4 Ways to Pivot Your Service Offerings Back Into Lockdown.
The Province is on the verge of another lockdown like we saw in April and May. Though the busy shopping season will be finishing up in less than a week, it is still important to your business to be able to make it through the next month of lockdown, essential or non-essential.
While we wait for more details on what a potential lockdown looks like for retail-focused small businesses, here are 4 easy ways to pivot how you offer your services to your customers through a lockdown and bring your business through this pandemic.
Delivery
Sometimes retail business owners forget about the potential to offer their customers delivery. Local delivery is a great item to offer your clients depending on your market. If your market tends to be 65+ it is a great idea to offer your products with free local delivery on a certain order size. This not only helps your customers stay safe, it also lets potential customers know that their safety is top of mind.
Curb-side
Curb-side pickup of online orders are another great service to offer potential customers. Customers order and pay for their order on your website or over the phone and then pickup what they ordered without even having to go into your store.
Video Shopping
Using FaceTime, Messenger Video, Zoom or another video call application, you can walk the customer through your store and show them your products. This is perfect for stores where customers want to see or select the exact product that they would like to purchase. Payment can be taken over the phone for quick pickup or delivery of the order as discussed above.
E-Commerce Websites
If you are in retail or food and beverage and have yet to build a website that allows orders and payments from the site or your have an outdated site that was created in 2005. Now is the time to either get a site built or have it redesigned. Part of that redesign should take into account that almost half of all internet traffic is on a mobile device of some kind.
If you are new to the website building world you only really need two things on your website, a landing page with some information and e-commerce functionality. There are many website builders out there that can help you easily build a website without too much technical knowledge but like anything it is always better to bring in a pro.
OmniWorx Inc. specializes in working with small businesses on their websites and has built about 15 websites in the past 3 years for various clients. We are offering a special package to help small businesses without a website or who may want to start fresh a quick way to get online and start selling fast. Get more details here.
About the Author - Jack C. Henry
A graduate of OCAD University’s Graphic Design program, Jack blends art with real-world business strategy. The result? Creative solutions that add value to your business. Jack has designed for a wide range of industries including restaurants, retail stores, health care, community organizations and charities. As well as helping companies develop their brand, he creates beautiful marketing materials and signage. More…
About OmniWorx Inc.
OmniWorx Inc. is a boutique design firm based in Scarborough in Toronto’s east end, with an office in Lakefield in the Kawarthas, providing graphic design, branding, marketing services to individuals, local small & mid-sized businesses and realtors. More...