Online Business – Going Live for the First Time

Your business is the cornerstone of you, your workers, and your community’s stability. And during these trying times, they are just as, if not even more important than it was before. However, because of COVID-19, businesses, especially ones that traditionally serve customers in person, are forced to close down or take multiple safety precautions to keep running.

Because of the decreased customer traffic or simply government regulations that affect your business, we’re here to help you find a way to keep you in business. How do we do that? It’s simple, move your business online!

Because of the pandemic, there are quite a few uncertainties that lie ahead, which means that doing this won’t just benefit you for the short-term but also in the long-run!

What are you waiting for? Let’s get started!

Understanding The Current Environment

No one can predict when the pandemic is going to be over. However, we do have some information to work with that will help us get clarity on what scenarios are like to happen.

Social distancing measures are being implemented all over the world, and that’s resulting in some areas having partial or complete halts on commercial activity. Even though there are extreme mitigation actions that your business could do that could keep it running, that’s far from sustainable or cost-efficient.

This means that you should find a way for your business to keep on running regardless of whether or not your main branch is running. Developing a strategy that is flexible and easy to adopt will also be key to keeping your business going. Luckily, shifting online does all of this!

Going Online

A common mistake that we often see with business when they move online is that they often start from scratch. Although this could work, this is such a big project and bold move that we’d advise against this even if the pandemic never happened.

Moving business online doesn’t mean that you have to buy a domain and create a website right away. It means integrating your business in the online landscape so that you can reach your customers and interact with them without them having to go to your physical branch.

The trick to doing this is utilizing e-commerce platforms that are generally inexpensive to utilize, and are easy to get into. It requires little to no effort on your part, and yet your customers and followers still get high-quality service and experiences comparable to the ones that you’d see in well-established online retailers!

By doing this, you not only help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but you also don’t jeopardize your business and employees in the process! The sites and services that you can integrate your business digitally are abundant as well, regardless of what type of business you have!

You can even take a shot at setting up a page for your business on social media sites to help you get more traction and reach people from all around the world. After the pandemic subsides (whenever that is), you can keep your online marketing for your business going and end up getting more customers than ever before.

That is the potential of moving business online!

Increasing The Allure Of Your Business—Attracting Customers

Maximizing traffic that comes to your site is key if you want to move your business online to be a breeze. There are multiple ways in which you can do this but let us show you a few that might help!

Informing Your Customers: Posting a sign in your physical store that says you’re going to be making a shift online and showing them where to find you will help you from stagnating or losing out on potential customers. A lot of the people who are going to view your website will be the ones who are loyal to your business and have been with you through the times so make sure to make an active effort to inform them!

Utilize Social Media: Most businesses already have a social media page that is active, and if you don’t have one, now is probably a good time to make one. Utilizing that page to the fullest extent now will be good for publicity and to keep people updated. Posting your products and encouraging your customers to post about your product through images and stories will help you get more attention and brand awareness.

Messaging Platforms And E-mails: If you have your customer’s email addresses, now is the time to email them about your current situation and telling them that you’re moving business online. This is helpful now more than ever because customers will most probably want to know how they can help because of news that local businesses are shutting down due to the pandemic. Ask for their continued support and consider making them spread the word about you and your business’ online presence.

Using messaging apps such as Whatsapp is also a great way of keeping your customers posted. And an even better way of interacting with them and actively engaging with them. Make sure to be respectful and show compassion when interacting with them.

You can even use messaging apps as an option if people want to buy your goods! This makes the transaction a lot more hands-on and swift, which makes your life a lot easier.

Payment And Delivery Of Goods

In most cases, your partnered service will have a way in which the money gets sent to you directly as the customer finalizes ordering your goods and services. In most cases, and an invoice will be sent to the customer, and once paid, you get a notification.

You can even have it sent to your bank account directly if you want to eliminate the middleman, but in cases wherein you’re selling something on sites like Amazon, you can’t really do that.

As for the delivery, being partnered with a shipping company that specializes in e-commerce shipping and logistics is a lifesaver. Posting packages in your own home and shipping it using your local postage isn’t a bad idea either so long as customer satisfaction is achieved!