34 % of New Zealand internet users investigated a purchase or bought something over the internet in the last 12 months (a 60% increase in the last 2 years)

nielson//netratings - nzherald (2005)

More than 80% of New Zealanders now have access to the internet

nielson//netratings - nzherald (2005)

The growth and impact to business of the internet in the last 10 years is well known. The ability for a company to present itself globally 24hrs a day, seven days a week has unique advantages over other types of promotion. The web has levelled the playing field. Consumers can now gather a lot more information about a product or service before they make a purchase decision and they don't even need to leave their chair.

The amount and type of information that can be presented also changed by this medium. Disk space is cheap so it possible to present volumes of information in an organised and interactive way that is always 'on message'. Your web presence can satisfy many enquires with no intervention at all. It should also be remembered that the web is not just a tool for presentation. You can also gather information from your customers and use that to improve your offering. You are in control.

A lot more businesses are using the internet to automate the sales process. E-commerce makes your business more efficient and can lead to a new kind of customer loyalty. If you are the easiest supplier to purchase from you will get more sales. This involves providing the ability for people to order on line or actually integrating your systems into your customers / suppliers to computerise the supply chain.

The web however is not a magic bullet. Basic rules of business still apply. The fact is doing a single web page and publishing it on the internet will not double your business overnight. No matter what you have heard you still need a good product and an efficient business model. Worse if your offering is not competitive the consumer has the ability to easily measure you against your competitors, they will find you out.

The maxim of the internet is 'content is king' you have the opportunity to give customers the full story. 'We are not the cheapest but we .......'. The purchase decision of the customer is based on an enormous range of factors that can never be completely understood but there will be a good number of questions that you know they want the answers to. These should all be included in your web presence no matter how obscure. You need to expose as much of your business as possible to show that you have what it takes to solve their problems.

Call us today for a free, no obligation appraisel of how your business can benfit from the internet. Phone 06 870 4330