The CoVid-19 Virus is an ongoing pandemic affecting the world at rising scales. While we acknowledge the severity, exercise care and vigilance during our time of quarantine, we must additionally encourage our peers, kin and familiars to take similar measures. Our hope; to eventually contain the outbreak and restore normalcy.

Read more about the CoVid-19 Virus

We work aggressively towards adapting preventative measures and solutions to our personal lives and encourage similar practices within our environment. Our professional lives must go through the same. The impact of the pandemic has altered the course of day to day Business activities. What are you doing to ease the blanket strain?

Most of us are now employing work from home models and trying to recreate office days over video conferences and cautious decision making. While you may not have planned for a lockdown, quarantine and erratic environmental factors; how are you, as the leader of your establishment, going to ease and maintain the flow of business activities during this time?

As a business owner, you are factoring in the effects on the economy and general purchasing power. As an employer, you watch your team to ensure they are equipped with the means to continue business activities from their residences and are provided sustainability for their dependents and themselves. As an income earning stakeholder, ensuring a transparent and efficient method for conducting business to ensure your contributions are positive and not in poor taste can be tough.

Now that you have heeded the call to action, divide your strategy into two parts; long term and short term. Long term, your plans need to maintain flexibility. Should circumstances change further, ensure you aren’t left behind due to the rigidity of your ideas to run your business.

To run activities short term, it becomes imperative to understand the weight of Ecommerce at a time where physical interaction needs to be scarce. eCommerce businesses that revolve around the delivery of virtual products are the safest purchases at this time, making this channel or retail safer than most. Watching your digital marketing and social media platforms at this time could make or break your business identity. During these sensitive times, prepare yourself for intense scrutiny if you have not been diligent enough with your virtual messages.

The Importance of your Digital Platforms

The relevance of a crystalline and interactive digital space has heightened with recent social isolation instructions. We have now moved (in entirety) from in person communication to virtual means. Within a B2B industry, encourage information to be validated and relayed before your customers ask questions. Fellow Business Owners would appreciate the transparency and care taken to convey relevant information.

• Are your product information and content pertinent, factual and accurate?

Especially with products relevant to circumstances brought about by CoVID-19, ensure all information regarding your company and its products is crystal clear. Thought and time dedicated to sending out your message can easily be recognised by a customer.

Ensure all information posted with regards to the virus is validated and verified with the right government and medical bodies. While these aren’t enabling sales directly, offering the relevant correct information could help prospective customers understand your brand is reliable. Using firm SEO approaches to ensure your products are discoverable is key. The wider the reach of your products, the more likely you are to tap into new customer demographics.

Is your inventory list in actuals?

Nothing could be more frustrating to a client than going through the sales process only to receive an order cancellation notice later. Look through the inventory available on your retailing platform and validate the instock availability of the same.

If any items are unavailable, they must be listed as such. If you have an accurate understanding of when they will be available for sale on your space next, translate this down to your customers. As opposed to offering disappointing news, consider even listing your “instock” competitors as options. While this may not benefit your business, your customers understand your number one priority is their comfort.

Use this as a benchmark to communicate with your suppliers. Within a virtual retail space for digital products, space does not hold as many issues. Use this to stock up on hot sells and secure your market position.

Does your pricing and delivery seem fair?

While demands increase and supply drops, there become two paths a business can take. The first being to increase prices to capitalise on the lack of supply and the second being to maintain previous prices as a nod toward solidarity.

During trying times, the latter would present as the best long term option. Keep in mind taking advantage of customers during a time of global crisis will not only leave them with a bitter taste, but could also land you in hot water with government officials.

Have you reassured customers about your fulfilment services?

For those of us fulfilling orders for physical goods, approach the delivery process with caution. Customers are limiting their vulnerabilities including visitors, food delivery, supermarket trips, etc and would be unlikely to purchase from you without a clear cut statement on how your online eCommerce business is adapting to the CoVID-19 outbreak.

Before resuming business activities during this time, validate all the preventative measures needed to be implemented. Understand the materials needed, the staff and equipment required. A trial run would help validate all the information shared with you about the recently implemented changes to your distribution channels. Offer all this information as openly as possible to your clients and encourage them to ask more questions. The more comfortable customers feel with the validity of your practices, the more likely they are to purchase.

Keep in mind, delivery is just as important as the packing before it leaves the business. Are you offering delivery methods compliant with the non-contact mandate? This includes collecting payments and handing over the products. Offer your customers as many options as needed. The precautions keep your on ground team and your customers safe.

•  What is your role in your community?

With the limited number of emergency services available, every little bit of assistance counts. Wherever you feel you may be able to offer aid, reach out. Look at what your organisation has to offer, this could take the form of offering supplies, communication methods, organisational skills, logistics and even technology.

Cementing your brand as a pillar of strength during tough times could be what you need to build long term credibility.

The B2B eCommerce Approach

Being realistic about your business goals, activities and abilities is the only way to sail through these turbulent times. Additionally if you would like to start eCommerce business, consider;

1. The importance of B2B eCommerce

The investment eCommerce platforms and digital retail channels have made into virtual marketing will shine aggressively during this period. B2B eCommerce eradicates prevailing contact risks and allows business to flow seamlessly within a system designed for minimal physical intervention.

If there have been delays in implementing digital marketing systems, assess those with the firm investment prior to the virus outbreak. Customers are engaging with them more openly and comfortably. Ensuring your delivery channels follow suit will allow customers to view the brand as dependable.

Especially eCommerce for IT reselling platforms, use this to your advantage and rebuild.

2. Abandoning Ancient Preconceived Notions; Get With The Times

B2B interactions have followed a long standing protocol. Given the magnitude of these interactions, there is always a face to face meeting. Long standing companies have passed this tradition down as ways to size up your partners and play a more superficial role.

Social distancing has banned (till further notice) physical interactions. Does this now mean B2B meetings no longer take place? Are deals no longer solidified? The answer; a clear NO.

Become more efficient and effective with your information relays. Understand you are also fighting for attention within a virtual space from your customer. Social media sites, the news and their personal perusal preferences all take away time your customer could spend acquainting themselves with and eventually purchasing your products.

Interact with your customers more. Keep them engaged.

3. The competition is REAL

Small and medium scale retailers are about to face a major challenge; resources. Large scale distributors such as Amazon, are poised to fill in the gap between supply and demand with their wide and intricate distribution channels and logistic teams. Keep in mind, these companies are built to handle large volumes of products and get them to where they need to go. With the general cash inflow these companies face, adding new measures to keep up with safety protocols is simply not a big deal.

This may seem like a problem you could solve post CoVID 19. It would be in your best interest however, to equip yourself with customer retention plans. Offer firm incentive to rescind from the large scale retailer with more personalised service and convenience. Start planning now.

Alternatively, aggressively trying to maintain your customer base would save you the hassle of attempting to win them back.

4. The Global Market is Taking A Hit

People develop wants and needs through an interlinked system of actions. Tasting something at your friends house will incentivise you to buy it for yours. It is this pattern that global business follows. Businesses are often built to be complements or substitutes for core activities.

World wide shutdowns and isolations mean activities are not running as normal, and as a result what is currently in demand may not be what has always been. Fluctuating stock and capital markets have limited a businesses opportunity to stay afloat. If restaurants aren’t running, their suppliers, their employees, their patrons, the foot traffic to nearby stores, all take a hit.

Be realistic about what could be sold right now. Keep in mind the current situation revolves around isolation and working from home. If you can integrate the need into your business model you may be able to swim to post quarantine shore.

5. The Nuances of Engagement

Putting some words up with a pretty picture is not enough for today’s consumer. Consider every retail portal has now taken up a digital marketing space, what are you doing to make your content stand out?

Integrating augmented or virtual reality into your virtual campaigns help customers understand context and as a result understand your product better. Experiment with your content mediums and target audiences. You never know what you may discover.

While we fight to stay afloat, keep in mind your fellow business owners are doing the same. It may be idealistic to hope for an entirely united front, though reaching out and sharing ideas may be what helps your industry sink or swim. Look toward building innovative, sustainable business plans. We’re all in this together, we wish you well.

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