JAYAWANT SHIKSHAN PRASARAK MANDAL’s

Bhivarabai Sawant Institute of Technology & Research

(Approved by AICTE, NEW Delhi, Govt. of Maha.& Affiliated to Pune university)
GAT.NO.720 (1), WAGHOLI, PUNE-NAGAR ROAD, PUNE-412207.
TEL.NO.(020)27051170 FAX.NO.(020)27052590
PROF.Dr.T.J.SAWANT Dr.T.K Nagaraj
FOUNDER SECRETARY PRINCIPAL

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION

Class:B.E. (E &TC) SEM II, 2019 pattern
Subject: DIGITAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Tutorial No. 3

Aim: Review various Opportunities and Challenges in Digital Business

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Opportunities:
1. Uncover opportunities in keywords
Looking for keyword opportunities involves strategically looking for a product or niche online based
on the keywords people are searching for in search engines like Google and Bing, then identifying
high volume but low competition search terms. Keyword research can be a bit technical, so this
opportunity involves a solid base understanding of keyword research and search engine optimization
(SEO).
This opportunity can be particularly lucrative if you plan to drop ship products, as margins on drop
shipped goods are thin, many times making it difficult to use paid advertising channels effectively.
Example: Andrew Youderian took a technical approach in picking a niche that he felt had the highest
chances of success based on keyword research. Utilizing this approach, Andrew found an
opportunity to rank for keywords in the CB Radio niche.
2. Build an interesting and captivating brand
Differing from the previous method, building a brand means also building an audience. A brand
building approach involves developing a superior understanding of your potential customers,
crafting a unique brand and carving out a unique place in your customer's mind. This approach to
building an online business can be particularly effective at differentiating yourself from competitors
in the market if there is heavy competition.
Example: DODO case, an iPad case manufacturer has done a noteworthy job at crafting a unique
brand. Despite operating in the extremely crowded and competitive space of iPad cases, DODO case
broke through by telling a different and unique story, one where their cases are handcrafted using
traditional artisan bookbinding techniques in the city of San Francisco. It's this unique story and
brand that has made DODO case one of the top iPad case manufacturers in the world in a short
amount of time.
3. Identify and solve a customer pain point
One of the best ways to build a strong business is by solving a customer pain point. Products that
solve pain points can be lucrative because customers are actively seeking out solutions to these

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 problems. You'll want to keep in mind that pain points don't always mean physical pain, it can also
include frustrating, time consuming, or poor experiences.
Example: Jing, an ecommerce entrepreneur knew that people that grind their teeth can suffer from
excruciating pain. More than just the physical pain, constant grinding can lead to expensive dental
bills. Knowing this was a pain point that many people would seek out a solution for and happily pay
money to solve, Jing launched Pro Teeth Guard, custom moulded teeth guard at a great price.
4. Cater to consumer passions
It's a fact. Consumers tend to spend significantly more money to support their passions and habits.
Just consider golfers. Golfers are notorious for spending thousands of dollars on gear and gadgets
with the hopes and dreams of lowering their score, even by the slightest.
Catering to passions has additional benefits as well including deeper interaction with your brand,
brand loyalty and increased word of mouth marketing.
Example: Black Milk Clothing began in 2009 after the founder's blog Too Many Tights exploded in
popularity.
Recognizing the passion consumers had for tights with unique designs and understanding the
opportunity the founder created Black Milk Clothing. Today Black Milk is a multi-million dollar
company that's grown to over 150 employees and distributes its products globally. Furthermore, by
piggybacking on pop culture trends with their designs they tap into passionate audiences and
customers from a range of different niches beyond just tights.
5. Follow your own passion
Some people consider choosing a product or niche based on your own personal passion to be a recipe
for disaster. However, that's not always the case, and can actually prove to be extremely profitable.
One of the biggest benefits to building a business around your passion is having the tenacity to keep
going when you run into difficult times. This one point shouldn't be underestimated as staying
motivated is a major key to building a successful online business.
Example: Eric Bandholz began BeardBrand as a personal blog discussing business and sales
strategy. Over time though, Eric's passion for the bearded lifestyle kept creeping into his blog.
Eventually, he went all in on his passion and began BeardBrand. A brand that sells beard grooming
supplies to men that are equally passionate about their beards.
6. Look for an opportunity gap
Capitalizing on an opportunity or feature gap can be lucrative. This opportunity type involves
uncovering problems or deficiencies in a product or the marketing for a product that can be
capitalized on. An opportunity gap may exist in the form of an improved or additional product
feature, an unrealized market by the current competitors, or it may even come in the form of your
own marketing capability.
Example: Chaim Pikarski continually seeks out and capitalizes on opportunity gaps. He and his team
scours product listings all over the internet and thoroughly reads the reviews section. They are
continually on the lookout for deficiencies and feature gaps that buyers post. With this information
in hand, he sources a manufacturer in and makes his own, better version of the original product.

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 Hipe shower radio is one such product (of hundreds) Chaim has manufactured by finding an
opportunity gap in the original product. By looking at other shower radios and reading consumer
reviews, he found an opportunity gap for a shower radio that was rechargeable.
7. Utilize your own experience and expertise
Utilizing your own experience and expertise is a strong competitive advantage. Turning your
expertise into an online business is a great way to enter the market with a leg up and a barrier to
entry for others.
Example: Jonathan Snook, an expert in web design and development used his years of knowledge to
write and self-published a book on web development and CSS called SMACSS.
Jillian Michaels, host of The Biggest Loser took the same approach and used her expertise in fitness
and weight loss to develop and sell a line of products, including DVD's, books and fitness
equipment.
8. Capitalize on trends early
Capitalizing on a trend early enough can have a massive impact on a new business. It allows you to
carve out a place in consumer’s minds and establish yourself as a leader before others have a chance
to. Capitalizing on a trend early can also have a big impact on your SEO (Search Engine
Optimization) since you'll be one of the first websites talking about and being indexed by search
engines like Google and Bing for the new trending search terms. This can help you climb to the top
of search rankings fast.
Example: Sophie Kovic, founder of Flockstocks noticed the trend for feather hair extensions very
early on. Before spending any money or buying inventory, Sophie tested the market by quickly
mocking up a test store. The result is 11 sales in 4 hours. Knowing there was a huge opportunity she
fully built out her site, ordered inventory and even ended up winning the 2012 Shopify Build A
Business competition in the Apparel & Jewellery category.

Challenges:

1. Finding a unique selling proposition

If you've thought of it, chances are someone else already did, too. Starting an ecommerce venture
requires a sellable product, which is tricky when there're at least ten other businesses selling the
same or a similar, product. That's why a unique selling proposition (USP), or messaging angle, is
crucial. Apple's USP is privacy. Android's USP is affordability.
When looking for your USP, start with something you love. If you sell phone covers, consider why
you would personally buy one design over another.
Your next step is to look at competitors and their market share. In this case, the BBC is the official
provider of who merchandise. There are also hundreds of other businesses that have cashed in on the
fandom. What can you offer that all those other sellers can't? Looking at product reviews from your
competitors is a good way to find unique angles you can capitalise on. Reviews will also tell you
what customers get from the product and what more they want. You can use that information to
customise your product offering and your messaging.
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 2. Generating leads consistently
One of the most successful ways to get leads is to run ads on Google search result pages and
Facebook. However, if you're not constantly watching your budget, these ads can get expensive
quickly. It's a good idea to explore other channels and ways to generate leads. Consider starting a
blog that conveys the value of your product and your brand. Expand your content portfolio to
educational material about your industry and even complementary products your customers should
explore. Building up content is a long-term game. It'll help you get leads organically and it'll
consistently serve you down the road, but you have to invest the time and effort to create high-
quality blogs that your potential audience wants to consume.

Based on your product and your target audience, you can also look at alternative content creation
options, such as vlogs, podcasts, newsletters, Twitter chats, Clubhouse chat rooms, Facebook groups,
and TikTok posts. We strongly advocate for publishing content on channels you own, such as a
traditional blog or newsletter. This is called owned media, and it's valuable, regardless of your
business size. Owned media provides you with channels to communicate with your audience, even if
popular social media sites get blocked or hacked
Another way to ensure you get leads consistently is to start building email lists. You can do this on
your blog or through social media communities. As long as you have a list of people who want to
hear from you, you'll get return customers who will likely refer their friends and family to you.
3. Optimising your website
Audit your website's usability regularly, and make sure your visitors are navigating your online store
as you intended. Seek help from website testers or friends and family who can provide feedback on
how you can improve your website's flow. This will help you find and rectify hard-to-spot
communication gaps. For example, a jacket you're selling might have hidden pockets, but if your
description doesn't explicitly say this, your website visitors won't know what they're buying. Review
the copy on every product page to ensure it covers all features and functionalities, has a
grammatically and factually correct description, and includes photos to inform the buyer. The less
friction the customer experiences when buying a product online, the better the chances are that
they'll complete the purchase.
Analyse your website's traffic, drop off points, and scrolling patterns. These will help you identify
which parts of the website your audience is most engaged with and where they lose interest. If you
find that a lot of people leave the site after arriving at the checkout page, you'll know that you need
to improve that page. You can start to experiment with various changes to content, colours and
design, layout, payment options, or something else entirely.
4. Customer nurturing and up-selling
Ecommerce requires so much more than setting up the perfect online store. Email follow-ups,
discount codes, weekly specials reminders, and mobile push notifications are all essential elements

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 of reinforcing your brand and products in the customer's mind. Focus on building a customer
nurturing strategy for your business. If you sell a single product, then your nurturing strategy will be
the same for all customers. But if you sell multiple products, you could consider individual follow-
ups and nurturing strategies for each product.
Include up-selling as part of your nurturing plan—if someone bought a book by Margret Atwood,
they'll probably be interested in other books by the same author. The ultimate goal of these email
campaigns and nurturing efforts is an enhanced customer experience.
5. Internal product integration
In our conversations with prospective customers, we often find that a lot of businesses struggle with
siloed systems. They might be using the best product in the industry, but if it doesn't integrate with
their other information systems, it causes chaos and stress. When you're starting an ecommerce
business, identify which software products you want to use for each business function. Then,
evaluate whether each product can natively integrate with your existing systems. For example, you'll
want your online store to connect with your website analytics tool. When someone places an order
on your website, that information should flow through to your inventory system, your shipping
management system, and your accounting app.
6. Customer experience and loyalty
We have too many choices nowadays. That's the inherent challenge of retaining customers—
especially for ecommerce businesses. Brand loyalties fluctuate with the economy. That's why it's
important to have a strong customer experience strategy. Leverage that mindset—invest in people
and technology that help you provide good customer service. From setting up help desk software and
managing customer questions, to offering free/discounted delivery, make sure your customer has a
smooth interaction with your brand. This also includes their experience with your website and online
store Every little improvement goes a long way in making customers feel valued.
A popular way to keep customers coming back is to start loyalty initiatives, such as an affiliate
program, send discounts and offers for second-time purchases, and provide special-occasion
vouchers. Branding also plays a big role in building customer loyalty. Think Converse and Nike—
these brands have a large following on every social media channel. Identify which channel your
audience is most active on and invest your time there first. Social media can quickly get
overwhelming, so start small and expand as your resources grow. You can also leverage social media
ads to get more visibility for your brand..
7. Competitive return and refund policies
Almost every ecommerce business nowadays has free or highly-competitive return and refund
policies. However, not every business that offers a free return and refund policy provides a seamless
experience. That's where you can stand out. Build your policies so people who have to return
products can do so with the least amount of effort on their part. Strategies like giving store credits for
refunds, and asking customers to repack products and bear return postage costs can seem too
demanding to customers.
To create a customer-friendly return policy, consider:
• Providing cash refunds, instead of store credit.
• Refunding the initial shipping cost.
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 • Bearing the cost of returning a product.
• Offering home pickup for products a customer wishes to return.
8. Keeping up with a changing market

9. Data privacy and integrity

If you collect sensitive information from your customers, you have a duty to protect that data. Before
you set up your online store, research your software vendors thoroughly. If you intend to trade
internationally, you will have to comply with the privacy regulations of various countries. For
example, according to GDPR regulations, all data collected from European Union citizens should be
stored and processed within the EU. When you evaluate ecommerce vendors, ask how they comply
with global data privacy regulations. Vendors have to be transparent about their data processing
capabilities. For example, Zoho's commitment to privacy is so strong that we have data centres in
Australia, Europe, the United States, and India. If you use Zoho Commerce and collect information
from a customer in the European Union, their data will be stored and processed in our EU data
centre, ensuring our customer—you—is automatically GDPR compliant.

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