How eCommerce Businesses Can Thrive During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Everyone’s home, which means more shopping online than ever before. Whether people are trying to find a new source for their essential items–be it clothing or children’s toys–or looking for games and entertainment during their newfound free time, eCommerce businesses that position themselves correctly stand to gain big.

Here’s some advice to help your business shift focus and thrive during these hard times.

Offer a Promotion

If you’ve been thinking about a promotion, now might be the right time to go forward with it. With more eyes on online businesses than ever before, it’s likely going to get plenty of attention. Plus, a good deal can help promote sales even as budgets tighten.

If you have a lot of stock on a specific item you’re looking to move or an idea for a product that may be particularly well-received right now (think cooking gadgets and family games), why not give it a go? 

Boost Your Amazon Presence

Amazon has seen an incredible uptick in sales in recent months as non-essential businesses have been forced to close their doors and more people have chosen to stay inside and have their items delivered. Many items and categories are out-of-stock entirely, and the sales prices for some goods–even items as simple as jigsaw puzzles–have highered to match demand.

If you have relevant items to sell, Amazon is definitely a place you want to be. Building your Amazon presence and perhaps putting a bit of money into sponsored listings would be a smart move right now, thanks to the unprecedented traffic Amazon is seeing at this time.

Change Your Marketing

Your marketing plan needs to quickly adapt to be both thoughtful and relevant during the pandemic. Everyone’s at home, which means focus and priorities are shifting. 

When thinking about your marketing, consider that people have a lot of free time but also a lot more restrictions than they used to. Things they used to go out and do, like go to the movies or workout at the gym, must now be done at home. The extra spare time is also leading to boredom, anxiety, and other issues. 

For instance, if you sell an exercise device, try an angle like, “Get your workout in at home and kill boredom at the same time.” 

Spend on Marketing

Unfortunately, many companies are going out of business as this pandemic leads to major unforeseen disruption. Certain industries are being hit far worse than others, but as an eCommerce business, you have the agility to change your approach on the fly and shift to meet new consumer demands.

With less competition in traditional areas, you can rise to the top by marketing the right products to the right people. In other words, if you aren’t already investing in digital marketing, call someone in to help. Also, if you are investing, consider upping your spending. Analyze the potential ROI for today’s most in-demand products and you can end up growing big time through this crisis as you service society’s new needs.