. You can use the customer journey map to learn more about their experience during and after purchasing products or services. When building your digital business, develop product management lifecycles and agile practices. Continue to learn what is happening in your industry and with new technologies. Remember, customer feedback is invaluable. You can get this from:
The LINK Insight Dashboard is a great way to measure your performance through a personalized dashboard. You can follow campaigns in real time and get valuable data to understand your customer portfolio and activities. You can even compare performance with others within your industry.
Use LINK Conversations to start a two-way dialogue with your customers. Get feedback on a product, service, or experience. LINK Flow, our drag and drop flow builder, allows you to create user-friendly chats with options for rich content (pictures, videos, links, QR codes, etc.) and your company’s branding.
Your competitors are becoming digital, too. You risk losing customers if you don’t have an e-commerce presence. Stay relevant by following these three steps, and get in touch with us to learn how we can help you in the process.
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LINK Mobility is Europe's leading provider within mobile communications, specializing in messaging and digital services.