The consumer in charge

Bart Dirksen

Consumers are discovering online possibilities every dag. Expectations and demands are high. Consumers are searching the web for appealing, fast, and easy to use sites which can satisfy their needs.

Internet is (becoming) a common good worldwide. This means that more human beings are online than ever. The internet has proved to be an excellent medium to satisfy a need for fast information. All kinds of businesses are discovering the importance of an online strategy and online proposition. Though classic 'marketing' are not dying out, the internet is a medium of high importance. In order to be succesful online, businesses have to be aware of several relevant criteria.

First of all, an internet site needs to be reliable and have adequate performance. Adequate means that it has the abilities to serve the number and activities of people that are visiting your website.
Online consumers are just as impatient as offline.
A good example will be:
When a consumer is arriving at a shop that will open at 12:00; though he has to wait untill 12:15 for it to open, he will leave for the shop down the street.
An online consumer will only wait a number of second. The other will not be down the street but just a click away from your site.

Secondly, the website needs to be easy-to-use. Visitors know what they are looking for. Finding it and finding it fast is an important part of online success. Their are no online employees available to ask for help. This iseasier said than done. Their are many variables that have influence on this matter. Search and retrieve, look and feel, search engine optimilization are some of the important factors to keep in mind.

Third; Appeal to your target group. A good website provides the same personalisation and style as the rest of your business. Know who your customers are, the look&feel they like, where they come from, why they are on your site and adjust or develop your site accordingly.

Fourth; Know what you want to do with your site. Retail may want to use it as a shop, Government may want to provide information and provide the possibilty to order 'products', a bank may want to cross- and upsell insurances or provide self-service, news agencies provide online news.
Internet is a powerful medium where you can personalize information without ever looking you (potential) customers in their eyes.

When internet initiatives are being started, expanded or taken to a higher level, always know why, how and with what reason. There are hundreds of small and large companies that can provide you with tooling in order to achieve your goals. Though many people think the toolings are relatively the same, keep in mind: they are not. In order to achieve high-end, personalized, and succesful websites you need professional tooling that can provide just that. Strong personalization, out-of-the box functionalities and a capable, professional supplier will help you to achieve time-to-market, reliability and a professional high-end website.

Offcourse, this is easier said than done. There are many factors like compliancy, integration capabilities, open standards, pricing etc. but keep these goals in mind. It will help you select a supplier or suppliers that can help you to achieve your online vision and goals.



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Datum: 12/23/2006

Aantal keer bekeken: 1407

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