The importance of digitizing SMEs and an e commerce site in 2021

Digital transformation is on everyone’s lips. Faced with the health crisis that has been experienced since the beginning of the catastrophic year of 2020, as the strategic movements that had to implement all commercial fields, SMEs are not spared the change that has meant digital use at different levels, from an e commerce site to the ease of communication in time of distancing.

Its degree of importance is such that even governments of different countries are reserving a part of the budget in their countries to carry out such a strategy in this particular field and a gradual digital transformation. Today we will see what this is about and how it can be implemented on an e-commerce site.

Using the internet as a business platform

The issue that concerns us is digital transformation. Through this, we use new technologies intending to provide greater value to our businesses from different senses.

Although it’s suddenly confusing when we talk about the digital transformation we mean a context that is completely intangible but fully accessible in today’s times, where it is no longer necessary to clarify the importance of a massive medium such as the internet and its operation for the culture and the commercial battle of increasingly virtual nature.

Most events tell us about Airbnb, Uber, Facebook; the main companies that have budgets and are born exclusively digital. What happens then with SMEs? From the question of what is SME and their big importance, it represents up to 86% of work activity for Latin America.

It is necessary to put in context what is SME and how they are constituted in the day-to-day of those entrepreneurs and brands that are just beginning to position themselves in the market.

It is recognized that the SME problem in Latin America for different entrepreneurs is to get ahead with the company and develop it appropriately.

The agenda is in a constant saturation for any entrepreneur: from the paranoid, that is behind everything and does not delegate, to that profile that waits for the catastrophes to happen to him to decide to act.

When we talk about digital transformation we come across the needs of all these companies.

Identify a digital transformation for your e commerce site

For companies like Google, with its incorporation of Google Suite can be very simple to recognize its expansion to the market and the facilities they offer, however, as a company that was always digital, that was always aimed at as an e commerce site that could be gotten to be well-positioned.

For companies that must make such a leap, however, digital transformation must go beyond the digitization of documents or the use of the cloud.

No, for such a true transformation of what is SME and how their fieldwork is, it is necessary to have an approach based on the use and incorporation of new technologies that generate greater productivity within the company. That is handled from different areas and always from the perspective of the company.

This change is usually evident from the areas of marketing and commerce, where practically the term “digital marketing” is widely used, because on the Internet there is a greater communication for a higher level of sales, from an e commerce site, for example.

Use of the medium

On the other hand, if a deeper collaboration is made with this medium, we can use the “CRM”, the incorporation of a management system within the areas of Commerce, Marketing, or Customer Service. CRM competes in “support, marketing, sales, and feedback”. This happens in the company’s internal mechanisms.

How does an SME deal with this situation of digital transformation? Based on what is SME, we must understand that, although it is a reality that we find ourselves facing internal change, it is due to the current characteristics of the consumer, his way of moving, and relating to brands. It is a situation where all brands are located from all levels.

Some companies were born from the digital world and that also took up this problematization when they had to open themselves to other formats. When it comes to transforming the company into a new state, it also requires complex management from that format.

Considerations to take in this process

The initial and primary idea is to accept this reality to understand the path we want to take.

Digital transformation can be addressed from different places. For example, it is important to note how the CEO assimilates it because it ceases to be a hierarchical leader, but a vision that contributes and assists the rest in this process of metamorphosis.

The incorporation of new technologies within companies is a very important factor. However, the entire organization needs to agree to make use of that function.

It is common for such organizations to incorporate the CRM model for the sales model into, for example, an e commerce site. Only, with a question of lack of adoption in new technologies, it can happen that not even this model is used and ends up as a very good idea but incomprehensible to workers.

There will be some resistance to change. The human brain will try to be as lazy as possible and will try to adjust to processes that you already know and are easy to use.

It is essential to recognize that the use of these technologies works for us, they work for the sales team, the management team, the e commerce site, and customer service. It works for the benefit of all and is the first recognition that should be made of this business format: technology increases productivity in any field of your company.

You have to change within organizations. It must be understood that this process of change helps the organization from different areas and all must agree to be able to implement it without problems.

Benefit at different levels

On the other hand, from the point of view of innovation and the search for new business development from this platform, it is important to identify what is happening today.

Not only in the routine and the day-to-day that we can consume and wear. If we do this alone, we will never be able to devote our attention and energy to anticipate the future.

This from the perspective of incorporating knowledge related to this new industry, but also to contemplate what happens to competitors, consumers, the same customers, and the same industry at different levels, worldwide but also local. This will give us enough ideas to solve a problem and give it a new twist.

We will also recognize the different needs and methods of the same consumers. This will be useful for our same implementations and the ability to develop an idea that we can give to our customers.

Of course, the transformation process takes time and is not easy. We face the problem of getting the resources trained in that. However, it is known that everyone is in the same situation and is employing their best creative strategies to not only reproduce, but be the model that is copied now.

Even taking into account the creation of SMEs, it is known that 69% of the professions of tomorrow do not yet exist, they are still developing. This, compared to an education system that is suffering from a long delay of more than a hundred years, is not actually preparing the workforce of the future for those jobs that do not yet exist.

We are all facing a situation of re-education, to learn how to learn these new processes and markets. It is important to understand that in this change everyone needs to learn. However, when we talk about digital projects, it is important to have a benchmark in the company, a model that serves as a basis for everyone to be inspired to follow and know through this perspective.

Incorporation of software in organizations

Most new business models like Uber, Netflix, or Spotify have software at their core, it’s the most important element is your company.

So, a disruptive question in this scenario is: is your company capable of transforming into a software company? It’s a key question because it’s related to the change in the business model you’re running today.

The exceptions

Although not all companies require software to have a digital transformation process. When we talk about this act, we refer to the incorporation of digital assets in the company, that is, a website (e commerce site), the customer service process, channels of communication with the customer, internal systems: sales, logistics, and other procedures that are almost automated in a company that has experience in it.

As we understand these factors, we must start to address the issue directly. We will have to decide whether to do it. It is very important that the leader is present in this process, from the head of the organization must agree in its entirety.

When an organization is so segmented, there is a serious problem in managing that process of change, because it is managed by different methods. For example, there is the agile method where you work horizontally with the whole team, from its different branches of the same work. This diversity must exist for a process of transformation.

It is worth noting that closeness may not be physical, only under organizational matters. On many occasions, it can be shocking that many organizations have a style of work and suddenly have this change, which generates fear and disorientation. The important thing is to stay open to change and learn how to deal with these processes and projects. Ultimately, attention needs to be paid to how these technologies are incorporated to increase productivity, including from what is SME and an e commerce site.