The COVID-19 pandemic has generally kept people indoors, thereby affecting the sales of most businesses. However, there is another channel that has come to light for most businesses. E-commerce has quickly boomed, with most customers needing to purchase goods and services in the comfort of their own homes. This has created an enormous opportunity to increase sales for e-commerce businesses. However, not all companies can make the shift online or even know how to. Most have just started with their online platforms out of necessity and are still learning how to successfully run an e-commerce business. To help you, we have compiled five of the best tips to grow e-commerce businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Offer proactive customer support.
With all the hardships that this pandemic has brought, one of the best e-commerce business tips is to proactively respond to the concerns of your customers. They will stick with your e-commerce business if you can quickly resolve their concerns. They hate businesses that are too slow or that make them feel like they are being ignored. To do this, make sure that you have a well-trained customer support team that is understanding, reassuring, and transparent with your customers.
2. Continue reshaping your business model.
Traditional business models will not work well during the COVID-19 pandemic. E-commerce businesses must learn to innovate when it comes to how they reach their consumers and how they deliver their products or services. Your business must adapt to the current trends. For example, food and beverage businesses are now mostly found in delivery apps like UberEats or Grubhub. A resilient business will have higher chances of getting through and surviving the pandemic if they work with these apps or develop an ordering and carryout/delivery system of their own.
3. Optimize your website.
Because most people are advised to stay home, they usually spend lots of time on the internet. As such, this is the perfect opportunity to invest in SEO services. With a wider audience and an optimized website, you are likely to get more traffic to your website, thereby giving you better chances of increasing your online sales.
4. Use multiple sales channels.
While websites are the default online channels, especially given that they contain everything and anything about your e-commerce business, it is important that you reach out to consumers where they spend most of their time. Depending on the demographics of your target market, you should start utilizing social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and many others. These sites are usually where viral trends and brands are born, and you will definitely miss out if you do not utilize them. Create quality content and advertise your brand on these channels so that your follower count can grow, thereby increasing brand awareness. Once you’ve done that, you can start linking your social media accounts to your website and encourage your followers to purchase.
5. Build a robust supply chain.
It’s not all about getting the customers to buy. You have to ensure that you have the infrastructure to deliver what your customer has paid for. To follow through on the sale, you need the supply, too, so make sure your connections are still strong. Aside from this, confirm that all the possible logistical constraints have been ironed out. Remember that not delivering the products or services to the customer can badly reflect on your company and affect whether others will buy.
For e-commerce businesses, the current pandemic has opened many eyes to the need to be resilient and easily adaptive. At Advanced Digital Media Services, we treat our clients as partners and help them succeed despite the difficult challenges that lie ahead. We offer a variety of e-commerce services and work hand in hand with businesses to ensure that their investment is worth it. Our team of professional marketers and technicians are always ready to help. All you have to do is fill out the form below!
