There is no doubt that we are living in unprecedented times, and while my grandmother might have remembered the “Spanish flu,” living through a pandemic like this is a new and scary experience. However, if we look at how the SARS epidemic impacted consumer behavior in China and Asia Pacific, we can get a sense of what might happen after COVID-19: SARS catapulted China to become the number one internet economy in the world.
So how should small business owners approach this transition to online?
E-commerce has grown rapidly and steadily over the past 10 to 15 years, spain whatsapp number data as evidenced by Statistica data. However, I believe one of the significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be that it will accelerate this acceptance and growth. We are seeing new groups of people learning for the first time how to do things online that they may not have considered before, from working from home to taking exercise classes to buying groceries online; and they are loving it.
For me, the unknowns can be classified into three areas necessary for success:
Business Strategy – Why Do It?
Technology – What platforms and technology are needed?
Boosting your business – How to get the traffic what kind of people am I looking for on my team? (customers) you need to succeed?
I will address points 2 and 3 in future posts, but for now let’s look at the strategy question.
In the famous words of Jack Welch, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.”
Just because you have a website doesn’t mean customers will buy; if shopping data only things were that simple. If you’re thinking of switching to e-commerce as a short-term solution, I’d advise against it.
Business Strategy – How will you compete?
E-commerce is a strategic behavioral shift, so approach it from that perspective. Brick-and-mortar retail will recover, but your customers will have different expectations, and what gave you a competitive advantage in the past may no longer apply. Traditional benefits like geographic location or price are much harder to maintain online than in the real world.