How Your Business Needs To React During The COVID-19 Scenario
The market has changed quickly and drastically since COVID-19. We’re seeing businesses forced to close their physical stores or limit in-store capacity. Basically, most brick-and-mortar stores can feel the pressure and uncertainty of their future. A pandemic, as harsh as that word sounds, shouldn’t be a reason to failure. You just need to adjust your thinking and analyse the new method customer think. Shift your concerns to the most imminent affairs – here’s how to get on top of the situation.
1 / Make sure your small business is online.
Your physical store is closed, there is no foot traffic, no sales. So you NEED to have an online presence. If you don’t have an ecommerce shop yet, there are two paths to take – the quick fix or the long-term strategy.
We always recommend the latter; meaning, if you are implementing a website with an online store, don’t be tempted with the various cheap product/services available, which can plug the hole for the time being. Do look at your business’s long-term welfare before throwing cash at the problem. Ask yourself: “How will the e-shop serve me once this pandemic passes over? Will it sync with my stock system? Will it interface with my POS and accounting system?”
It’s always good to find a solution you can phase. Start by using the elements you need, with the peace of mind that the solution can interface with the rest of your future requirements. In this manner, you will reach your short-term goals, spend appropriate budgets given the current scenario and eventually, when all business facets return to the normality, have a sales system that will tick all your retail requirements.
2 / Engage with your customers
Customer behaviour will change during this pandemic and so should yours. Stay in touch with them, provide updates, offer reassurance by looking optimistic to return back to business, offer remote support for products you offer. Give them insights to products you envisage would be in the market in the coming months. Give them a life-line to engage with your brand. If the business cuts off completely from engaging with customers, all your marketing efforts in the past will be wiped out. Keep in mind that the needs of customers, even when they’re confined to their home, wouldn’t dissipate – they would simply slow down due to potential financial reasons.
3 / Promote, Promote, Promote.
Did we say it enough? Promote. Your. Business.
Show people you’re still around. Publicise the products you think clients need at this moment. Use Facebook ads, Google ads – be smart and be focused. With everyone going online, the costs to reach your audience could see a slight increase, so be smart with your strategy. Keep tabs on data and statistics. You could be seeing a shift in trends when it comes to customer behaviour – the use of mobile was extremely high before COVID-19, and now, this has spiraled. With consumers confined to their homes, we could see a shift in data where consumers are using laptops more. So, keep tabs on mobile ads versus desktop ads.
4 / Do you have everything in place?
If your business was smart and has all its ducks in a row, and business is “as normal”, but potentially slower, now is the time to plan for the future, get your strategies in order and ready to execute for when the pandemic is over. You might need constant tweaking as things evolve over time, but the main underlying thinking would be there and ready to push forward.
5 / Do you have everything in place?
Don’t panic, get in touch with us, and we’ll help you get started in the right direction. It’s a matter of following smalls steps and ticking specific boxes to get the gears going.