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The Domino effect: harnessing the web

When a fast-food company cites the web as its main source of growth, there can be almost no retailer or service provider left that would not benefit from an online presence, says ePages CEO Wilfried Beeck. This summer, fast-food retailer, Domino's Pizza, floored financial analysts by reporting healthy growth in both revenues and profits - despite the economic downturn and a reduction in spending on luxuries by cash-strapped consumers.

The company achieved this growth largely thanks to booming online sales. But who would have thought that Joe Public would turn to the internet to order pizza? Yet it is happening, and the results speak for themselves. Domino's has now sold £25.3 million worth of pizza via its web activities which now account for over a fifth of delivered pizzas sold in the UK and typically generate an above-average order value.

Web-influenced store sales are growing at an annual rate of 19 per cent, which is set to continue until 2012, compared with direct web-sales at 12 per cent growth

This should be food for thought for any retailer or service provider not currently harnessing the internet to display or sell its wares, no matter how small the business. The days of assuming an organisation is too small or in the wrong market to benefit from internet-driven business are long gone.

There are two main reasons for this. One is consumer power. The internet generation has grown up and the average consumer, certainly aged 40 or below, will turn to the web before making a new purchase - even if the actual purchase is then made in a high street store or over the phone. The second important driver is that establishing a professional web presence has never been easier or more affordable - meaning that, even if you do not have a fully functioning website, your nearest rival probably soon will.

Armchair research 

When exploring options, prices and the most convenient outlet, most purchasers will now do their homework online first, believing they will get the fullest picture of the choices open to them if they use an internet search engine, rather than phone directory enquiries or stroll down the high street. Not to mention the fact that people can do their research out of office hours, from the convenience of their armchair, with other family members - whose opinions may be needed - close at hand.

These days, it does not matter whether you are an ironmonger, hairdresser, restaurant or hotel. If you do not have a website that displays everything you sell, along with availability and price information - and ideally (though not essentially) a means of ordering or booking the product or service - there is a strong chance you will be bypassed in favour of an alternative provider whose offerings are there to see and reserve as the impulse strikes.

Competition

Small, local high street stores often curse the growth of supermarkets and out-of-town retailers, which take away their trade with their lower prices and easier parking. But it is also likely that some of the trade they are surrendering to these larger, more powerful out-of-town brands has been lost because they do not have an informative website. It is not just the fact that consumers can order their products online and have them delivered to their door that is making them favour the big conglomerates. It may simply be because they have been able to check out their wares ahead of time and have made their purchase decision before ever venturing down the high street.

Net power 

Retail analysts believe ‘internet-influenced' sales are underestimated - that is, offline sales that have been driven by online research. Official figures suggest that more than 80 per cent of the sales generated by websites are being completed offline - the important point being that they were initiated online. Without a serious website, businesses cannot hope to capture any such sales.

 Web-influenced store sales are growing at an annual rate of 19 per cent, which is set to continue until 2012, compared with direct web-sales which are expected to grow by 12 per cent (Source: www.eMarketer.com).

This confirms that an online presence is not just about completing transactions online; it is important for any offline business. This is especially true in the UK, by far the largest online retail market in Europe, and therefore the market where shoppers are most likely to start their research online.

The cost of inertia 

So why are small businesses still holding back on their web activities? There is no question that they are: a quick online search of the retailers and service providers along any high street - from legal firms and small local electrical retailers to bookstores, antique dealers, boutique travel agents, cafes and chemists - will find that perhaps one in ten has a website comprising more than an address, phone number and details of opening hours.  

Traditionally, small retailers and service providers have resisted developing their own web sites because of the perceived cost and complexity

Imagine, then, just how much business they could be losing without realising it - the camera that has been ordered online from Dixons instead of being bought locally; the haircut that needed to be booked for the next day but could not be scheduled out of hours other than by the salon in the next town; the Indian restaurant whose phone number is always engaged at peak times. 

Traditionally, small retailers and service providers have resisted developing their own websites because of the perceived cost and complexity.

Having asked around, they have discovered that establishing an internet presence means paying £5,000 to £10,000 to a specialist web design and hosting provider, only to then lack any control over any future updates to the site content.

Web design

Thankfully, this is no longer the only option. A rise in hosted DIY web-build solutions means that even the tiniest business can create its own highly professional and comprehensive online presence for as little as £10 a month.

By buying the whole website development package as a pay-as-you-go service, they never need to own the software, worry about integration, upgrades or maintenance, or be tied in to a proprietary solution.

ePages at a glance

ePages has launched the latest version of its e-commerce software, ePages 6, expanding the company's software around Cloud Computing modules. This makes it easier and more affordable to create a professional website or online shop. Version 6 includes a newly designed user interface, improved Web 2.0 functions and an intelligent appointment management function. It is available to rent from telecomms or hosting providers using ePages 6 Hosting, or as ePages 6 Merchant from resellers. http://www.epages.com/

With the availability of easy-to-use web design packages and professional website templates that have been pre-customised for particular business types, including hairdressers, hotels and restaurants, retailers and service providers can now design their own impressive online storefronts - without any skills or training - in two to three days. Drag-and-drop content and site features, the ability to choose from colour charts and update information at will, means small business managers can now take charge of what is on their own websites and how often this is changed.  

If they run into any difficulty, they simply tap into the remote hosting company's helpdesk - since all the software is owned and hosted (and therefore also automatically secured and backed up) at the hosting company's premises, the burden falling on their own shoulders is miniscule.  

This is a significant development for small businesses trying to mark out a safe path through the impending recession. It offers them an affordable and immediately accessible additional marketing and sales channel - and one capable of extremely high impact.

Professional websites have now entered the mass market and it is now easier for small businesses to match their larger counterparts, regardless of how modest their budgets are.

Whether you choose to allow customers to complete transactions online will be down to you and your business model, but few companies can afford to persist in ignoring this critical sales channel.

http://www.epages.com/en/