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As travel restrictions, quarantine measures, social distancing, and other measures arising from the pandemic kick in, it is exposing the cracks in e-commerce. A common problem most eCommerce retailers are facing is the unprecedented shift of multiple businesses to eCommerce. With financial difficulties rising in every sector, all businesses are going eCommerce to profit off the global audience. It changes things for the pre-existing players and others, as they have to fight hard to keep their ranks high and deliver quality service.
As the consumers put their faith in eCommerce, COVID-19 is revealing half-baked eCommerce strategies, poorly designed platforms, and the lack of guidance and assistance offered to online shoppers. It’s become clear that retailers and brands need to adopt new approaches to support the surge of new customers efficiently. Let us see four ways eCommerce retailers can practice to boost their eCommerce business.
Invest in Content Marketing
The COVID-19 pandemic brought on an unforeseen financial rut to most businesses, and eCommerce was not left behind. As marketplaces started to shut down their services during the peak of the pandemic, eCommerce retailers had not much to go for. With little to no sales and few consumers, an interesting challenge presented itself—how can you grow your eCommerce business?
The golden ticket out of this problem is content. Most of the planet is under lockdown, and online content consumption is at an all-time high. Most eCommerce businesses do not focus on content due to the amount of time and effort it takes to build an engaging content base. This time can be utilized perfectly to grow your blog and addressing issues your products solve. Although it will not necessarily increase your sales, content marketing can help drive consumers to your website and rank higher on search engines which can be extremely helpful in the future.
Reimagine your Portfolio
Asset management during these trying times is difficult. With lower sales, more products are catching dust in the warehouses, and retailers need to evolve a strategy to make more efficient use of their resources. It calls for a plan of action which is quite different from their usual routines. Is a complete upheaval of all assets the only way out of this situation?
Zomato had a smart way of using the delivery service network to their advantage. Making essential goods and groceries available for online order was an ingenious way to use the pandemic to their advantage without spending a lot of resources. The currently used resources in the eCommerce business can be utilized similarly. Changing your angle on the market can help your situation. Reimagining your portfolio can help you stay profitable and active in the market for years to come.
Engage in Multiple Listings for your Products
Online retailers of the eCommerce world always face the issue of reaching out to only a small part of the audience. The competition in the eCommerce world is at its peak now, and it becomes difficult to gather enough buyers for their product. Also, the ever-changing algorithms of these websites do not offer much help to online retailers. So how can you reach to a broader audience without investing a lot?
Multi-channel eCommerce allows online store owners to increase their sales streams, reach a more extensive customer base and give the ability to diversify your product offerings. Listing your product on all websites is never a feasible option. The best way to get the right audience is by hosting them on your website and then moving on to sites like Amazon, eBay and Flipkart. However, one must be smart while going multi-channel. The losses incurred on multiple platforms can hurt your business if not done correctly, especially during the pandemic.
Strengthen Internal Processes
One of the biggest realizations for eCommerce retailers in this pandemic was the lack of efficiency in internal processes. The workforce invested in these processes like warehouse management, inventory management, etc. were wasting a lot of resources. Their search for ways to make their internal business processes more optimized and efficient led them to one solution—Automation.
The four main internal processes that serve as problem areas are:
- Warehouse operations
- Inventory management
- Reporting tools
- Order management and Listing software
The resources put into these processes are vast and simple tweaks can improve these processes a lot. Auditing these processes, increasing staff productivity, implementing innovative ways like cross-docking in warehouse operations to increase efficiency are great ways to improve. But COVID-19 has strictly limited the amount of workforce that can be used in these operations. Investing in software like WMS, IMS, etc. can bring about great fortune for your business. Digital processes can significantly improve your operational productivity and lighten the burden on your staff. You can also control the situation sitting at your home and get great insight and visibility into each sector of your internal business processes.
eCommerce is a safe haven for all businesses right now and as the tech sector shows a significant boom, it suffices to say that adopting technology will be the best way to stay profitable during the pandemic.
Are you looking for an omnichannel inventory management solution with integrated B2B order management for your eCommerce business? Drop us a line at care@easyecom.io or directly sign up for a demo here.
