Move your business online during COVID-19
Businesses all around the world have taken a hit due to COVID. Uncertainty is everywhere. People are confused about how and when the world will recover from this pandemic.
Where most offline businesses are eating dust, there are a few digital businesses that are prospering. Why is it that some businesses are prospering while others are getting closed?
That’s what we are going to tell in this article.
Why Digital Businesses Are Booming Amid COVID?
Since people are locked in their houses for the last five months, they are now browsing the internet more. Almost everything digital product that entertains people has seen a rise in its sales.
Netflix posted a record number of subscriptions in April; digital games have seen a rise in downloads. Similarly, the sale of eCommerce products across industries has increased tremendously in the past few months.
Which Digital Businesses Profited During COVID?
Sales of medical equipment, medicines, daily use items have increased because of the pandemic. People are panicking about the lockdown and when it will end.
As you can see through the graph above, baby products, cleaning products, food and beverages, and health and fitness products are the best sellers after medical appliances and equipment.
So, people who have stores selling these items are still in profit.
Those businesses that are not in profit include fashion, travelling, hotels and restaurants, and outdoor gear.
It is because these products are not of much need when you are staying in your house for a few months. You only need daily essential use items that can help you pass your day.
Now comes the BIG question:
How to Make Business profitable?
There are a few ways in which you can make your business profitable. Here are the top ones:
- Move your business online
If you can move your business online, then that is the best way to go about it. You can move the business online if you already have a website created. If you don’t have a website, you can get one made within days using online website development firms.
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- Offer discounts
Most online businesses are selling their products at a greater discount during COVID because people are simply not interested in buying the products. For example, the sports and fitness industry is suffering because of the low demand for products. Most sports and fitness stores have now started selling their products for 50% off.
- Leverage ads
Another great way to promote your online website/store is through online ads. Google, Facebook, Linkedin all offer ads that you can buy to promote your website. During COVID Google has reduced the prices of its ads on most categories. So, you as a store owner can easily target your products to relevant audiences and generate more sales.
- Post-COVID sales
Airbnb, Booking .com, kayak .com, and many other travelling websites are offering post-COVID travelling packages to their users. Most of these packages are sold out because of the hype around them. This is one way travelling websites and platforms are keeping themselves alive.
How to Move Your Business Online?
Now that we are aware of how digital businesses can thrive even during COVID, let’s learn how to move your business online.
- Create a WordPress Website or Ecommerce Store
First, you should get a WordPress website if your business is service-focused, or a WooCommerce store if you sell products directly to the customers.
Once the store is set up, you can promote your products to the relevant audience online. Nowadays, more people are buying products online rather than offline. If you can target people in your own city/country, you can easily generate more profit.
- Promote Your Products on Social Media
Social media platforms offer targeted marketing to users. If your store is in a specific location, you can use geographic targeting to promote your store. The geographic targeting will allow you to target only a selected area. This way, you can spread your message to people who aren’t even searching effectively.
- Market through Amazon, Etsy, and eBay
One of the most efficient ways of promoting products online is through Amazon, Etsy, and eBay. All these places allow third parties to create their profiles and sell their products.
Amazon even offers Fulfillment by Amazon and Fulfillment by Merchant options for promoting products within the country and even outside it.
By posting your products on these stores, you will be more than likely to get more orders that will increase your monthly revenue in comparison to what your store is getting right now during COVID.
- Partner with the right shipping companies
A major reason people rate eCommerce stores negatively is because they received their deliveries late. To mitigate that issue, store owners can use companies that have been trusted by others for providing the best quality service and at the designated time.
- Go beyond expectations
People know COVID is hard and even your customers understand that. The best way to make sure they know that you care is by going the extra mile. Let’s say if you provide fitness equipment, during the lockdown you can offer health and fitness workouts and tutorial videos free of cost. It would be even better if you send them through the mail. Most customers like to be cared and when you go the extra mile just to help them, they are more likely to return and buy from you.
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Bottom line: Be Innovative
Innovation is the key to success. People want creativity in their life. If the company they are buying products can offer them something unique, something worth remembering, they are going to use that service again.
That said, don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things that you believe could help your company scale to new heights. Even if you fail in your experiments, there is always a chance to fix things later.
The transition from an offline business to an online business is hard but not impossible. In a few months, you will know the ropes of the trade and will be acing your game.
