To say that e-commerce presents business with an opportunity to increase sales and reach new customers is an understatement, especially now.

2020 has thrown a lot at every business in almost every industry, sometimes for the better, but unfortunately for most, the worst.

Europe is re-entering lockdowns steadily, and we know business owners and staff are feeling the pressure. We want to assure you that despite unavoidable long-term changes, it is not too late to adapt. In fact, Statista predicts that e-commerce revenue will surpass $638 Billion in America by 2022 alone!

If you haven’t spent the time to build your site or create a social presence for your business, now is the time.

Brands that adopted e-commerce before the crisis are seeing huge success and limited damage to their business, enough to keep it afloat. Its likely that you are thinking its only smaller business that haven’t got a big e-commerce footprint, but that isn’t true. Primark in the UK doesn’t offer an online outlet and through the first lockdown they refused to invest in e-commerce. As we go into the second lockdown they have done a complete 180 and are now launching an online portal for shoppers.

So, how do you get started? We have put together an easy-to-follow guide to get you up and running.

Pick Ups

If you have a retail outlet, one the simplest forms of e-commerce to offer is a pick-up service for customers. While restrictions can be different in different parts of the world, during the second lockdown in England shops can remain open strictly as click-and-collect for customers who have ordered online.

This has become very important to shoppers as delivery networks are feeling the strain of orders skyrocketing. For many customers, particularly those who live in larger towns or cities, being able to walk across the road to instantly collect something is more convenient than waiting for deliveries. It also gives customers a reason to leave their house, which has become an increasingly valued part of peoples lives.

Put Health first

While it seems like everyone is ready to go back to life as normal, its unlikely for a large amount of the population that things will never go back to how it was before. This isn’t just due to people being more cautious about spreading illness (which is the camp I personally fall into) but purchasing habits will have changed forever.

If you have a retail store, offering customers dedicated places to clean their hands is going to be a must going forward. You have to think about your customers journey more than ever before. This also begs the question ‘what are you going to offer your customers in terms of flexibility?’

Customers are going to be accustomed to businesses offering flexible purchasing options. This will includes comprehensive e-commerce options; including delivery, in-store pick up, and (a great one) curb-side pick up.

Brand Awareness has changed

Every business owner has put a focus on brand awareness, especially over the last 10 years. Without brand awareness you will never have brand loyalty.

The pandemic changed that.

Consumer habits have changed drastically in 2020. No longer are people as fixated on certain brands- they will take what they can get, where they can get it.

The ‘get whatever you can’ mindset isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. If you have worked hard to build you business, you need to reach your customers where they are. Not having an e-commerce store available doesn’t guarantee your customers will wait for you to reopen, they will just order from somewhere else.

Habits are hard to break, you don’t want to have to convince your customers to shop with you all over again.

Experience

In store experiences really started becoming the norm in the 2000’s. Apple was one of the first major brands to offer customers a shopping experience like no other. In the late 00’s they began to move their business online with he same customer experience at the heart of the design.

Since consumers wont be visiting stores, it’s important to bring whatever has worked for your business in person to the online space.

Having a dedicated marketing plan can also help with this. Social media has become a lifeline for many business who need to find ways to promote their products, but also connect with consumers. Instagram lives, YouTube videos, online classes - think about what it is that brings customers to your store, and what tools you have at your disposal to bring that to them.

To give you an example, I am a big reader. Pre-pandemic I would visit Waterstones and other local books stores as the experience of hearing recommendations from staff and other customers isn’t available through Amazon when I choose my books. If I had a book store I would do live videos talking about what I and the team has read, what’s new, what deals we have etc. You could ask customers to leave recommendations under a Facebook post with what they have been reading, what they like and don’t like. Bringing the community of your bookstore online.

All of this will push customers back to your online store to make a purchase. Just because your physical store is closed, it doesn’t mean the experience has to end.

Discounts

When you create your e-commerce store, keep in mind that people are being more careful with money than ever before. Think about offering promotions that will bring new and old customers alike to buy from you.

With Christmas coming up, creating options for customers to buy e-gift-cards is a must. People can email these to friends and family to spend in the new year, and brings potential new loyal customers to your business.

The best thing for a e-commerce store is to incentivise customers to keep coming back, keep in touch by creating email campaigns that offer discount codes, weekend offers, or even create a loyalty program to incentivise repeat customers.

This is just the beginning of what you can do to keep sales coming.

Reach out to a member of the team today to find out how we can build your e-commerce platform, and create a comprehensive marketing plan to get you ready for the new year.