|
CRM and B2C websites: the focused four
To help companies plan and develop their B2C website business
model, Gartner has identified four major types of focus for websites. Adam
Sarner elaborates on the different strategies
 One
of the biggest pitfalls business-to-consumer (B2C) websites fall into is the
lack of a primary goal. Too many companies have too many goals for their website
and have tried to act on them simultaneously, ultimately confusing the organization
in terms of overall direction and investment, and even confusing the consumer,
who cannot understand the value proposition for visiting the site. Further,
some companies have focused on the wrong goal. For example, some retailers have
set up their websites to act like solely as an online seller, when an influencer
type website driving more traffic to the physical store would be more appropriate
for their customers' buying process.
A difficult economy is expected in 2009, and will have an effect on overall
retail sales, but the Web has already become mainstream for businesses and consumers
as part of the buying process. Gartner says that B2C websites already influence
over 40% of offline transactions and we will continue to see straight-line growth
for e-commerce as a percentage of total retail sales for the next five years.
Although many B2C websites are improving and gravitating toward a primary goal,
even more organizations are not. To assist companies that continue to plan and
develop their B2C website business model, Gartner has identified four major
types of focus for B2C websites: the informer, the influencer, the facilitator
and the seller.
The Informer
The informer seeks to be the focal point or source of information. Its main
goal is to provide information that drives traffic and derives revenue from
advertising, membership or both. The informer also offers community functionality
such as the ability for users of a website to interact with other members about
products, news events, companies and other areas of interest. Consumers can
post comments, respond to questions and express ideas and this environment for
chatting is a powerful “pull” model to keep visitors engaged with
activity on the site. Another characteristic of the informer is explicit personalization
that enables the visitor or member to configure information according to what
interests them. For the informer, Web content management, social applications
and Web analytics are important technologies to gather and disperse information.
Informer website examples include The New York Times, gartner.com and Engaget.com.
The Influencer
The main goal of the influencer is to drive sales, but the final transaction
does not necessarily end with an online sale. Promotions, test marketing, product
information and tools such as loan calculators and quoting engines, are all
part of the influencer's activities. The influencer also seeks to raise consumer
awareness of the company or product. However, the end transaction is not necessarily
on the Web, nor does it have to be with the company.
Consumer goods companies, for example, have sites that influence consumers to
go to a reseller to pick up their products, avoiding channel conflicts, and
pharmaceutical companies have marketing material online to coax consumers into
asking their doctors for the product. For the influencer, online campaign management,
email marketing, brand management, product marketing collateral and lead management
are most important for influencing and increasing awareness to ultimately drive
a sale. Influencer website examples include Toyota, P&G and Maytag.com.
The Facilitator
The main goal of the facilitator is to extend the relationship online, creating
a multichannel environment. The facilitator might allow consumers to transact
online, but that is only one tool in its arsenal for extending the relationship.
The facilitator seeks to understand where the Web fits best in the overall relationship
or buying process, and to optimize online functionality, ensuring compatibility
and integration with the applications that are used in other channels. For example,
an airline company uses a multi-channel relationship in which the Web facilitates
the booking of flights, displaying frequent-flier mileage and publishing Web
flight updates while its call center assists cancellations, seating arrangements
and so on, and the airplane delivers the product, the actual flight. For the
facilitator, customer analytics, online dialogue and multichannel integration
are the most important technologies. Facilitator website examples include Bank
of America, American Airlines and Fidelity.com.
The Seller
The seller creates an environment for transactions, driving business online.
The seller, unlike the facilitator, doesn't mind what you buy, as long as you
buy it from the seller, and preferably online. It is transaction-oriented, and
usually includes high-volume products and multibrands. Like the influencer,
it uses marketing to drive a sale, often relying on push marketing and promotions
to get customers to buy online. E-commerce includes order management, catalogues,
interactive selling tools, Web analytics, email marketing/email response management,
and customer self-service, which are all important technologies in the seller's
environment. Seller website examples include Amazon, Overstock and Newegg.com.
First, companies should determine which type of website they should be gravitating
toward and whether it matches the company's overall value proposition. Second,
they should identify which type of website they already have, and reconcile
this with the type of website they want for future development. Finally, they
need to audit current and future website technologies against the type of website
and goal toward which they're gravitating. This will immensely help B2C companies
with defining and selecting the technology and the business processes used to
support it.
Ultimately, companies with a clear direction and understanding of what they
provide online will, in turn, be best positioned to demonstrate the value to
their online customers.
Adam Sarner is Research Director, Gartner. www.gartner.com
|
