If you were looking for an excuse to transition your business, this virus is it. We’ve never seen a situation like this before. If you want to sell, you have to operate over the internet. For the most part, shopping is banned. Delivery is the only option.
In many ways, the current crisis is merely accelerating a trend that was already underway. Slowly but surely, consumers are shifting their demand online, and regular brick-and-mortar stores are shuttering.
So how do you take your business online? What are the fundamental elements that you need to consider?
Choose A Platform
When it comes to presenting your company online, you have a variety of options.
- Website. The first – and one of the most popular – is to set up your own site. Typically, you either approach an agency or try to put one together yourself with the many website builders out there.
- Place your products on a third-party website. The second option is to put your products on a third-party website like Amazon or Etsy.
- Use an eCommerce platform. Finally, you can use one of the many eCommerce shopping platforms out there, like Shopify. These provide all the backend tools and services you need to make shopping a breeze for your customers, such as allowing online payments.
Invest In Your Fleet Of Vans
In the current crisis, many of the online opportunities will be local. People in your community will be searching for businesses that are able to deliver the goods and services that they need safely.
Investing in your fleet, therefore, is essential. Trader Van, a UK-based commercial vehicle dealership, highlights the importance of choosing a reliable vehicle. You want vans that will continue to provide value for many years to come. Ideally, it should run without significant issues for more than 100,000 miles.
Market Your Business Through Relevant Channels
If you have an established brick-and-mortar business, people generally know where to find you. But when you move online, you run the risk of getting buried under a mountain of webpages.
Marketing your business through relevant channels is important. If you have contact details for some of your customers, drop them an email telling them that you’ve moved online. Be sure that you set up a Facebook account too so that people associated with your business can find you quickly.
Also, where possible, begin content marketing – creating materials that will help to generate leads for your business. Think carefully about how you might be able to convert the most common in-store questions into material that you can post on your site. Make it educational and informative. And try to say something that nobody else on the internet has thought of yet. Use as many pictures and infographics as you can.
You Have A Lot To Gain
While current conditions are extreme, you have a lot to gain from transitioning your business online, even when the economy returns to normal. Lower costs, a bigger market, and greater reach are all things that you can look forward to.
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