COVID-19 has changed and will continue to change our way of life. This change poses real challenges to businesses but doesn’t come without opportunity. As consumers shift to online shopping and e-commerce purchases, businesses need to be flexible and agile in evolving toward this trend or face the prospect of losing out. Coming up with a viable strategy that addresses these changes should be segmented into time-frames that help drive your business forward in a calculated and progressive manner.
Here are some useful guidelines to help you conceptualise a new strategy with a focus on changing customer buying behaviour:
1. DELIVER ON NEW PRIORITIES
During the Coronavirus pandemic, online shopping margins has increased by 32% from the previous years. This surge is more apparent in 2020 as consumers converted to online shopping per government mandates for social distancing and safety measures. Research shows that before the pandemic, people’s priorities when making a purchase were quality, price, and brand, in order. However, now purchase considerations have changed to availability, price, and quality respectively.
Delivering on these new customer priorities that are emerging in this current climate means that businesses have to improve their focus by actively updating product descriptions on web pages, leveraging on ratings and reviews across products, and offering better delivery times.
Customers' priorities tend to shift over time, or due to circumstance. The focus of any long-term sustainable business should be on customer loyalty and maximizing profitability. As customer habits shift, how you prioritize your products and services should also correspond accordingly.
2. DIGITISE YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY
Consumers digitally engaging with your brand will provide you with a reach to audiences that you may not have had access to before. This will demand a new set of expectations and offer more potential for you to operate on a larger margin. Offering a relevant product or service to their needs or creating a demand for a new segment presents you with an opportunity to acquire new customers.
Digitising your business also allows you to observe your trends and the effectiveness of your digital strategy, allowing you to build on, remove, or maintain your communications according to what works for you. Keeping track of orders, managing inventory, and responding to communications also becomes a whole lot easier, and this creates the chance for you to expand your business regionally or globally, should the need ever arise.
Put your product or advertisements where it will be easily found by customers. Start with your website and social media platforms, making it easier to gain the initial traction. With a wide array of digital platforms and e-commerce shopping solutions currently available on the market, it has become easier than ever to go digital.
DHL Express offers digital shipping solutions along with e-commerce integrations for websites and platforms that support digitalization.
3. BUILD CREDIBILITY
With the increase in online shopping, more questions plague the minds of customers constantly: “Who should I buy from?”; “Is this item available?”; “Am I getting value for my money?” or “What do other customers say?”
It is more pertinent that customers only choose brands and products that are from credible and positively reviewed sources. This includes giving an honest and comprehensive description of your product, offering it for a reasonable price with affordable shipping rates, and delivering the item fast and in good condition. A large portion of running a successful e-commerce business is attributed to having a trusted logistics partner – inventory management and order fulfilments that are always reliable goes a long way in fuelling the turnover of your products.
At DHL, we have a team of e-commerce experts dedicated to providing innovative shipping, fastest international delivery service, and fulfilment solutions that create a great online shopping experience for you and your customers. With a reliable service provider, you will be able to amplify your credibility and reputation.
4. STRENGTHEN YOUR GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
Expansion into the regional or international territory is always an attractive route to drive your business toward. Operating on a wider scale has its benefits but also poses its fair share of challenges. The initial phases of expansion may seem daunting, which is why it is important to partner up with an international shipping expert that knows the local landscape like a native.
With DHL Express, you get the advantage of a strong global network and local expertise that is able to handle all the complications of international logistics, while ensuring that the development of your business is at the forefront of our priorities. Our logistics solution compromises of customs clearance solutions, flexible on-demand delivery, pick-up options catered to your operational needs, and of course, the promise of excellent service and speedy deliveries.
The ‘new normal’ will surely bring new challenges with sales through unfamiliar channels. But with it comes great potential with new buyers readily available in the market. Ensure that your business thrives in this recovering economy, by grasping the opportunities at hand.
Learn how DHL Express can help your business deliver in the new normal of shopping with efficiency and reliability.
