My mother recently retired and she is started her next chapter as a book writer and singer. We are working on a website, but my mother refuses to come into the 21st century. I was able to convince her to build a website for her new business venture, which is a major step for her! But she insists on only selling print books she had written and CDs of her live performances with her band on the website. She only wants to sell the books and CDs through mail order. How do I convince her that she needs to sell digital products if she wants this business to work?
Sheila Davis, Buffalo, New York
Congratulations to your mother on taking this next step in her life! The great thing about online shopping is the option for variety, but you also have to understand where the market is going. We suggest selling both print and electronic books to cater to every potential buyer. Believe or not, there is a growing appetite for print books in this ever-growing digital world. It is a different situation for music, as compact disc and even mp3 sales have plummetted in recent years and streaming music has taken over. This is not to say she shouldn’t sell CDs, but maybe also offering mp3 downloads of her music as well.
Regardless of whether she sells digital and/or traditional products, we would definitely suggest not doing mail orders. It is pretty much expected today that proper e-commerce systems are set up for online shopping. Mail order shopping is not practical today because it requires doing too many steps, like printing out the order form, filling it out, putting the form in a stamped envelope and mailing it. Most people just want to fill out a quick form on the website with their mailing address and credit card information and click submit to purchase products today. Even if you just set up a simple PayPal account to sell her music and books would make the shopping experience so much better for her online buyers.
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