Retailers have to be online to be relevant

Insights
SME Start online
by Naomi Temple
06 Dec 2019

Retailers just have to be online to be relevant, writes Alan O’Neill in the Sunday Independent. They must stop saying they can’t afford to – they simply cannot afford not to.

He writes that he is amazed and disappointed to still see such a low number of SMEs with an online presence from our SME Digital Health Index 2019 findings.

Quite bizarrely, many of these resisters are active online customers in their own lives.

“SME retailers cannot ignore this and simply must have online sales processing ability. There are significant benefits to it and, rather than resisting it, see it as a way of keeping your doors open 24/7.

You will also increase your relevance to a customer whose buying habits are changing.”

In the article, Alan provides some great tips to support retailers in developing an online trading presence:

  • Change your mindset
  • Develop a website, not just a Facebook page
  • Show products online
  • Enable sales at some level
  • Remove blockages to selling
  • Manage your time
  • Seek training

Read full article: Retailers have to be online to be relevant.

Alan O’Neill, author of Premium is the New Black, is managing director of Kara Change Management, specialists in strategy, culture and people development.

Naomi Temple is our Marketing Specialist working within our corporate communications team.