As of now, COVID-19 could sentence thousands of small and medium-sized companies to death. Companies are reducing their staff, while others were forced to freeze projects until better times or even to go out of business. No one was prepared for the pandemic, but the resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit of some companies inspires and sets a good example for hope and perseverance.
Not only spaghetti: why cafes and restaurants have the right to live in quarantine
Even though people started hoarding spaghetti, salt, flour and canned food from the shelves at the grocery store or supermarket, this doesn’t mean that they want to eat these products everyday. Sooner or later, even the most persistent housewife will get tired of preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole family every day. Others will not want to cook or want to eat things that they can’t make.
How have large chains reacted?
Burger King. The fast food chain continued to work through their application and launched a campaign with free meals for quarantined schoolchildren. When purchasing a set for an adult, a customer can get two kid's meals for free.
Dog Haus Worldwide. Instead of cozy restaurants, the chain has opened outlets where they sell ingredients for making hot dogs and hamburgers instead.
La Madeleine Cafe, the company offers to place an order and pay through the application, drive up to them, call and pick up the order at the entrance.
Is the store closed? It's time to put your inventory on the Internet
Apparel, accessories, home textiles or kitchen stuff - it doesn't matter what you sell in your store. You've probably thought about going online more than once, but put it off all the time. Since developing your own website takes a lot of time and money, pay attention to social media. Designing pages, describing and photographing products, fiddling with advertising for offices and budgets is also not an easy task. But since your shop is forcibly closed, you need to rise to the challenge to bring your products to the customers however hard it may seem on the outset.
Interesting fact. During the quarantine in China, many major car companies opened online car market places, and they worked. By the way, people also began to buy cars online in big quantities in Ukraine. And demand for some models has grown by 121%.
Quarantine and crisis are the best time to innovate
Innovation is needed during the pandemic. This is what the employees of the Russian branding agency Shishki Collective thought. The guys opened an online bar called ‘Stay The Fuck Home Bar’ based on the Whereby video call service for those who miss the night-out with friends. The service provides several "rooms" for a different number of guests and allows you to invite friends there by copying a special link.
What should the rest of the business do?
It doesn't matter what your field is - a beauty salon, travel agency, sports complex or cinema. The main thing is not to dissappear from your customers minds. Make it clear that despite tough times, you will still provide them with the products and services they need. Share tips on social media, shoot video tutorials or reviews, write life hacks, or take online courses to understand the digital space. This may not bring you immediat profit, but it will help:
-
maintain brand loyalty and existing audience;
-
attract potential customers;
-
to connect with your customers via social networks, newsletters or chat rooms.
Life after quarantine: how has China changed
Almost all fields of business suffered losses. And only online sales of consumer goods and food products showed revenue growth. Delivery services and platforms for online learning showed significant growth.
Back to normal, however most brands across the world are planning to:
-
keep investing in e-commerce;
-
allocate a separate budget for the development of digital channels and tools.
The crisis could take e-commerce around the world to the next level.
Don't be discouraged and put yourself in the shoes of the buyers and find a way for your business to keep going in these uncertain times.