Imagine for a moment that when you got ready to do your grocery shopping every grocery store in your area suddenly showed up at your front door and offered you their best rock bottom price on the stuff you were looking to buy? Would you ignore the lowest price and buy from Kroger instead simply because they are Kroger? Probably not.
Now imagine if among the grocery stores that showed up a farmer came as well and while he wasn't the lowest price person that came, he offered wholesome, fresh, and all organic foods. Now would you choose the lowest price producer or would you be willing to buy from the farmer that had a better product, but not the lowest price.
This strange scenario is exactly what the Internet has brought to us today. If you are ready to buy something in about 3 minutes you can have your computer go out on the Internet and bring back a list of the the products you are looking for, ranked from lowest price to highest. Each of these companies will even ship it right to your door.
The Internet has created a true commodity market for a lot of products. In my example at the beginning of this post is not realistic and unless you have a ton of extra time on your hand driving or calling all around town to get the lowest price on your groceries you will end up paying a premium on some of your stuff.
However for the things that you buy on the Internet this is not true. Several search robots and other tools will give a total list of online sellers and give you the option of buying at the lowest price, so why wouldn't you buy at the lowest price since it is so easy find and buy at the lowest price?
USP - What is yours?
The answer is USP which stands for Unique Selling Proposition. This concept is what truly makes you different from other competitors. Hint here, lowest price is not a good USP. Unique selling propositions can be based on service, quality, brand appeal, and many other elements, but the key is they are things that are unique to you and difficult or impossible for your competitors to duplicate and still offer it at the lowest price. If your competitor can match your USP perfectly and still offer the lowest price maybe you should find another line of work.
If you have an eCommerce site you need to know what you are selling (hint: I am not referring to the product itself) for example when people buy a plane ticket they don't really want a plane ticket they want the ability to be transported from point A to point B quickly and efficiently. So I ask you again what are you really selling.
Next how can you add value to what you sell that is difficult or impossible for your competitor to offer? You need to be able to create true value for the premium you are going to charge for your product.
USP is Critical to Your Survival
If you can't add distinction and value to your product then the consumer has no reason to pay anything more to you than the lowest price for the product or service, which means that with the Internet they probably won't buy from you. Sad, but true.
I know I am shattering the dreams here of tons of people that hired consultants that said just put your business on the web and retire to Maui. Running a business on the web is just as difficult as running it in the bricks and mortar world, maybe even more difficult because without a solid USP you are going to be reduced to a commodity in very short order.
I recommend that if you truly want to succeed on the Internet that you start with USP. Find out those unique selling points you can offer and charge for them. If your USP is truly unique and not easy to duplicate and if you can get traffic to your site and persuade them to buy with your copy and USP then you will make money.
Man that is a lot like a real business and work isn't it? Better cancel that flight to Maui.
Michael Temple
