A failed business can still have a valuable digital channel. When a business enters administration or liquidation, attention turns to the assets that can be preserved, operated or sold. But one asset may be harder to assess than it first appears: the digital channel.
A business can fail while still possessing valuable digital capability:
1. An established customer base
2. Recurring traffic and search visibility
3. Customer and product data
4. Functioning eCommerce technology
5. Integrations and operating capability
6. Established revenue channel
But there are other valuable characteristics of this channel that may not be immediately obvious if it is preserved correctly….
1. The ability to continue running at very low cost.
2. The ability to run out remaining products.
3. The ability to reach existing or new markets if there is an appetite to keep it running.
4. The ability to turn this into a saleable asset.
The question then becomes, does the digital channel still have commercial value? In many situations, the answer is “Yes”, and the value may be greater than it first appears.
Why? Two examples…
1. Research shows that poor technology decisions are a major contributor to digital channel failure. In many cases, the technology is capable of doing the job. The problem is that the business set it up poorly or did not use it properly.
2. Research also shows that poor digital marketing is a major contributor to digital channel failure. The problem may not be that customers don't want what the business sells. The business may simply have been poor at reaching the right customers.
This is where independent eCommerce expertise could add another perspective to the insolvency process, identifying what digital value remains, what is holding it back, and what cost effective changes are worth doing?
A failed business can still have a valuable digital channel.
The key is knowing how to identify and harness that value, and where cost-effective changes could preserve or recover more value through the insolvency process.
This article was as tagged as Digital Strategy , eCommerce Consulting , eCommerce Conversion Rate Optimisation