Right now, as shutdowns continue and the virus remains a very real threat, businesses have little choice but to adapt to the situation and prepare for future similar scenarios or close up shop for good.

In the years before the outbreak, many businesses were beginning to embrace an online presence, realizing just how many people they could reach via the web and how easily they could expand their business.

e-Commerce has flourished but for those businesses who left their adaptation a little too late, the Coronavirus has been a real wake up call.

Although not all businesses have been able to sell via the web, with even e-Commerce business being confined to only selling essential items such as food and medicine, those businesses who had already gone virtual continue to answer enquiries and process orders which they can then deliver when they are able to.

This approach is to keep the money coming in while also playing a vital role in keeping the economy rolling.  

And for those who have not yet established an e-Commerce store, now is without a doubt the best time to get going, as certain social distancing measures are almost certainly going to hang around for a while.

The Importance of Digital

Like we said, taking your business into the online world is no new idea and even before global lockdowns, there were numerous advantages in having both a physical and an online store.

Pandemics pave the way for innovative thinking, and even something like yoga, which you’d imagine would thrive on physical interaction, is now being done via the web. Resource: What is Digital SEM Marketing Explained for Dummies 

As it stands, recent research suggests that up to 50% of consumers are avoiding the crowds associated with shops and up to 30% of people are choosing to completely isolate themselves, staying out of shops entirely.

The impact of this stay away on business has been immense and what is as troubling as the Coronavirus and its effects on health is the virus’s massive impact on economy.

While going digital has the potential to ensure the survival of both businesses and the economy, while also keeping people safe by ensuring they don’t have to place themselves in harm’s way to make purchases, e-commerce is a little more complicated than having a reliable platform and selling what government allows.

A look at the long term

Of course, during the short term, online shopping will enjoy a lot of support but the entire system is a lot more complicated than it appears on the surface.

For the consumer, it’s as easy as clicking a few buttons and making a payment, but behind the scenes, the company, especially if it is a big one, will need employees to keep the chain going, and this is where issues come in.

Right now, businesses are not operating as usual, which is why many e-commerce shops will happily answer your questions and process your payments, but are unable to deliver the goods (if they are not essential items that is) or might experience a delay in their supply chain.

On the supply side, businesses are still going to have to practice hygiene and social distancing, and factor in the staggered return of staff, which can have a massive effect on the efficiency and speed of the delivery once they are fully open for business.

And then there is the matter of money.

It is fine and well to say e-Commerce can continue, but it is unlikely to be the booming business that characterized the industry pre-lockdown. While in the past, consumers shopped and bought whatever they pleased, the economic downturn, and the likelihood of a global recession means consumers won’t have this freedom they previously enjoyed.

So where does your business fit in?

Businesses following the e-Commerce pattern fall into 2 categories; products and services.

Products are far easier to sell online because they are easy to supply and easy to distribute. Services on the other hand, cannot be supplied in the same way.

If you are selling physical products, to survive this oncoming economic slowdown while making full use of e-commerce, you should relook at what you sell. Is it a necessary product? If not, is there a way you can adapt your product selection to add more essential, sought-after products to your existing product list?

If you offer a service, you need to ask yourself the same question. Is your service a much-needed one, or is it something that people can live without?

There is a lot of uncertainty amongst traders, both retail e-commerce traders and those in traditional brick and mortar shops, about what the future looks like. And the best thing that anyone can do right now is adapt their business as best they can in order to reap the rewards of e-Commerce while, once this is over, continuing to boost their physical shops.

Now is without a doubt the right time to adapt, but instead of adapting out of fear, adapt your business with the knowledge that the decisions you make today are a step forward for your business rather than a rushed decision that might not work out.