What are common challenges businesses face while going online?

Getting your business online needs your attention; it is a challenging task. It involves allocating funds, following certain compliances, creating awareness, educating and training employees, investing in IT infrastructure development, and more. There are several challenges that your business might face if it goes digital. The top challenges your business will face while going online are mentioned below.

a) Cultivating a personal connection with customers

Interaction with a customer offline is easy. If a customer prefers to visit your store, there are likely chances of negotiation, knowing the needs, and assessing the quality. Considering this approach, you will conclude that the purchasing experience relies on human interaction and connection.

These are some challenges that you may encounter while being online:

• Developing a website that has every information the user needs to get access.
• Addressing inquiries & answering queries in real-time.
• The customer's experience lacks personal connection, which can only be provided by a customer support agent.
• Real-time inventory records integration with inventory management tools, payment gateways for easy payments, and CRM tools for billing and communications.

Few solutions:-

1. Frequent sending of emails and WhatsApp keeps your brand presence in customer's minds.
2. Collecting their feedback after online purchases helps you to know better.
3. Putting discounts or customer loyalty points attracts customers to visit again.

b) Data collection and security

When a customer pays visits to your offline store, there are potential chances of getting their primary contact details. This allows you to offer them loyalty points or discounts. Accumulating this data in the CRM can only be assessed as and when required by authorization. Offline getting such information isn’t a big deal; the data is secure.

But things change when it comes to online:-

• Developing a product catalog with visual and pricing information.
• Incorporating AI technology like AR/VR and computer vision.
• Securely fostering payments and data capture.
• Determining numerous touchpoints for usage and contact information.

Few solutions:-

1. Ensure you observe the valid protocols and accreditations to make your website secure.
2. Install the necessary plug-ins & firewalls to ensure safety & security.
3. Develop robust networks and alert systems for network security alerts.
4. Get data and insights from analytics on the website.
5. Develop an IT infrastructure to save the data in real-time securely.

c) Staying ahead of the competition and competing effectively

Getting your business online has a core challenge of maintaining its competitive edge and doing better than others. An offline strategy has a proper roadmap for planning and systems; in the same way, you must map out your plan before starting your business online.

d) It is crucial to prepare and train the team to implement changes successfully

One of the core challenges businesses might face when going online is people management or preparing your team for change. Irrespective of the company's size, they have processes in place for internal and external interactions with customers, and to accomplish these tasks, a specific offline protocol is followed.

But things change when it comes to online; there will be new beginnings or changes that lack surety.

A few common challenges you might encounter online are as follows:-

• Greater scope of errors
• High expense involved in training, learning, development, software licenses, and infrastructure
• Fear of unemployment
• Lack of ability to learn digital tools
• Training evaluation, gauging, and supervision of performance

Few solutions:-

1. Discuss with the team why it is essential for digital shifts and what support will be provided.
2. Recognize the departments and processes that have the potential to get digitalized. Discuss digital transformation a few weeks ahead.
3. After the discussion, get feedback from their end to know their pain points. According to that, you can decide on the training programs.
4. Reassure them that digital transformation is just for modification, not cutting down the resources.
5. Upskill their abilities by training them in multiple aspects of digitalization.

e) Development of website

To establish an online presence, developing a website is necessary. From small businesses to big ones, reaching a bigger audience will be a smart move. Building a website will be an initial step to constructing your online presence.

Below are a few tips to consider while developing your website:-

• Choose a basic website development platform like Wix, Weebly, or WordPress. Additionally, they have paid subscription options with access to the latest features.
• Keep your team engaged with the content management, create videos and photographs
• Prioritize business branding
• List out the relevant information about your product
• Add payment gateways
• Collect feedback from the team about your website

Wrap-up:-

Taking your business online is an excellent choice for your business. Customers are now looking for a digital presence of the product. Creating a digital presence is the easiest way to increase awareness and foster interaction. Letting people know about your brand and engaging with them online can help build a solid and recognizable online presence.

Everything is evolving online regarding buying products or being a part of social media. The key is to acknowledge the benefits it has to offer. There will be challenges when your business goes online, but there are solutions, too!