Received an email from Forrester Research and found it interesting  enough to share.  I'm sure they don't mind since they invited me to share/email this with anyone, so I am.  This particular report aims to provide insight from eBiz-execs seeking to grow their eBiz. 

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Welcome to the new First Look designed specially for eBusiness & Channel Strategy professionals!

Whatever your politics, you can't envy Barack Obama. He's just walked into the biggest economic disaster in American history. Housing prices are plummeting, businesses are unable to raise capital, unemployment is rising, the stock market hasn't displayed signs of a bottom yet, and consumer confidence is at the lowest level since the University of Michigan even started to measure the metric. There's a guy out there who calls himself Dr. Doom who thinks that it could take decades to recover. It's enough to make just about anyone want to crawl into a hole and hibernate until there's better news.

Anyone, that is, but an eBusiness manager. Because if there is a silver lining in this cloud, it is that the online sector of nearly every consumer-facing business continues to experience growth and garner executive attention. From a Forrester survey of eBusiness executives, we know that the key reasons why an online business exists are to acquire new customers, reduce the current cost of servicing customers, and retain existing customers. The impact of the Web channel is clear and quantifiable, and that should leave you in pretty good shape.

In fact, 72% of retailers said that the Web channel is better suited to withstand an economic slowdown than other channels. But a downturn is never a good thing, and companies have a bad habit of killing even the geese that lay the golden eggs during tough times. What are the things you need to be prepared for?

We see three:

• A continued slump in consumer confidence. With all the bad news out there, how can customers or businesses possibly be anything but uncertain about the future? Your Web site is in a unique position to address this challenge.
  
  
• Demand for value. If "trading up" was the catchphrase of the last decade, you can bet money that "trading down" will be an imperative for indebted, cash-flow-negative consumers to get the most out from the limited resources they do have. Is it any wonder that Wal-Mart, whose mantra is "Everyday low prices," is one of the only stores to experience positive comp store sales in recent months?
  
  
• High customer acquisition costs. As consumers and businesses are tighter with their wallets, marketing spend is less likely to yield much bang for the buck. That means focusing on your customers who know you, love you (or at least tolerate you), and are likely to spend more with you. In other words, this means more need to focus on customer retention.

So what to do? eBusiness managers should be doing several things to address these changes. In the short term, we suggest three strategies.

Addressing customer confidence issues in your digital contact points. If your business is in good shape, don't be afraid to trumpet it -- on your home page, on log-in pages, in your emails. We received an email from Citizens Bank recently that said just that: The times are uncertain, but your deposits are not. What a comforting message during turbulent times that many eBusiness executives ignore. In fact, one in five US online travelers avoids destinations because a Web site's content doesn't make them feel comfortable; 26% cite the same problem with hotel Web sites.

Boosting customer care. There may be places to cut funds, but if you are in an industry where consumers are skittish, make sure that you have human help on hand to answer questions and allay concerns. When consumers want customer service, they are most likely to either go to a store or call a service rep. Interactive chat and click-to-call show promise, especially for online banking sites. In a recent survey, we found that while 85% of researchers who contacted a firm during the research process used the phone, just 43% found that method helpful. By contrast, just 47% used click-to-call, but satisfaction rates were significantly higher at 61%

Perfecting retention marketing strategies. The king of all digital retention tactics is email marketing, and it's time to make sure you're not just batching and blasting your entire customer base with irrelevant messages. Segment your best customers, and create useful content that will engage them and give them a reason to interact with you even when their liquidity is low.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. We have many documents that we've published recently and have on our docket in the coming weeks to advise various eBusiness groups on weathering the economic storm. The good news is that if you're reading this, you'll likely be one of the players that not only emerges from this downturn intact, but stronger and better than before.

Seeing the glass half full,
Sucharita Mulpuru

Research Referenced In This Issue

Brand-Building Online Content Matters For eBusiness And Channel Strategy In A Recession (47266)
How To Get Customers To Shop Online (45822)
Optimizing Customer Retention Programs (44400)
The Business Case For Interactive Help In Financial Services (42472)
The Cost Of eBusiness Operations And Customer Acquisition (46111)
The State Of Retailing Online 2008: Profitability, Economy, And Multichannel Report (45508)