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BRANDING AND MARKETING WITHIN AN
ECOMMERCE SITE
A successful online brand
has 3 main characteristics. They are:
The brand depends totally on the
perceptions of the customers.
Perception is developed and shaped by
the product’s value characteristics.
These characteristics should sustain
over time.
The 3 characteristics
given above are not additive but
multiplicative, which means that all
three are essential to build a strong
brand image on the internet.
Online customers mostly
experience or at least interact with a
brand frequently which makes the brand
experience a lot more important than the
perceptions.
To become powerful and
successful the brand has to promise:
-
Higher convenience than the offline
mode and also the competitors
-
Adventure and fun
-
Recognition and self expression by
customisation and personalisation
-
Belong to a perceived internet
community
When products are branded
online, several aspects are considered.
Some of them are:
Understand the Customer –
Requires better understanding of the
desired purchase & the usage experience
when in an interactive environment.
Continually Monitor
Competitor web sites – Competitor
activities and ads has to be monitored.
Compelling design &
complete intent of the brand – Greater
opportunity for customization of the key
messages
Integrity – Online
customers are always concerned about the
privacy and security of their
information.
Invest – Building
awareness for your brand requires a lot
of investment and times, especially for
long term players; but building loyalty
for your brand is faster if you target
effectively.
Safety and security –
most of online customers first check to
see whether you have the latest security
technologies in place to protect their
personal and credit card information
from hackers and fraudsters. If the
customers are not sure that you can
protect their information, then they
will move away from your web site and
will not give you a second chance.
Therefore, the security technologies
implemented on your site is a make or
break factor for you.
Some security mechanisms
that can be implemented on your site are
–
SSL – It stands for
Secure Socket Layer. This is the most
advanced security mechanism that is
available today. The SSL encrypts all
the data that is transmitted from the
web site to the provider of the payment
gateway services. The data can be
decrypted only by the payment gateway
provider because only he has the key to
this lock. This mechanism is used in
systems that accept credit cards from
customers.
AVS – It stands for
Address Verification System. This is
also used in systems that accept credit
cards. Here, the shipping address given
on the e – commerce web site is verified
against the address of the card holder
that exists with the issuing bank. If
the 2 addresses don’t match then there
is a need for further verification.
Calling the customer -
This is the most primitive and most
effective technique. Call the customer
before dispatching any orders.
From the points seen
above, planning, security and
approaching it in the right way with due
diligence can make your e – commerce web
site both successful and profitable.
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