As the COVID-19 spread has progressed over the past several weeks, businesses worldwide have witnessed a major hit. The trends in consumer behavior have changed drastically and forcibly due to uncertainty. Most businesses have been asked to shut their doors to motivate the newfound practice of social distancing. Social distancing is crucial at this time as it is widely agreed that it is the only way to prevent corona virus from infecting the masses. Social distancing is good for public health but not so great for small businesses.
Social distancing has hit small businesses the most. According to NFIB Research Center, “nearly one-quarter of small business owners say the coronavirus outbreak is negatively impacting them in the form of slower sales (42%), supply chain disruptions (39%) and sick employees (4%).” This time is vulnerable both for consumers and businesses. But this doesn’t mean that your businesses’ growth needs to halt or plummet.
There are ample ways through which you can connect with your customers and ensure growth by employing various innovative digital strategies. These approaches will help you navigate the e-commerce business space during the corona pandemic and will enable you to keep your business afloat and prevent any pauses in the growth area.
Consider the following practices as you navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic:
Communicate with Your Customers
In times of uncertainty and vulnerability, communicating proactively with your customers can prove to be highly beneficial. It is imperative that you communicate thoughtfully, empathetically and caringly as your customers or their loved ones may be affected by the corona crisis. It is also important to communicate how your specific business is affected by the crisis in a very straight forward and transparent manner and let them know about the efforts that you are making to ensure that everything runs smoothly so that you are still able to provide quality service to your customers.
According to Harvard Business Review, “When customers are separated from the people and the processes that create value for them, they come away feeling like less effort went into the service. They appreciate the service less and then the value the service less as well. So, there are opportunities I think for many businesses to think about how they can become more operationally transparent, opening up their operations so that customers can better see and understand the value they’re creating in their lives.”
A great way to do this is by emailing your customers, sharing a post on your social media pages and using your website to inform them of the steps you are taking to keep your work environment hygienic and sanitary.
At Arka, we communicated with all our customers and partners through an email, informing them that we are taking all the required measures recommended by the CDC in our packaging process. We informed them that all our products are made exclusively in the US and that we source recyclable and quality material for our custom shipping boxes. We also ensured our customers that we employ hygienic practices at our facilities.
Apply Creative Digital Solutions To Boost Sale and Customer Service
As your business switches to the work from home model during the pandemic, it doesn’t mean that your customer support has to suffer. Use this time as an opportunity to enhance your customer support so that all your customers can easily reach you. This is a great time to show your customers that you care. If your employees are unable to maintain support through phone, utilizing social media is a great strategy. Enable the DM feature on your Instagram so your customers can directly reach you. Use Facebook Messenger, Twitter Direct Messaging or WhatsApp to answer queries in real-time.
Another way to boost sales during this time is by offering various discount deals. Arka has extended its spring sale in the wake of the corona pandemic. By using the discount code ArkaSale15, customers get flat 15% off on all customized packaging. At Arka we offer top-notch custom boxes for any niche: we can create custom shoe boxes or soap boxes, just contact us today!
Increase Your Social Media Presence
Using social media to interact with your customers is an excellent way to keep your most valuable and loyal customers engaged when most of them are online anyway. The use of smartphones during the coronavirus quarantine is on a rise. A great place to start is by sharing relevant information about staying safe during the pandemic and empathizing with your customers. By increasing your posting frequency and ensuring that are you are always showing up on the newsfeed, you are increasing your visibility to your customers and staying relevant in challenging times.
Conclusion
This is a challenging time for a lot of ecommerce services. By incorporating the aforementioned strategies into your business plan, you can ensure that you are creating value for your customers. In addition to this, you will also see that your business is experiencing growth and maintaining its loyal base of customers despite the trying times.
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