Put simply, linear commerce is about the marketing of a product or service by way of traditional channels, which in this case means traditional business structures. Put simply, linear commerce takes a product or service, delivers it, and then provides the opportunity for an intermediate or last-part of the way through which the consumer/consumer gets to purchase the product. The model, as far as business models go, is very straightforward. What makes it somewhat interesting (and more importantly useful) is that the model is adaptable to whatever medium the merchant chooses to make use of.
Now to be fair, this isn't some grandiose claim; quite plainly, many (if not most) linear businesses follow this path because it works. But to understand how this can help you improve your own business, you need to take a long look at what kind of business you have. In short: brands create long-term success...
So, what do brands do? Quite simply, they create an emotional connection with your audience - in much the same way that the emotional connection that you experience when you buy a product is created, and the purchasing decisions that result are as pure and as sincere as those that result from actually buying that product. This is something else that brands do: by making brands, you can help you reduce your overall cost base for all but the most expensive customer - and in a market like ecommerce d2c, this cost can be as low as zero dollars. And this leads us to our next point: because you've managed to create a brand, you can also manage to drive all but the most expensive customer away from you. In fact, the only people who'll remember your brand from your linear commerce strategy will be the customers who didn't buy anything from you - and the acquisition costs of acquiring them will be all but eradicated.
Now, this all sounds great, right? And it's certainly true that in a market where customers are very price sensitive, having a brand can give you a huge advantage over your competitors. The problem, however, is that you don't always have time to develop your own brands. If you're running a chain of pubs, or a barstool sports store, then you're probably quite busy with other things: running the business, dealing with customer complaints, answering the phones, dealing with payroll. And all this is fine, if you're not bringing in the kind of sales that barstool sports sites require - which means that in order to really maximise your brand power, you're going to need to have an inbuilt brand that will attract those kind of customers.
Fortunately, there's an easy way to do this, and it's called brand inbound marketing. Brand inbound marketing is a process that allows you to tap into the brand equity of your customers, to drive sales from them. It can be as simple as designing a brochure that has your logo on it, but it can also include things like creating a video featuring your barstool sports store staff, and including testimonials from current customers. With the help of a good digital marketing company, this all becomes a lot easier, because they'll know exactly what your customers are looking for, and the specific things that tickle their fancy. This is especially important in a world where customers themselves are becoming more digitally savvy - a well-designed, professional-looking brochure is only as good as the company that printed it.
In other words, your brand needs to appeal to a specific kind of audience. If you're selling to a younger demographic, for example, you'll want to incorporate elements of technology and social media into your product, because these are the kinds of people who are most likely to be on Instagram or Facebook, and to be actively searching for information about a brand that uses those platforms. If you're selling to a more mature audience, on the other hand, you need to remember that there are still many places where people gather to enjoy coffee and conversation - omnichannel retail locations are still very much in demand, and while a coffee shop online may have a larger base of customers, it can never be considered a true community because no one actually spends time at your coffee shop. If you want to build a loyal audience, then you need to target an audience that has already expressed some interest in your brand. This is where linear commerce can really help you out; rather than trying to reach an entire new audience, you can simply reach a group of people who already have an interest in your brand.
Add on to your knowledge about this topic by visiting this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_marketplace.
