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14 Ways to Minimize the Impact of COVID-19 on Your Business
COVID-19 can offer a window of opportunity for eCommerce business owners, while also becoming their most significant challenge. Here are 14 ways for ecommerce business owners to overcome the challenge and take the best from it.
Ahmad Al Abid
Apr 27, 2020
As COVID-19 develops and traverses across the continents, more and more businesses are struggling to mitigate the impact it leaves. From managing customers, suppliers, and vendors to digitizing communication, handling logistics, and supply chain – business owners are on a fast-tracked learning process to stay afloat. In this short guide, we'll tell about 7 quick and 7 long-term solutions minimizing the impact of COVID-19.
In all this gloom, there is also a ray of hope, especially for eCommerce businesses. While most of the people are staying at home, customers have to rely solely on online orders, even for essential supplies. The WHO clarification aided this. Receiving a package is safe, even if it's shipped from an area where COVID-19 is reported.
The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low, as well as the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package. Since the delivery was moved, traveled, and exposed to different conditions and temperatures. Not only are eCommerce businesses safe to continue operations, but they have also emerged as a lifeline, ensuring supplies and goods are received all over the world.
So, COVID-19 can offer a window of opportunity for eCommerce business owners, while also becoming their most significant challenge. Whether it makes or breaks a business – solely depends on how quickly owners assess the situation and minimize the risk caused by COVID-19.
As a result of the pandemic, consumer habits and buying preferences have drastically changed. There has been a drop in demand in certain categories, and an increase in others. It is essential to understand the changing patterns in customer preferences, to strategize the best solution for your individual business.
Here's an infographic with top-100 fastest growing ecommerce categories from Stackline:
Businesses that rely heavily on importing their inventory from countries like China have experienced a massive slow down in production and transit times. Those who have been sourcing their products locally are reaping their benefits now more than ever.
For major marketplaces like Amazon, the immediate focus is to ensure containment, healthcare, and supply of essential services. While non-essential goods are temporarily suspended from coming into their warehouses. Some FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) merchants are able to benefit from the new prioritization – if their products fall into the essential category. Others had to make the switch to FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) or begin selling essential products to keep their Amazon businesses running.
For businesses selling through Shopify and other eCommerce platforms, the rise and fall in demand and sales rely much more heavily on the changing spending patterns of consumers. Businesses in the medical, household, children, cleaning, and grocery categories are seeing a massive increase in demand, while those in the fashion, apparel, travel, and jewelry categories are experiencing a sharp decline.
100 ecommerce categories declined the most, by the results of Stackline research are:
Here are some strategies used by eCommerce business owners, to help their business stay afloat during the pandemic:
The long term lessons are still panning out, as we have not yet seen where or how this is going to end. However, based on the huge impact it has had so far, we can still list out a few.
While we stay anxious about a solution to reverse the effects of the virus, we're also hoping for businesses to run and continue as usual. If you decide to take immediate measures in diversifying your products and marketplace, or with fulfillment and warehousing, you can reach out to eShipper.
And at Squareshot, we’re always ready to help you with product photography. Check out our awesome gallery, to see how gorgeous our works look. Stay safe, and let's get through these times to become even stronger.
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