Manufacturers often pay the most attention to developing and improving the products they offer, placing less emphasis on organizing the sales process.
To date, the sales model in manufacturing companies is accomplished by working with distributors, wholesalers or expanding local representative offices. This is a very time-consuming and costly process. Legal, logistical and operational barriers prolong the process of entering new markets. Gaining the right market position sometimes takes years and is fraught with high risk of failure. Even the most thorough market analysis and marketing research do not provide assurance that entry into a given market in the traditional way will be successful. It is also worth mentioning that the model of selling through a distribution network includes the cost of commission/margin for the distributor, which of course affects the final price of the product.
One solution that may prove successful is to launch an online sales channel. The low barrier to entry, relatively low cost and lower risk argues for considering such a decision. Note that global corporations are already increasingly offering their customers the opportunity to purchase their products online.
Launching our own store is also part of a broader strategy according to which today's trade is developing. Offering products via the Internet is both an opportunity to minimize the risks associated with expansion into new markets, but above all it is an opportunity to offer customers a convenient way to place orders and make purchases from places where the availability of our products is limited.
Designing and later implementing a company's e-commerce strategy is an undertaking that requires a minimum of several months. The most important issue is choosing the right external company that has experience in planning, building and promoting e-commerce sites.
It is worth noting whether the company has already performed implementations similar to ours. The implementation of an e-shop for the clothing industry, those selling electronics or just manufacturing is completely different. For the latter, it is often an additional new sales channel, which must be compatible with the existing model of reaching customers.
Here are some of the most important elements to consider when it comes to implementing a store for a manufacturing company:
To the question posed, whether a manufacturing company, should launch its own store on the Internet, the answer is yes, as much as possible, and there are many advantages to this.
The three most important of these are:
However, the fact that implementing an online store may be a cheaper and less risky way to enter new markets or optimize the cost of ditto in those where you currently operate does not mean that it is a way doomed to success. Therefore, let's not underestimate solid preparation for such a venture.
For more on what to look out for when implementing an online store in a manufacturing company, read this post on our blog.
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