Changing the way we do business
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Small business and the internet“The internet has become a major place for trade and we need to
ensure that it is a fair place and does not become a place where big
business can use their power to unfairly dominate sales.”
~ Peter Strong, Council for Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA)
community engine and the internetWe build software with a purpose.
We’re Australian made, have strong roots in the community, and we
have built a place where the local store has equal footing with the big
brands. A place where everyone can be heard.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Small business and the internet
60 to 80% of australian businesses still don’t have a website - but Australian consumers will spend $33B online this year.
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$22b $24b $27b $30b $33b $37b
Source: Forrester Research
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Small business and the internet
62% of the population use social media...but only 14% of small businesses use it to talk to them.
Source: Sensis, May 2011
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Problem: The internet is full of noise, vying for ATTENTION
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
BUT the average small business owner has too many responsibilities to know how to break through the noise.
Business owner and member of the local community
Marketing
Accountant
Labourer HR
Receptionist
Sales
Project Manager
Estimator
Cleaner
Manager
Courier
I just want some tools ‘off the shelf’ to:• communicate with my customers• buy and sell stuff
Make it affordable, with ways that I can find new customers too. So I have time to see my family at the end of the day.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Small business marketing on the internet
ADVERTISING eCOMMERCE SOCIAL MEDIA
GROUP BUYING
SOCIALCOMMERCE
• Pay for ‘share of attention’ (mass audience, or ‘pay per click’ etc)
• No customer relationship
• No guarantee of transaction
• High cost to acquire new customers
• You pay for cost of website design, build, ongoing maintenance
• You still need to advertise and promote your site
• You receive direct transactions and customer relationships.
• You can build customer relationships online
• The data does not belong to you
• No transactions occur
• You need to promote and advertise your social presence
• social media is still considered a ‘personal space’ where businesses may not be welcome
• Sell high volumes of prepaid inventory online
• Reliant on discounting
• Low sales margins
• No ongoing customer relationships (the data does not belong to you)
• Reliant on the group buying site advertising and promoting their brand
• Capacity to handle sales volume can be an issue
• Pay only for transactions
• Self-serve offers
• Own and manage your customer/ member data.
• Your business and offers are ‘recommended’ to potential customers
• No advertising costs
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Why is ‘social commerce’ different?
Social Commerce is about connecting people only to the things that we know they might be interested in and nothing more.
That means no advertising, and less noise.
We provide these ‘recommendations’ based on our knowledge of things they like, things they purchase, and what other people ‘just like them’ have in common.
Stuff I like Things I buy
Stuff that 'people like me' like and buy
SOCIAL COMMERCE:
Recommending more of this to the
individual
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
The noticeboard
Connect
Invite both new and existing customers to interact with you online.
Communicate
Communicate in real-time with your customer or member database via their personalised community noticeboard.
Transact
Sell memberships, create customised offers, accept payment online without complex merchant account paperwork.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
The noticeboard
Businesses you follow, or ones that might be of interest.
Public notices you might be interested in (events, lost/found,
FREE,For Sale etc)
Offers you might be interested in purchasing (one click to buy)
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
A business profile
Information about the business, association, or community group.
Post updates, comments, photos
Recommend member events, businesses, offers to your own
audience
Collect membership fees
Notices relevant to your organisation appear here
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
community engine is the place online where you will do business, run errands and purchase as simply as you would at your local shops. Because you'll be dealing with the businesses and community organisations that mean the most to you.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
How it worksYour personal noticeboard
Your organisation Invite your members and other contacts.
CommunicateCollaborate
Collect membership fees
Your members upload their customer lists, then
communicate with them and send special offers
Each individual receives recommended businesses, offers, and notices based on their likes, interests, location
and what other people "just like them" are doing
Businesses find new customersAssociations find new members
The community as a whole becomes connected
YOU MEMBERS CUSTOMERS RECOMMENDATIONS
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
To get started, visit www.communityengine.com.au
For more information, call 1300 COMMUNITY
or email [email protected]
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
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