The Shift To Digital

Everyone talks about shifting to digital, but so often it’s nothing more than talk. Just like anything else, it’s not enough for something to be a good idea for people to do it; they usually need something to push them into making the change. While COVID-19 has forced a lot of people to shift to online and remote work, the pandemic didn’t create the benefits of joining the digital economy. They existed long before people started self-isolating and will continue long afterwards.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of shifting to digital is that it’s asynchronous. Think of it as the difference between a text and a phone call. Phone calls only work when both people are available at the same time, but you can send a text on your schedule and let the other person respond on theirs.

How Shifting to Digital Benefits Your Clients

You can’t make a major change to your business unless you can get your clients’ buy in, and that means showing how shifting to digital helps them. Obviously, the digital shift is perfect for serving clients in the age of social distancing. They can order securely online and have the article waiting for them when they’re ready to pick up. That’s one advantage, but not the biggest–the biggest advantage of digital service is that it lets you serve customers on their schedule rather than yours.

A good website is always open so your clients can order products and services when they want to rather than having to wait for you to open up. They can also get email records of every transaction so that it’s easy for them to see where their money is going.

How Shifting to Digital Benefits You

The best changes are good for everyone, and shifting to digital is no exception. It not only helps your customers by making you more available to them, but it also helps you. By decoupling the order and fulfilment steps it lets you take orders for products that are on their way and then fulfill the customer’s entire order once you have everything in stock. That saves you money by making order fulfilment more efficient.

Digital also makes it easier to work on customer follow-up and retention as you have their email address and can use that to contact them. Communications and tracking are so much easier in the digital realm than they are with brick and mortar businesses.

Publicity

As a final boost, you can also often entice customers to post about their experiences with your product on social media such as Pinterest or Instagram. Having customers show off your product line can give you a kind of viral publicity that no amount of money can buy.

Next Steps