The basics of expanding sales channels, which is key to business growth

When thinking about business growth, developing sales channels is important. Properly understanding "what to sell" and "where to sell" can lead to business success. In particular, the smaller the company, the more important it is to accumulate small sales channels. No matter how good a product or service you develop, it will not work if it does not reach the buyer. In this article, we will introduce strategies that can be used to expand sales channels.

Expanding sales channels for B2B companies

If you want to expand your sales channels to corporations, the most common method is through introductions from existing customers. However, introductions from business partners are often limited to sales channels in the same field. Therefore, the key is to broaden your horizons to other fields.

Expanding sales channels for B2C companies

For B2C companies, it is effective to use IT tools such as online shops and websites in addition to traditional mass advertising and direct mail. In recent years, the diffusion effect of SNS has been particularly large, and an increasing number of companies are conducting sales promotions making full use of IT tools that are familiar to consumers.

Exhibiting on EC Mall

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of EC malls has been remarkable. Recently, even if you can buy something at a brick-and-mortar store, you are increasingly doing preliminary research online and buying it from the cheapest shop. The appeal of online stores is that they can be operated without having a brick-and-mortar store, so they can develop sales channels without incurring costs. In addition, consumers have more freedom.

Posting information on SNS

The development of social media has been a major driving force in expanding sales channels. Recently, more and more people are searching on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram rather than on search engines such as Google.

One advantage of SNS is that it doesn't feel like an advertisement, so you may be able to find unexpected sales channels.

Subsidies and government services

Local governments and administrations provide support for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their sales channels. For example, the Tokyo Industrial Labor Bureau subsidizes some of the costs involved in expanding sales channels. Not only in Tokyo, but also in regional public interest foundations, subsidy support is provided for the purpose of promoting local industries. Generally, consultations are free of charge, so it is a good idea to actively take advantage of them.

Participating in exhibitions

Exhibitions are an opportunity to make connections that directly lead to sales, and because they are easy to bring about business negotiations, they tend to lead to expanding sales channels. However, since competitors also participate, it is important to be able to convey the advantages of your own products.

Operation of our own EC site

If you open a store in a large-scale EC mall, you will have to pay an exhibition fee. By operating your own EC site, you can freely develop sales channels without worrying about regulations. If your product is in a highly unique field with many core fans, you can expect to make sales on your own EC site.

DigiTrad is the answer for developing new markets

This time, we brought you a thorough explanation of five methods for expanding and developing sales channels, and the basics of developing new markets.

STANDAGE uses its own trade cloud service to provide "Digitrad", a service that can "completely" handle trade for small and medium-sized enterprises. "Digitrad" allows you to develop overseas sales channels at low cost thanks to the application of IT introduction subsidies. We can also handle small-scale, low-value trade and domestic purchases that cannot be done by large trading companies, so please feel free to contact us.

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