The best practices for selling online

Improvising is never an option in sales, especially online ones. It's not enough to create your own channel or rely on a marketplace to attract consumers' attention. This is why we have prepared 6 tips for companies that are considering turning to digital for the first time, or that use it, but want to improve.

We have seen this since the beginning of the health emergency: initially feared and sometimes underestimated, the digital sector has been able to demonstrate its strategic value , securing its position as a "priority channel" for the growth of each company business.

A recent study on the role and contribution of e-commerce and digital retail to the growth of Italy is further proof of this. To date, online commerce represents the first growth driver of the Italian economy and a real job multiplier for our country.

The survey conducted in the study showed that, for every 100 euros invested in the extended e-commerce and digital retail supply chain in Italy, a further 148 are generated in the rest of the economy and that, for every 100 work units generated in directly from online commerce activities, a further 141 are activated due to induced and indirect impact.

These are evidences that reassure the companies that already preside over the digital channel, and that encourage the rest to do their best not to waste this opportunity. However, is it enough to "be there", create your own e-commerce, or rely on existing marketplaces, to automatically achieve the much-vaunted results?

The prosperity of the sector is not synonymous with guaranteed success and improvisation is not a viable way. So far there are more than a hundred marketplaces for brands and retailers, each with its own rules, requirements, users and products available. In the face of such a broad and varied context, attracting consumers' attention becomes an extremely difficult task, which can only be achieved through careful analysis and the definition of a targeted strategy.

With this in mind, to all companies contemplating the possibility of turning to the digital sector for the first time, or using it, but wishing to implement its strategy, I offer six pieces of advice, six best practices to adopt to sell online.

Invest in the training of your resources

The DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) 2022 data offer food for thought: Italy still has very low basic and advanced digital skills, compared to the European average. In our country, the percentage of small and medium-sized enterprises that include online sales in their business plan is around 13%, compared to a European average of 18%.

Establish a direct relationship with your customers

Building a solid and direct relationship with consumers, retaining them so that they continue to choose your brand is a key element. It will not only benefit the company's revenues, but also its reputation. Suffice it to say that about 54% of consumers make decisions based not on the price of the product, but on the transparency and richness of detail with which the information on the given item is reported, on customer service - understood as assistance and return services that the company is able to guarantee the consumer – and the image that the reviews give back to a given brand. In this respect, using the latest technologies, from chatbots to the possibility of offering assistance via whatsapp, proves to be a trump card. The way in which the relationship with a single consumer is managed, promptly responding to specific needs or any critical issues can have an impact and positively influence the purchasing decisions of thousands of other potential customers.

Providing a personalized offer to an increasingly demanding customer

Faced with an increasingly demanding and attentive consumer, who is willing to employ an increasing amount of time for targeted online searches, I suggest that companies respond by offering a personalized offer and proposal . The abandonment of cookies does not translate into a renunciation of consumer profiling and personalization of digital marketing, provided that an omnichannel strategy is adopted to get in touch and establish direct relationships with customers. It is about moving from a strategy based on third-party data to one in which first-party data is central. This is only possible by exploiting every touchpoint of the customer's customer journey, making use of new digital channels and investing in technologically innovative tools that allow data to be collected and clustered. Each touchpoint must be conceived as a marketing tool and, consequently, taken care of, to accompany the consumer in all aspects of his purchase journey. In this context, marketing must give a punctual, prompt and personalized response, optimizing communication investments with increasingly sophisticated and flexible tools that can meet the needs of a rapidly evolving sector.

Use a multi-channel strategy

If on the one hand it is important to be aware of one's reference target, its tastes, habits and attitudes, on the other it is essential to know the infinite possibilities through which to reach it: develop one's own e-commerce, intensify one's presence on social networks, offer an offer that is mobile responsive and, last but not least, knowing the specifics of each marketplace by overseeing different platforms, to design hybrid and multi-channel offers, which integrate the physical dimension with the digital one.

Since the pandemic period, the need to build a strategy that provides for a combination of online channels and physical points of sale has consolidated: as soon as possible, customers have returned to the points of sale in search of a real shopping experience, after, however, a first step online by checking the availability of a product through the app or by searching on the retailer's website. In this sense, Fashion is already among the most advanced sectors, with 40% of consumers buying in a hybrid way; on the contrary, the trend finds it more difficult to establish itself for consumer goods, purchased by 75% of Italians in physical stores. Category, the latter, which in the years to come will certainly be required to have a greater propensity for change.

Generation Z: a target from which to get ideas

Generation Z is a key target today and will be for the next 20 years. The 13-28 age group does not perceive boundaries between offline and online: they search for products on the web but use word of mouth to decide what to buy and feel the need to go to a physical store, where they expect advanced and tailor-made experiences .

It is a mobile first generation, which migrates to platforms where it finds more privacy and new, faster languages. A multimedia target, for which the opinion and advice of a content creator acquires the same value as a friend's suggestion. It is for this reason that I suggest to all realities, from manufacturing companies, to intermediaries, up to distribution companies, to review their way of doing business and their relationships along the supply chain, questioning the current production, commercial and operation. The companies that will obtain the greatest benefits will be those able to combine the new demands of the demand with a renewed way of supplying the offer, leveraging on the most promising technologies.

Adopt a sustainable mindset

Also for 2023, customers' attention to environmental aspects will continue to grow. As a reflection, I suggest to companies that have not already done so to adopt sustainability in their universe of values and to apply this sensitivity both in the choices related to product design and in the delivery and packaging processes. For the end consumer, purchasing an item protected by recyclable, reusable or easily disposable packaging reflects the seller's particular care.

In eCommerce , therefore, packaging is an opportunity to communicate with customers and consolidate brand perception , but it can obviously also become a double-edged sword, if neglected. Furthermore, considering the importance of returns for consumers, packaging becomes a crucial element of the process where it is possible to use the same packaging to return the product.