For me, modern commerce is about meeting the needs of the 21st century consumer.
What I mean by this is the expectation that, as a consumer, I can buy anytime, anywhere and anyhow.
It wasn’t always this way, of course. I grew up in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. Life, especially with the benefit of hindsight, was simple. If I needed new shoes my Mum took me to the local shops, and I got what was available. If I wanted more choices, we arranged a ‘day out’ and went into the city or visited a mall.
Selecting television stations was easy too. There were only three channels: 2, 7 or 9. All I had to do was fight with my sister to get what I wanted to watch. I usually lost.
It’s not so straight-forward today. Things may have gotten more complicated as choices have grown exponentially, however, its infinitely better today overall.
In fact, as I’m writing this I’m on a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Delta has kindly provided me with Wi-Fi (not so kind as to be free) and I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed and see a pair of shoes I like. I buy them and have them shipped to my UK address. All from 35,000 feet.
The manufacturer who got my business on this occasion grabbed my attention and made their product really easy to purchase. Anytime, anywhere anyhow.
So, ask yourself, is your business ready for modern commerce? If not, I would suggest you think carefully about how you can re-engineer your routes to market and address the needs of the 21st-century consumer.
Gordon Christiansen is a Partner at Highlands, a marketing agency based in Atlanta that specializes in equipping businesses for today’s market. If you’d like to learn more, let’s talk; [email protected]
