Moving from Offline to Online to Increase Business

E-commerce and online modes of selling have taken a toll on the offline sellers. Especially the hardware IT products sellers have become outdated in their modes of selling. Many service and solutions providers are also baffled by the success of online and thus losing most of their business, as many online platforms have opportunities to make service and solutions providers profiles.

Recapturing Business

The question now is, how can the offline sellers go online and recapture their lost business?

A quick look shows that almost all the IT MSMEs have an online presence on major platforms such as Indiamart etc. and have also done listing on online yellow pages such as Sulekha and Justdial.

In addition, many traders associations have made E stores which many IT MSMEs have joined.

Alok Gupta, President, PCAIT says that about 8000 people have registered on his online Estore.

Besides, many IT MSMEs have a presence on the large E-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart.

If they are already online then what is the problem with their business?

Hybrid Business Model

Most IT MSMEs actually have a hybrid business model, in which they operate an offline store and also have online profiles. Their offline store is not doing well, while they are able to get inquiries on the internet platforms.

The Solution

• Strong website - In this circumstance, the only way out is that the IT MSMEs have a strong profile on the Internet. They need to have a website where their E-store profiles should be prominently displayed with links to the selling area.
• Payment Gateway - They should have an easy payment gateway where the customer can easily pay and get receipt of payment
• Contacts Display - Customers like to buy from a place where they can easily talk to the seller and ask questions. Hence, IT MSMEs should display their contacts prominently and be available on that contact.
• Drive Traffic - No online presence works if there's no traffic coming on it. Hence, the IT MSMEs should drive. traffic on their online profile. They should regularly post on social media accounts, informing their readers about their new products, their services and solutions. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram are the most popular social media accounts and they should make good use of these. Further, they should post at least one short post daily on their website.
• Strong Sales - They should have a strong sales activity. They should identify their potential customers on the Internet, contact them and tell them about their products, services and solutions and try to sell them their offerings.

Traditional modes of business are dwindling in importance and the IT MSMEs can flourish only if they walk in sync with the changing times.

Read more from Dr Archana Verma

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