A surprisingly large number of people, actually; they’re right, the internet is boring. It’s old hat, it’s every day, it’s yesterday’s news; which is why no traditional business can afford to be without it. That may seem counter-intuitive, but there is a good reason why we’re all bored with the internet; it has simply become a utility. Once upon a time – and it really is a very long time ago now – the Yellow Pages was exciting. It was the way in which anybody could find anything they wanted, and it was the one way in which businesses could get their message out there.
Everybody wanted to let their fingers do the walking and everybody did. Then the Yellow Pages got boring. Just like the internet has done today. We all use it so much it’s just an everyday ‘thing’ that we hardly notice we use at all. Sure, new things come along like fancy parallax experiences, and data storytelling to make things more understandable, but when we aren’t paying our bills, buying our stamps, getting directions or watching TV over the internet, we are keeping in touch with friends, reading reviews, advice, joining forums.
A Free Trial Too Far
I’ll admit when I started this blog post that I thought there may be some traditional businesses that probably can’t operate online – and the funeral business was one of those. How wrong am I? A quick Google later and I’m thoroughly enlightened. The internet’s saturation into every area of our lives must surely be complete when it’s possible to not only order your own coffin – with a rather startling choice of designs and colors, not to mention materials I’d never thought of – but also plan your funeral online.
One site even encouraged me to ‘try it today’, a free offer that I’m declining for now, despite my passion for free trials. The simple fact that you can do/order just about anything online today is the one reason that any traditional business cannot afford to be without a strong online presence. If, during the recession, you’re wondering where all the customers have gone, it’s simple; online.
The Convenience Store
Traditional businesses can fare particularly well online despite their fears of this strange new world. Undertakers are probably one of the oldest businesses going and they have the ultimate market share – we all use them eventually. But certainly, in the modern, western world people are less familiar with death and prefer a more sanitised, hands off approach; cleverly, these online undertakers and coffin builders take advantage of that fact, helping to put the ‘Fun’ back into ‘Funeral’. Yes, one of them does make that claim. The internet is about convenience, about creating simple solutions for customers who just want to click to access a product or a service, and move on quickly to do something more interesting. This principle operates in other areas of life – not just at the end of it.
Not So Boring After All?
It may seem mad that you can arrange your funeral online, but it seems madder still that you can order a pint of milk. I mean, how difficult can buying milk be? Taking the old concept of the milkman and evolving it to create a competitive food shopping service for small, single item orders – minus the delivery charge – was actually a simple, but inspired step. The big news is that people like it; the formerly endangered species of ‘milkman’ is seeing a comeback and business is booming.
Other traditional small businesses that have chosen to step off the high street and into the ether of the virtual world include fruit stalls in London – supplying five-a-day deficient office workers. For small, or large, traditional businesses the internet is, perhaps, the only way to retain and grow your market share. For many permanently plugged-in consumers, the internet may be ‘boring’, but for traditional businesses, it’s anything but.
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