Business Boom Amidst a Pandemic

Facebook may be peaking, chatbots dominate customer service, video is no longer an option, and good content still matters. Now context is even more important. These are just a few of the digital changes which small business owners have had to adjust to. As we know, businesses are beginning to open back up after months of quarantine. Owners have had to pivot the way they interact with customers and how their companies are operated. For brick and mortar stores, the six feet apart rule has been plastered on stickers and placed on the floor for customers’ safety. Masks must be worn at all times, and plexi glass has been implemented to keep employees safe. 

Now more than ever, customers are eager to find reasons to spend their money. In turn, many small businesses have been launched to take advantage of the opportunity. Online stores specifically face the challenge of their customers' readiness to buy. These stores have also realized how impatient their customers can get. With low staff and new safety precautions implemented, it is challenging for items to be shipped out in time or, as customers hope, earlier than the expected arrival date. Consumers also struggle with not being able to touch and feel the products they want to purchase. Unfortunately, this means more returns or exchanges for online companies. As fast as the digital world is changing, customers are spending money at the same speed. The question is will small retailers be able to keep up?

Below is a chart showing the responsibilities small business may take to adapt to digital change.

Social shopping tools have been a wonderful assistant to stores who are adapting to the digital world. For example, customers are able to click on a purse that their favorite influencer is wearing on Instagram and are re-directed to the store’s official site. Or while scrolling through Pinterest for the perfect fall outfit inspiration, a customer will be able to click the picture and have a direct route to a company’s website with their dream fall outfit waiting for them to purchase. In addition, tools like digital search allow people to take a picture of someone wearing a dress on the street and search that dress to add to their closet.

A new feature on the rise that may interest many is the integration of artificial intelligence. AI is very important in digital retail, as consumers are always hinting at the products they would like to buy and how much they are willing to spend for it. AI allows retailers to gather information through social media and make the shopping experience easy and personal for their customers. It is an important trend that will continue to rise to the top of the list of digital tools that contribute to the success of many businesses. 

I had the pleasure of speaking with a small business owner who experienced the digital change firsthand. Owner and founder of Knockout Club Season located in Easton, Pa., Gerid shared a few ways he adapted to opening back his store after being quarantined.

“Being quarantined was actually a good push for the business,” he explained. “When we were given the opportunity to re-open we just took it. With that being said, people were still in a quarantined state of mind but were eager to get back to normalcy. It contributed to the store financially because everyone had that initiative to get back outside and they had extra money saved from receiving unemployment or stimulus checks.” 

“I was able to put myself in this position by paying attention and being conscious,” Gerid continues. “Most of what took me being here was self discipline and paying attention to my intuition. In turn, I was able to quickly adapt to the digital change in order to meet my customers’ needs.”

Along with other new small businesses, the digital change will not have an effect on the level of satisfaction that Knockout Club Season strives for their consumers to have.