Business to Consumer (B2C)
You might have already guessed it, but do you know why Business to Consumer (B2C) relations are so important and not just for an individual business, but a business community as a whole?
B2C refers to the way businesses connect and engage with their customers – not just advertising and promotion. In a modern and post-pandemic world, customers are no longer restricted by locality and products or services are available with the click of a finger. This means it is increasingly important to create and maintain B2C relations. So, what do B2C relationships look like in practice?
Creating a positive customer experience from start to finish no matter if it is in-store or online
Online presence and use of social media. If your business isn’t online, how will new customers find out about you?
Provision, usability and efficiency of online shopping platforms i.e. Shopify Generating brand awareness to build a level of trust with your customers. This can be through online platforms, but also through word of mouth.
Showcasing your businesses offering. This doesn’t mean static product advertising, but rather highlighting how your customer would engage with your product or service.
What are the benefits and how do we achieve them?
For businesses the benefits can look like increased sales, recurring customers, expanding customer base, or growth in social media engagement, all of which can translate into profits for your businesses. Positive experiences, connections and insights into a business also means the trust of customers – especially locals – increases. Once a connection is formed, they are more likely to support your small local business rather than large or online retailers for convenience.
For Glen Innes Highlands, this helps prevent economic leakage and can attract spending from out of town – remember thanks to online shopping customers are no longer restricted by their location. It also creates unified visibility – would you visit a town if you were unsure of what’s on offer? Or would you pass it by and stop in the next town where you know shops are open and can have a nice lunch?
If people know what products and services are available to them, it means people will stop in, linger longer, spend more time and money within a township and often act as a recommendation - whether by word of mouth, providing reviews or sharing on their own social media accounts.
It may seem obvious to some, and out of reach for others but in the current market, presence and clear communications (especially online) are essential. Older generations may still prefer word of mouth and a personal touch, but with each generation comes a new level of technological dependence. Eventually businesses will need to be innovative and adapt to this demand to ensure they stand out from the crowd.
What can you and your businesses do?
Honestly the possibilities are endless – how you want to brand and promote your business is a very individual thing but here are some simple and advanced example to get you on your way to closer customer relationships:
Ensure you have a basic online presence. Creating a Google listing and a social media page is a good start. Next you can create your own website, shopping or booking platform.
Provide a “click and collect” style options for local customers and ensure good shipping is available for customers further away
Actively let customer know you can order something in – it can be hard to carry large amounts of stock, but letting customers know you can order in means they buy from you rather than online!
Showing a business’s “behind the scenes” helps to humanise a business and builds rapport with customers
Provide customer service training for you team so they can create the best possible experience for your customers
Tell your story! Think what makes your business special - why would a customer choose you, rather than buy online?
Throw or host an event – this provides a fun experience for customers and a way to capture content for social media
Generate unique content that sells the full experience. Seasonal menu change? Get a group of friends together and take photos of them enjoying your food and venue. New product? Ask a regular customer, friend of colleague to “model” it for you.
What is GIBC currently doing to help facilitate B2C connections?
Unlike B2B connections which Chambers can help facilitate, B2C connections are unique your type of business. While GIBC as a chamber can help by sharing you business posts, the role of a chamber is to help you to learn and develop skills that will allow you to communicate your business image more effectively.
Re-sharing posts from local businesses on Social Media to extend their reach
Creating business profiles on the GIBC website which give insight into our members and their businesses. These will also be shared on social media and in our fortnightly newsletters.
Looking into the possibility of a specific B2C social media page. A great example is The Shire Scout)
Host The Glen Innes Business Awards to recognise and promote the outstanding businesses in the region as well as the local vendors used in the awards set up.
Curate and facilitate GIBC branded workshops that focus on developing brand awareness, your business story, online and social media presence, customer service training, content generation and innovative ways create B2C engagement with your customers.
Some of the above initiatives are still a work in progress or in the planning stages but we have been working hard behind the scenes to secure funding and ensure we can maintain these resources in future years – remember it’s a marathon not a sprint!
In summary, creating and maintaining B2C connections are becoming increasingly important for businesses in the current climate. How a business generates this relation is also unique to a business, their brand and their offering. As a chamber we area very excited to help our members to build these relationships and watch both the businesses and Glen Innes Highlands as a whole thrive.