In response to the tragic events happening nowadays and the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, eCommerce and online shopping are now more important than ever, due to the convenience and safety they provide the consumers, and it’s now very important for all businesses to have an online presence, whether they’re startup businesses, established brands or any product or a service that is essential to the Egyptian consumers and that satisfies their daily needs, and we’re talking about all products and services here, whether they’re consumable goods, pharmaceutical and medical products, services, wearable products or even luxury products.
In this article we will talk about the importance of eCommerce, the safety measures all brands should take and the factors that contribute to establishing a safe and comfortable environment for the consumers.
The question is: How to save your business from falling apart in the face of a global crisis and the economic consequences?
What selling online provides to your customers
Reducing direct contact and reducing the number of workers in any establishment are major factors that contribute to the public safety and selling online will help in that aspect by:
- Providing an indirect portal for your consumers to shop from without any direct contact.
- Provides a 24/7 selling and orders creation cycle without the restrictions that an offline store will currently face.
- A safe zone for consumers that meets their daily needs without threatening their safety.
What selling online provides to your business
As a business owner the challenges of reduced sales or too much inventory that may not get sold due to reduced demand are a fear that every business faces from time to time, having more than one selling channel can help in overcoming these challenges by providing your product or service to your customers through multiple outlets, fast and safe shopping through an eCommerce store or a mobile shopping application will contribute to easy access to products, increased orders, and consequently, increased sales and the demand will finally meet the supply, in fact many business owners nowadays are facing the problem off too much demand and too little resources, can there be a problem better than this?
The figure above shows an example of the purchasing increase according to current demand of consumers all over the world regarding specific products, please be aware that these demands change everyday according to the consumer needs and behavior and other products can be up this list, changes are now faster than ever.
Safety measures
Safety measures will apply in different aspects of handling an online shopping cycle, starting from the warehouse till it reaches the end user and even after that regarding possible exchange or refunds, your customers have to be reassured that the product they will receive and physically touch has been under strict conditions of cleaning standards, specially food hygiene, and that will reflect on your messages and marketing content, where you can proudly say that you products follow all the guidelines and that will safely be delivered to the end consumer.
As we said before, safety measures start from handling the raw materials, where you as a seller or a distributor have to assure that any product you handle has been handled with care, manufactured under observation and quality control and stored under the proper conditions, respective of different industries, the quality control measures and cleaning standards apply through all the cycle till final packaging, through the transportation cycle, till it reaches the end consumer.
Logistics
Your delivery partner has to be completely aligned with you regarding the safe operations cycle, in addition to the packaging, storage and transportation proper handling and cleaning, the care starts from the courier himself, the courier has to be aware that he, himself is most exposed to infection and needs to properly dress himself accordingly and to protect himself with disinfectants and a face mask, and to handle the packing with gloves protection in order to feel comfortable with the delivery and to reassure the end consumer that the delivery has been properly handled, also the couriers to deliver and to accept cash from at least 1 meter distance from the customer, again, if the courier is safe then the customer is safe.
Payment methods and safe cash collection
In order to reduce direct contact and infection transmission that may be due to exchanging physical cash notes, other payment methods is now more applicable, whether it’s credit and debit card payments, e-wallets, Fawry payments or other alternatives, and providing these type of payment options to your customers as a seller will definitely increase the chances of completing the checkout.
Multiple channels
Now it’s the time to increase the number of selling outlets or channels, through which you can be more exposed to a higher number of customers, and increase the chances of conversion due to customers having multiple options and checkout portals they can shop from, whether you have an ordinary brick and mortar store or not, selling on Facebook or Instagram ,you will be in need of having an eCommerce website and a mobile application that customer can conveniently use to choose the product they want, see all options, sizes, flavors, have multiple payment methods available, save all the options they want till they’re ready to buy, and most importantly shop quickly and easily.
In this figure we can see multiple tactics that are important in driving traffic and increasing conversion and checkout
Offer free shipping and promotions
There’s no doubt that there’s a more chance now of a fast conversion if you offer your customers promotions, discounts or coupons or a free shipping pass, specially if you want to increase the demand in the face of a large supply of products or goods, and the good news is that people shop obsessively now, and if you feel like your product may miss the shopping craze, think again, you can reach more customers with the right deals.
The right content
Understanding the customer concern, reassuring the product safety and proper handling, offering special deals, fast delivery, all of these things can contribute to better conversion and higher sales, choosing the right words to say about your product or service can have a huge impact, more than you think. maybe hire a freelancer for content creation.
1-Use social media: This is the time to post daily
Use Facebook and Instagram and this is the time for high posting frequency as social media is now having more engagement than ever, write the social media posts with care and humanity, don’t talk about the product as much as talk about why the customer will need the product and its benefits, be careful and mindful with your wording.
2-Use Email marketing
One of the easiest methods to access repeated and loyal customers is sending them Newsletters with your latest offers and news, they’re easy to design and you will only need to add a few words with your discount and share the shopping link with your audience, Newsletters are easy to measure and your customers can easily share it with their friends and connections.
Email Marketing is easy, fast, effective and cheap.
3-Product photography
One of the most important factors that help in fast conversion for your customers is adding good quality images of your products, 93% of consumers report product images to be essential to their purchasing decisions and 22% of returns occur because the product looks different in real life, you’ll want to make it look as
realistic as possible.
Product photography is essential and anyone at all that’s shopping online will want to be able to see
what they plan on buying and see the quality of your work,
they should:
• Engage.
• Convert.
• Boost the lifetime value
of your customers.
Ideas for easy product photography that you can do at home are:
1-White background shots:
It’s the easiest and clearest way to present your products and only requires a simple setup to completely isolate the product as the core focus and you can do it easily at home.
2-Products grouping are good for discounts
Adding several products or sets in one photo allows the buyer to compare and contrast one item, and even buy all the set specially if you add a good discount for all the set, It’s often done with things like makeup, shoes and other beauty
products to compare shades and textures and you can take these photos against any relevant background you find at home.
Remember to:
• Take advantage of natural light
• For safe photography, take them right outside your window, Early morning and late afternoons when the sun is less direct are best so you can avoid harsh shadows.
You can use your mobile phone if you don’t have a camera as long as:
- Clean your phone camera lens properly with a spray and cloth.
- Don’t zoom in and focus your camera.
- Edit and find the right color.
- You can buy a phone tripod for good adjustment.
4-Find Influencers
Influencers are popular and they have credibility, they can offer brand awareness to your business if they talk about your product or share your content with their followers or audience, if you can afford it, this is the time for using them.
The right product, the right time
Adapting to the current consumer needs is essential if you want the chance to grow your business and to get more recognition and brand awareness, and maintaining the proper supply for the current demand is also essential, you can even experiment with a new product you did not sell before, it may change your business and of course, if you can, always restock of your best-selling products.
For more information, contact us
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