The Importance of Ecommerce

Can you survive without an online sales channel?

Covid-19 has thrown a curveball at all retailers, everywhere. Those with successful digital channels, like NEXT, have found themselves overwhelmed and those without them, like Primark, have seen their sales nose-dive. And there will be stages in between - slow sites with poor user experience will also be suffering whereas those that are simple to use and offer flexible delivery or click & collect will be weathering this particular storm better than most.

I recently listened to an interview with Jez Wilson, Head of Ecommerce & Digital at Italian firm DAINESE on #patrickslist, talking about how Covid-19 has affected their business since the virus hit Northern Italy in such a brutal fashion.

Jez told us how when the lockdown started in Italy - a few weeks ahead of the UK - retail sales dropped off a cliff as people were shocked by the uncertainty of the situation, but after the first few weeks, once the temporary “new norm” had been established, they saw online sales soar with over 100% year on year increases.

You can watch the interview here.

News also came today of Carphone Warehouse’ online success with their sales up 166% in the past 5 weeks, all but offsetting the loss caused by store shutdowns as a result of the lockdown.

This is all well and good for retail giants, but what can you be doing as a small business to keep selling during the lockdown and the recovering period? The British Retail Consortium has released advice on Social Distancing: Recommended Implementation Practices for Non-Food Retail Stores. Their advice reflects expected Government advice and suggests that even when stores can re-open, fewer people will be able to come through your doors than you’re used to. Fewer customers = fewer sales.

It’s become obvious that to survive and flourish in these days of retail unsettle, even before Covid-19 hit our world, shops need some form of an online presence. That doesn’t have to be a full-blown website; depending on your customers and what you’re selling, it could be as simple as a Facebook or Instagram shop.

However, most online shop platforms have the added advantage of being able to include different delivery options, like click & collect, collect from a supermarket or delivery on a certain day. If you have to reduce the number of people coming into your shop, offering a click and collect service, where you can set a specific time or timeslot for collection may go far in aiding the new social distancing rules.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some thoughts on how to start with your online journey. In the meantime, if you need some friendly advice or help getting started online, please do get in touch.