A Value System as the Foundation of Competitive Advantage in E-Commerce
How do we increase sales online, and how can customers only buy from us so that they are even addicted to our online store?
Can such an effective competitive advantage in the area of e-commerce be gained these days?
Bakery and confectionery businesses have recently become increasingly bold in selling their products online.
On the one hand, online sales deprive the company of the advantage of having its own shops and experienced retail staff.
On the other hand, maintaining a passive attitude towards the dynamic development of e-commerce sales can significantly reduce the revenues of bakery and confectionery producers.
So we can say that we are doomed to redirect part of the sales to the Internet, so we should make an effort to be the best in this sale.
W-MOSZCZYNSKI-2023-6-28Do e-commerce stores without production facilities have an advantage?
Many companies have appeared on the market without production facilities, selling confectionery and bakery products online.
They therefore act as intermediaries between producers and consumers.
The establishment of such an entity does not involve high costs, experience and necessary certificates in this industry. It is enough to have a computer and access to the Internet.
It does not matter to the consumer who buys it on the Internet whether the store consists exclusively of a computer and its operator,
whether it is a store representing a large production company with traditions and appropriate material and intellectual facilities.
Producers should therefore seek competitive advantages which would allow them to take their rightful place on the online market.
Customers are not guided solely by price when purchasing
The price for the sale of sugar confectionery products is of some importance, as opposed to the sale of bread. The sales process of both types of products varies significantly, as a result of this,
that we will discuss online sales, we will make some simplifications of the sugar and bakery products will treat similarly.
Customers are very connected to our website. They do not imagine shopping in other online shops, because buying from us has a great sense of satisfaction
The purchase act is a reason for them to be proud and drunk is a feeling of fulfillment. Imagine their disappointment when for some reason they cannot do so.
Such a vision seems very naive, and attempts to find a method that would make customers behave in this way seem very bold.
This courageous vision I called for a reason. The considerations described below point to such extraordinary and unrealistic results.
At the end of the reading, you will notice that such a vision is feasible.
Every customer has a value system
Most people, especially young or well-educated, have more or less specific goals.
Some run and need a proper diet to achieve better results.
Others are affected by diabetes or cardiovascular problems, so they will buy products that do not burden their organisms.
There are also people involved in stopping the warming process. Others are fighting against littering and looking for products in organic packaging,
engage in assistance for African countries or solidarity with the protection of tropical forests.
Each person represents individual values systems. Often they are illusory values, often linked to health aspects.
It is certain that customers often make consumer decisions on the basis of criteria other than price or taste.
Using the customer’s value system
Apart from cases where the consumer decision is linked to a strict diet, e.g. the need to purchase gluten-free products,
Now most customers do not make decisions based on their beliefs and value system. It is hard to imagine that someone buying cookies would think about the greenhouse effect.
Cookies and greenhouse effect have no connection. A person practicing intensive sport can buy a product that will be called Sports Bread.
However, one can imagine that this athlete will not be convinced that this bread is perfectly suited to his diet.
To create a strong customer dependence on an online store, an effective product credibility system must be established.
This is the first step in creating an emotional relationship, built on the basis of an individual client value system.
Thus, if someone is involved in developing organic farming they will try to buy bread from certified flour, grown without the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides.
If someone tries to avoid carcinogens, they should be able to find goods that do not contain these substances.
The question of credibility
In order to convince customers that the characteristics of the products purchased are true, there must be a reliable system of certificates and certificates.
An example of such a system when purchasing furniture or notebooks is the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certificate.
When you buy cosmetics you can meet Cruelty Fred certificate, which is a declaration that cosmetics have not been tested on animals.
It is not only their own advantage to people to buy but also their concern for the environment or to contribute to countering such negative phenomena as social exclusion,
hunger or soil degradation in subtropical areas.
How to introduce values into the sales process
As we mentioned, some customers have certain beliefs, they are sensitive to some of the negative phenomena.
In order to include this sensitivity in the sales process, it is necessary to provide customers with the necessary and, above all, reliable information.
Eggs can come from cage farming or free range, and other confectionery from suppliers who actively finance humanitarian aid to Africa.
All this information should be included in the product descriptions.
The athlete's bread I mentioned earlier should contain a precise composition of vitamins, nutrients and micronutrients.
Customers who shop in retail stores usually do not have time to in-depth analysis of the composition of individual products.
Thus, they will not be guided by values, even if these values are very important to them.
Shopping in online shops is very similar to shopping in retail stores.
Here, too, customers do not have time to study the origin of flour or check certificates. However, the online store has more potential.
He can be equipped with an assistant salesman.
It's just a board with a configuration of what products we're looking for. We can find it in the Allegro store for example.
We indicate the range of price, color, brand, age, and even the level of consumption of the goods. In the confectionery shop we can introduce decision boxes that will matter to the buyer.
Thus, the buyer may point out that he only wants to buy organic, gluten-free or sugar-free products.
The selection area may include categories such as suppliers supporting climate protection or a diet intended exclusively for people suffering from diabetes.
More advanced algorithms of virtual purchasing assistants can offer specific products based on the previous purchase history of each individual customer.
They can offer sets of confectionery products based on weather forecasts so that the body of the customer can handle the upcoming heat well.
The product basket may be composed on the basis of a value system and other preferences of individual consumers resulting from their previous purchases.
It may seem that the vision that I had in the beginning of this publication has a chance to be realized.
Customers can identify daily shopping with fighting inhumane treatment of animals, climate protection or decarbonisation of the environment.
Those involved in defending their values can be satisfied with their choices, which can become a habit or a kind of addiction.
By assuming that only one online store takes into account the many values worth fighting for, customers will be heavily dependent on this store.
This is certainly a good chance to gain a very effective competitive advantage.
The advantage that will undoubtedly contribute globally to positive changes in the social and natural environment.
Wojciech Moszczyński — graduate of the Department of Econometrics and Statistics of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń; specialist in econometrics, finance, data science, and management accounting. He specializes in the optimization of production and logistics processes. He conducts research in the area of the development and application of artificial intelligence. For years he has been engaged in the popularization of machine learning and data science in business environments.
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