Technology and online connections are helping businesses make great first impressions with customers.
Whether they’re researching products, looking for financial advice, booking medical appointments, or shopping for deals, people love the convenience and choice the digital world offers.
With competitors just a click away, your online shopfront is vital to making the first impression that’s the foundation of a sale.
Done right, it’s also a wonderful opportunity for smaller businesses to “level the playing field”. Cloud services have democratised access to cutting-edge design, e-commerce solutions and customer service tools that can help small businesses produce the kind of sophisticated online presence once only possible with big budgets and large IT departments.
Much of the capability to build that presence and win over customers is now delivered via the internet. So now more than ever, businesses need fast and reliable business connectivity like that available through business nbn fibre plans to help them shine online.
98% of Australians aged 18 to 75 shop online making an average of two purchases per week1
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Source: PayPal eCommerce Index 2023
Tuning in to the right channels to snare you customers
Connecting with customers today is an omni-channel game2. According to Salesforce3 , consumers engage with a company across eight different channels before deciding to buy, while business decision makers go even deeper, engaging across 10 channels.
But to do omni-channel commerce well, it's important to effectively integrate your IT stack beyond your customer-facing platforms to seamlessly connect with core business systems like finance, logistics and marketing platforms.
These interconnected systems can allow for a unified approach to e-commerce that enhances efficiency and streamlines operations. Which is why access to a fast and reliable internet connection, like those enabled by a business nbn fibre plan available over Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), can be crucial to making these multi-channel ecosystems work together.
Giving customers a stress-free experience
Glitches and unreliability can’t get in the way of smooth interactions that support customers’ trust in your business. Many online sellers, for example, know the frustration of getting the buyer most of the way to the checkout, only to have them abandon the sale5.
Your great first impression needs to continue right through to order confirmation and payment, which have to be quick and easy to complete. You can also connect with supplier systems to provide up-to-date stock information, or offer more delivery options, or an expanded range of payment services.
Even if you're not selling directly online, you can support customers by answering questions using tech like AI-powered customer service chatbots or solve customer queries via video calls with customer service agents.
Every step of the way, these important interactions should be free of glitches, drop-outs and other issues. The reliability of business nbn fibre plans, along with the availability of enhanced service and support options, helps ensure these “moments that matter” are stress free for you and your customers.
SMBs using data analytics are 2x more likely to report revenue growth6
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Source: Amazon Web Services
Using data to accelerate your business
One of the biggest changes online commerce has made is to the way small businesses use data. Instead of hard to maintain spreadsheets of basic information, modern online businesses have access to a wealth of data about their customers, suppliers, products, and finances.
This data can be put to work to lift your customer experience, doing things like pre-populating forms, remembering orders, and showing customer products and services that match their preferences.
Business intelligence systems can use the data to create dashboards for real-time insights about how your business is performing, helping you spot trends in changing customer preferences or opportunities like new pricing options. Again, it’s capability that was once only available to big businesses, and even better, it’s now often designed to be used by people that aren’t tech experts.
Your business needs the connectivity that supports data-driven success. That means having access to high performing upload speeds, on top of fast downloads – which is often a key difference between business and home internet plans.
Connecting with online success
Great digital experiences can make a lasting impression and set you up for sales success. Our business nbn fibre plans have been designed to provide businesses with the internet connections and service options that support the tools and data that can help create that experience. Using full fibre connections to business premises, they offer a range of speed options, reliability and wide choice of service providers. Unlike connectivity solutions designed for home use, business nbn fibre plans also offer features that recognise the unique demands of doing business, like higher upload speeds than our residential plans, to connect cloud-based systems efficiently and accelerate functions like data back-up and large file uploads. Crucially, they can also offer enhanced support options#, which include business-grade technicians and target service restoration times as low as four hours* in the event of an unplanned outage.
By designing these plans specifically for business needs, nbn is working to give Australian businesses an enhanced internet experience that helps their customers connect with a great experience of their own.
Check if your business is eligible
Find out if you're eligible for a full fibre upgrade with access to our business nbn fibre plans.
Sources
- PayPal eCommerce Index 2023
- What is omnichannel marketing?, McKinsey
- State of the Connected Customer Report, Salesforce.com
- The future of retail is hybrid. Is your business ready?, nbn
- How to tackle abandoned carts and global retailers, CMO
- How Business Intelligence Can Help Small and Medium Businesses Stay Competitive, AWS