During the process of strategy definition for the new izigo Shop page, one of the questions that came up immediately was: "What is our value proposition?".

That said, it seems a bit hard to figure out, but what it actually means is: "What does our solution have, that others do not?" or "Why would customers buy our solution instead of our competitor?".

Responding to this question obliges us always to look very well at everything we do, but above all, what is in the market and how it is done. If we can be critical about this, let's quickly see if what we have to offer has something different or not.

And that's what we did. In a market where there are countless solutions available, we have tried to figure out what we have and how we can be different, or do things so that our potential customers' choice falls on us.

When we analyze solutions from a technical point of view - more functionality, less functionality - they all offer the same set of options from the point of view of the end customer, ie a beautiful online store available on all devices ( responsive), with products that can be added to the shopping cart, use an electronic medium for payment and request shipment to an address.

So far, value propositions are more or less similar, given the ultimate goal of selling products online.

But how then can we be different? What can we do that can differentiate us?

In order to respond to this, there is nothing better than to use our customers' comments, for example, in a buying and decision process, and then asking ourselves, "Do you need anything else from us? information needed to make your decision? ".

It is at this moment that we have the valuable information to define our value proposition (or not), because it is at this moment of decision that the client can tell us the reason for his choice, be it ours or another.

Obviously, in a digital world such as today, only solutions available online could have a fully automated process in which to buy, it would be enough for the customer to click a button and the process would be complete. For products aimed at the final consumer (B2C), this is a very frequent process and is gaining more and more volume at the level of billing in our country.

SIBS Market Report 2016, for example, shows that 84% of respondents have at least once purchased a product or service from an online store and that 40% of respondents shop online at least once a month.

But in a market where our end customer is B2B, the entire decision-making process is much more complex and time-consuming. It can be done without resorting to any outside help, but often, especially in smaller companies where there is no dedicated department, this whole process becomes more complex.

That's why it's crucial to be very well prepared and available to answer any questions that a prospective customer in the business market may have, but without the "rush to sell." We know that these are complex and sometimes time consuming processes, and if the customer is not available to buy now, we have to follow his "decision day" in order to be present when it is taken, whether positive or not. >

Many times I have said in some meetings where I am given the opportunity to share the izigo solutions - and I have no problem doing so - that if I start to see that the solution does not fit or does not add value to the customer, I'd rather not buy it. This is because, above all, our success is a result of our customers' success, and if we do not help them succeed, especially with our solutions, sooner or later they will no longer be our customer.

It was in this sense, and based on what we have been doing, that we defined and placed on the page of our solution izigo Shop as one of the advantages, all the accompaniment of the izigo team throughout the decision process and implementation of an online store.

I'm not saying that alone is not possible, but it's certainly a bigger challenge.

To deepen your knowledge, read our specific articles on online stores and get to know the our izigo Shop solution . You can also find our demo shop where you can explore in detail all the available features .