In the past 10 years, the worldwide web has gone from being foreign and out of reach, to a fundamental part of every business and organisation. As websites evolved from first to second and eventually third generation, it became apparent that most organisations were confined to using their websites as either communication tools or ecommerce portals.
As we (just) begin to exit a recession, business leaders in a whole range of industries are realising that it is important to use websites for both purposes - ecommerce and communication which can make them extremely effective for driving additional revenue, retaining customers and engendering loyalty.
The starting point is to appropriately position your core products and use your website as a sales platform to support your offline business.
Following this there is the opportunity to offer additional products and services that differ to, but enhance your core products in order to generate new sustainable revenue. Industry sectors such as travel, financial services and retail are leading the way and all have highly developed programmes, using their websites as the operational platform.
In fact airlines worldwide are forecast to generate $58 billion in AR in 2010 according to the Centre for Aviation, by offering not only tickets but travel insurance, airport lounge access, car hire and a number of related services and benefits.
Such programmes include membership / subscription based offerings, provision of leisure and lifestyle benefits and affiliate programmes, all of which go a long way to maximising ecommerce potential.
Many brands have the opportunity to generate revenue and add value by building on existing loyalty or rewards programmes and adding in additional benefits. This needs to be done with the customer in mind and relevance is key, but if managed effectively it helps differentiate your brand in an often crowded marketplace.
A good example of this is the leading hotel chain Best Western, which has an online shopping portal on its site called Shop for Rewards. This enables Best Western members to earn points at hundreds of online stores, including Marks & Spencer, Boots and Waterstones and provides a real point of difference for the brand.
Another growing trend for brands in a range of sectors, but particularly retail and hospitality, is to run online promotions, scratchcards, prize draws and auctions as well as offering redeemable coupons and tokens. As long as these are designed to mesh with your brand values and existing product strategy its an effective way to engage customers and keep them on your site, adding value and allowing you to expand into offering more leisure and lifestyle experiences.
In discussing the evolution of websites, it is impossible to ignore the impact mobile technology will have. The opportunity for businesses to drive revenue and increase customer commitment via mobile continues to grow, this increased connectivity allows you to take advantage of the communication and interactive aspects of the various social media platforms people are accessing whilst on the move.
For example, Facebook now has more than 100 million mobile users. This communications angle is important, but the key here is that as well as being an additional communications channel and information resource, mobile also offers the exciting possibility of being able to offer your products to your key customers at times when they are of the utmost relevance.
As with any strategy there are some key principles that should be observed when looking to maximise the joint communication and ecommerce potential of your site.
By offering additional products and services you are effectively increasing the number of touchpoints and therefore the level of engagement between the customer and your brand. This gives you more opportunities to enhance the whole customer journey via your website.
But it is crucial to offer the right services to the right segments in a way that will add value to a customers experience, rather than seek purely to generate extra revenue. This in turn is dependent on using as much insight into your customer base as possible, so that what you offer will not only meet but exceed their expectations.
The final element to consider is the partners you can use to implement such a strategy, look at providers that can compliment your brand and your customer journey. Partners must be able to adapt to your ecommerce software, whilst providing innovative solutions to enhance your existing website, loyalty or reward programme.
Websites are a very effective way to both communicate and drive additional revenue, the key principal in both cases is relevance. Use insight to understand your customer base, think about what your competitors are doing and above all be true to your current brand position, it is after all what originally made you successful.
Additional revenue strategies should always be undertaken with the customer in mind, appropriate products that add value for them, will in turn generate sustainable revenue for your business.
Paul Hudson, Global Marketing Manager, Collinson Latitude
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