Selling HHC Online

Everyone appears to be setting up their own "dot-com" to sell HHC products online and cash in on the new online sales frontier. Easy money? Not necessarily. Marketing online is different than advertising in print or on TV. And one basic rule needs to be recognized: a successful (as in profitable!) marketing program usually results from developing the winning combination of products, demographics, price and value offer.

ID HHC Customers Online

Healthcare information and sex top almost every consumer survey when people are asked why they go online (an interesting HHC marketing opportunity). Of the 40+ percent who search for medical information, over 50 percent seek out specific disease conditions. And to find these HHC sites, consumers use hot links, search engines and recommendations from family and friends.

What do we know about these HHC online consumers? Almost three-quarters are aged from 25 to 55. Only 13 percent are over 55 years of age! And the few seniors online appear to be focused on pricing and ordering prescription drugs. The bulk of consumers seeking healthcare information are middle-aged females - the same spouse caregivers and adult female children who are currently shopping and buying in "brick and mortar" retail HHC stores.

Define Web Site Objectives

Are the online consumers who find your site looking for information or products? Are you trying to inform them, sell them or both? First decide upon your objective for a web site before you develop it. Then you will know how to market your site and satisfy the consumers who find it.

Many web developers utilize three or more levels when discussing sites. Here is a basic overview:
Level 1 is simply a home page that identifies your business. One page presents who you are (your business identity or image), what you sell and how consumers can contact you.
Level 2 is a brochure or mini-catalog. After identifying your business, this web site offers background information, corporate staff profiles and an overview of your products and services. Product photos are used to highlight each category and illustrate what you sell. Sales information is still offered through different medium, such as a toll-free telephone number or email address.
Level 3 is a transactional web-based business. In addition to all of the information provided above, you can now conduct business online via a secured credit card charge system. Your products are now accompanied by the shopping cart symbol and you are in business to sell the products you display online.

Build Your Web Site

Following are the basic steps in building your own web site:
1. Address. You need a "dot-com" address on the web that is called a universal resource locator (URL) or domain name. First, check to see if the name you want to use is still available. Most web design companies and service providers offer to search for and register your name. Check at www.internic.com, which lists the Internet domain registration companies that are accredited by their national association, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Registration costs average $100 for the first two years and then $50 per year. NOTE: Failure to renew annually means that you will lose the rights to your registered name and anyone else can now buy it!

2. ISP. The Internet service provider or ISP is the company that hosts web sites. They maintain the servers on their premises and provide Internet access to your web site. To find a local ISP, log onto www.webisplist.com. Monthly ISP fees vary widely from $20 to several hundred dollars, depending upon the services offered. How fast is their Internet connection? Is someone available 24/7 in case your web site crashes late one night or over the weekend? Do they offer a secure socket layer (SSL) for credit card transactions? Can they track visitors to your web site? Do they have a back-up system in case theirs crashes?

3. Home Page. Web visitors usually judge a site within a few seconds by looking at its home page. How quickly does the home page download? Within seven seconds or does it take several minutes? Two-thirds of viewers will go elsewhere if they have to wait too long. Prioritize and present your information from the top of the page down, just as viewers will read it. Identify your business, the services and products you offer, where you are located and how to contact you. Make the page user-friendly with a navigation bar along the top or side. Use a box or call-out for topical information that changes at least weekly, such as news briefs, calendar dates or special promotions. NOTE: Search engines look for keywords or "meta-tags" in the text of your home page, and the closer these words are to the top of your page (or the more that are used in your headline or title), the closer a match you appear for any given search!

4. Design. The actual creation of your web pages needs the expertise of a web designer who understands both design and web graphics programming. Are the graphics viewable? Do you offer plain html viewing options if visitors cannot run animation such as Flash or changing images such as Java Script? Costs per page vary from several hundred to several thousand dollars. A good rule of thumb for HHC businesses is to keep to your core objective of selling medical products. A clear photograph with informative text presented on a simple background is often the most functional presentation for your customers. And this format can be created for $200-$300 per page (pricing does not include scanning photographs into digital images. As this is costs $40-$60 each, insist that manufacturers provide you with digital art.)

5. One-Click Mobility. Web sites need to be easy to navigate and user-friendly if you want consumers to stick around, view pages, buy products and then return again. Can you move forward and backward with one simple click to view pages? Can you view similar products side-by-side to compare them? Can you order a product without going to the "check-out" page and losing the page you were reading? Is there a built-in search engine that works? Can you search for products by generic name, brand name and product number? Look at some of the better retail web sites to see why they are so popular: amazon.com, ebay.com, gap.com, drugstore.com and pets.com.

6. Shopping Cart. An online web business must provide the ability to purchase products via credit card transactions. Security is the number one concern among consumers shopping online. Ensure that you protect your customers by using a secure socket layer (SSL) for these transactions. The shopping cart icons are familiar to online customers. Are your customers able to easily find and click on your shopping cart feature? Are they able to purchase products without being linked to another web page? Or do you provide a one-click button to return to where they were after selecting the item to purchase?

7. Contact Us. Every web business strives to be customer-friendly by facilitating communication between consumers and web support staff. Do you offer email? Online chat? A toll-free 800 telephone number? Do you offer the ability to contact you on every page? How quickly do you respond to these inquiries? Immediately? Same-day responses are the minimum acceptable if you care about developing a loyal customer base.

Bookmark Your Site

Given that the average search engine can only locate 6 or 8 percent of the web sites on the Internet, how do you expect anyone to find you directly? Optimum usage of keywords and meta-tags is important (see above in Home Page). Read about how to keep your site at the top of search engine lists at www.searchenginewatch.com. Use multiple submission services such as , www.addme.com and www.submit-it.com.

But direct searches are not the most effective means to drive web shoppers to healthcare sites. Hot links have been the major source of online healthcare consumers. They start their healthcare searches visiting informative sites such as non-profit associations, support groups, healthcare systems, insurance companies and manufacturers. Then they hot link to HHC business sites that are listed as local resources within their respective niche specialties. For example, the American Heart Association hot links to Omron Healthcare, which in turn hot links to local retailers across the country.

Get Sticky

Every recent Internet e-retailer survey and study documents that information, not shopping, is what keeps online consumers on a site and converts them into loyal, repeat customers. Forrester Research defines content as "any form of text, pictures, sound or video that either describes or enhances a consumer's impression of a product." If someone hot links from an healthcare information site to yours as the local resource, you better provide content that is newsworthy and topical if you want them to stay or come back again.

Healthcare content goes beyond product features and benefits to include generic information on disease states, disease state management programs, lifestyle information, related newsletters, calendar of related events, educational series, personal profiles and reader chat rooms. Product and services can then be presented as additional means for maintaining or improving daily quality of life.

Monthly information emails are the most effective marketing tool for e-retailers, especially in healthcare. Once your consumers have agreed to accept informational emails from you, then begin educating them about specific disease conditions. Become a valued resource for your healthcare niche, and consumers will turn to you whenever they need related products or services.

Service = Loyalty Online

Customer service online is evolving rapidly. Originally it consisted of an FAQ page covering consumer's most "frequently asked questions." Sometimes toll-free telephone numbers were included. Email was answered in a day or two. Then email became more responsive, with businesses replying within 24 hours. As competition increased among retailers online, email became almost instantaneous to communicate with customer service. Plus instant chat opened a window (literally) on the screen to talk with a customer service representative (CSR). And a toll-free telephone number is highlighted on every page that consumers can call to have a CSR walk them through the web site.

Customer service on retail business sites is referred to as "customer experience." A consumer's online "experience" has been defined as their response to all of the element involved with their interaction online: content, product information, brand names, product selection, good value (fair price), responsive service, personalization for re-orders and timely fulfillment. This translates into providing:
1. Superior product knowledge that provides for an enjoyable shopping experience;
2. A secure credit card charge system for payment;
3. Responsive customer service that satisfies customers;
4. Order tracking that emails customers from the moment they order until after they have received it to ensure that they are satisfied; and
5. An online return system that is easy to navigate and follow.

Remember that healthcare consumers that buy on a regular basis return to web sites that have satisfied all of these requirements, but most importantly customized their offering. They can either chose to reorder from a list of their most ordered products or scan their previous orders and click on any products to automatically generate a reorder.

In HHC, the key to building relationships is through providing information, and online sales is no different. Build your brand. Build customer relationships. Inform, inform, inform. Then sell to improve quality of life. And you have another customer for life.

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