The “business to customer” (B2C) business model involves a business selling products and services directly to consumers who are the end-users of the products or services. Most traditional retail establishments like Target and Old Navy would be considered B2C companies.
With COVID-19 heavily impacting supply chains and distribution channels, e-commerce and online sales are becoming increasingly important as channels with which B2C organizations can reach prospective customers and build their clientele.
For this reason, website accessibility is a crucial aspect of operating a successful e-commerce business. As B2C businesses increasingly rely on e-commerce as a main source of revenue, it would be helpful for B2C businesses to understand why site accessibility is so crucial to success and how accessibility efforts can expand a business’s customer base and grow a B2C.
The importance of accessibility in B2C e-commerce
According to the CDC, about 61 million Americans report some type of disability. That’s about one in four Americans or roughly 25% of the population. Depending on the disability, many of that 25% might not be able to access a business site that isn’t fully optimized for accessible functionality. In other words, ignoring digital accessibility puts a business at risk of cutting out 25% of its potential customers.
And neglecting 25% of a potential customer base isn’t the only financial hazard of ignoring accessibility on an e-commerce site. Failure to ensure site accessibility can lead to ADA litigation, a costly process that drains resources and has the opposite effect of growing a B2C. And lawsuits against businesses whose websites are not ADA-compliant are on the rise.
Understanding the size of the disability market (roughly 25% of Americans) is helpful in gauging what can be lost when a B2C fails to make digital accessibility a priority, but what exactly can be gained when B2C’s make accessibility a priority? How do accessibility efforts work to expand a customer base and grow a B2C?
Site Accessibility Opens Up Access
And it opens up access to everyone, not just customers with disabilities.
Digital accessibility efforts have the very welcome side effect of making site navigation and functionality easier and more seamless for all users, not just those with disabilities.
Many improvements and advancements in both the physical and digital worlds were made to accommodate people with disabilities but turned into indispensable conveniences that everyone would come to rely on. In the physical world, elevators are crucial for people with disabilities to access public transit, but they also are utilized by parents with strollers as well as people traveling with bulky items, including bikes, luggage, and grocery bags.
In the digital world, building a site that carefully considers color contrast and font choices does aid users with low vision and other visual impairments, but those choices also make the site easier for everyone to read. Similarly, enabling keyboard-based navigation does assist customers who have mobility issues that prevent mouse access, but it is also convenient for anyone who is accessing the site in a position where reaching a trackpad may be uncomfortable.
Additionally, many commonly used smartphone advancements began as accessibility features, but they were so convenient that they became popular among all users, not just those with disabilities. Voice command technology like Siri and Alexa began as accessibility features for users with visual impairments but are now utilized by millions daily to operate their phones and other home devices.
From these examples, it’s clear that focusing on digital accessibility when designing a B2C e-commerce site makes a site easier for everyone to use, not just shoppers with disabilities.
Site Accessibility Helps Cultivate a Company Reputation for Inclusivity
If a B2C site makes accessibility a priority, customers will take notice. Over time, a B2C that prioritizes optimizing digital accessibility will develop a reputation for inclusivity, a reputation as a business that genuinely desires to meet the needs of all customers and make everyone’s customer experience as smooth as possible.
A reputation for inclusivity goes a long way in cultivating an aura of goodwill and positivity around a company, positive PR that can’t be paid for. Though, a good best practice to help push this positive reputation along would be to be transparent about the company’s accessibility efforts, stating them explicitly in an “Accessibility Statement” that is easy to find on the business site.
This same transparency can extend to social media. Social posting can provide details on accessibility efforts, letting consumers know that the B2C takes accessibility and inclusivity seriously and is committed to seeking feedback from customers with disabilities who have ideas on improving site accessibility.
Transparency and including customers with disabilities in the conversation go a long way in cultivating a company's reputation for inclusivity, and if that’s how potential customers instinctually view a B2C, that can lead to…
Building Brand Loyalty
Developing a reputation for inclusivity is an excellent way for a B2C to catch the attention of customers who may never have heard about a brand otherwise. This allows a B2C to reach previously untapped customer bases and expand its clientele.
This also sets up a situation ideal for cultivating a sense of brand loyalty amongst these new customers, new customers who feel good about buying from a brand known for inclusivity and putting customer needs first.
As e-commerce increases in prevalence post-COVID, so too does the number of options consumers have at their digital fingertips (as opposed to the limited options available at local brick-and-mortar establishments). Precisely because e-commerce is growing and offering consumers unlimited purchasing options, cultivating brand loyalty has never been more important for B2C e-commerce businesses.
Building fervent brand loyalty is integral for growing and maintaining a customer base in such a competitive market.
Bottom Line
Making site accessibility a priority (and publicizing that fact) gives the savvy B2C a competitive edge over other businesses that fail to make their e-commerce sites accessible.
That competitive edge includes opening up site access to the 25% of Americans with a disability, making site navigation and functionality simpler for all users, and cultivating a company reputation for inclusivity that goes a long way in inspiring the fierce brand loyalty necessary to compete in today’s overpopulated e-commerce market.
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