Times are hard for all businesses in all industries right now. Many brick and mortar shops are experiencing lower foot traffic and have even shut their doors, as governments begin issuing shutdowns and lockdowns and more and more people staying home.
In Australia, non-essential businesses are being told to close shop entirely. Here in Adelaide, South Australia, cafes and restaurants can only do takeaway meals and appealing to everyone to help keep them afloat by still patronizing their café.
Here are some tips you can take if you’re a business struggling to make ends meet right now.
- Move your business online (if you haven’t already)Do you have a website? If you don’t, this is the time to start one. Websites such as Squarespace and Shopify allow for easy-to-setup online domains on a month-to-month basis which you can subscribe to for this short period.Shopify is more focused towards e-commerce, while Squarespace is more generic and can cater to portfolio sites, restaurant sites, professional services, real estate etc. Squarespace also supports e-commerce for an additional fee.Both are amazing options, but I’d recommend Shopify if you need e-commerce, and Squarespace for everything else!Need help creating your website? Feel free to get in touch with me and lets see how I can work something out with you.
- Pair that with a strong social-media presencePeople staying at home likely means more people going online to find services and products. More people scrolling on their phones. This is your chance to shine. Create an Instagram/Facebook account and start being active on it!Remember that social media is the perfect avenue to show your customers your products. If you’re up to it, you can even do IG Live, or IGTV videos to show your products through video!
- Offer free delivery or reduce delivery fees or minimum order
I get it, delivery is a cost you aren’t willing to reduce but what if your delivery fee is stopping someone from finishing an entire order? A $10 delivery fee on a small item can and may easily throw somebody off the checkout page. If you have Google Analytics set up with checkout funnels, and see that many people drop out at the checkout page, this may be an issue.Everyone’s taking losses right now, but for you, the more important thing would be to complete a sale. If it means you have to absorb a few dollars of shipping, why not? Many big companies such as Kmart and Target have lowered their delivery minimum from $80 to $40! - Run sales or online promotionsWith the economy expected to go into a year-long recession, it might be good to start running some sales or online promotions to get sales. You can also partner with a charity, and donate some proceeds of your sales to helping those affected by the Coronavirus!