A bad economy is a bad economy no matter what angle you look at it from. People have less money so they are spending less money and therefore companies are taking in less revenue. In a nutshell that is how you would describe a bad economy.
Many economists take a nuclear holocaust kind of view when it comes to who will survive a bad economy. Just like it is predicted that cockroaches and Twinkies will be the only things to survive a nuclear holocaust there are only a few types of businesses that have the ability to survive a bad economy. One of those types of businesses is online businesses.
There are several reasons why an online business is best positioned to survive a bad economy and the smart and agile owner of an online business can exploit these reasons to make their business even stronger.
The internet is becoming like cable television in that while everyone may not have it yet it is still assumed that most people have access to the internet.
The internet costs a person a monthly fee for access and they can access any website as much as they want with that monthly fee. In order for a person to go to a store and go shopping they have to put wear and tear on their vehicle and gas in the gas tank both of which cost the consumer money.
So right off the bat an online business has an advantage over a business that is located in a retail location because when people decide they want to go out less due to the cost of going out they can still surf the internet and decide to buy things online. The key is letting consumers know how to find your website.
There are many things that separate internet retailers from traditional retailers and one of those things is accessible traffic. It is still easier to put a sign along the side of a road, or a big flashy sign on your company’s building, and catch the eye of passing motorists.
It is easy to find the media outlets that will reach the most people when you run a standard retail location because you have a physical place for customers to go.
With an online retail business the idea of getting traffic is the one thing that is significantly more difficult and it can take quite a while to determine exactly how to get a steady flow of good paying traffic to your website.
In a bad economy everyone is scrambling for revenue and you may be able to turn a bad economy to your favor by finding deals on internet advertising that will help point traffic your way. The first thing to do is to make sure your web address is easy to understand and easy for people to remember.
The next thing is to start looking into the rates for advertising where people spend the most time on the internet and people spend the most time on the internet at the major search websites. You can start there and then do research on becoming an internet advertising expert to get more people to your retail website.
In a bad economy an online retailer may also be able to get better deals from drop shipping wholesalers.
Sometimes in a bad economy a drop shipper may change their requirements or even open themselves up to taking on more customers and that is where you can step in and take on a new drop shipper.
The more sources for product you have the better able you will be to supply your customers with the products they need in a timely manner. Just be warned that when prices drop customer service sometimes falls a little as well so be sure you find out what level of support you can really expect from a new supplier.
Being an online retailer that relies on drop shipping wholesalers means your overhead costs are significantly lower than a standard retail store.
This becomes a significant advantage in a bad economy as not only are you able to survive on less revenue because your overhead is so much lower but you are also agile enough to try and cash in on any new retail trends that may come up.
You never know when the next big craze will come along for a product and in the retail world timing is everything.
If you can capitalize on new trends by being more flexible due to your business structure then you are always one or more steps ahead of the competition. Maximize your advantages as an online retailer and your business will be stronger when the economy turns around.