While e-commerce seems like a safe industry right now, it’s still important to ensure your business is adapting to the global pandemic. So instead of being in a panic mode, here are some things you can do to protect your online store.

Assure your customers that your business is safe and still operating

If you anticipate that the pandemic will or is already affecting production, make changes to delivery days on your website so that your customers know what to expect. It’s important to stay honest and human with your clients.

For instance, Well Gain Electronics put a banner on their home page that informs website visitors that the store is still operating.

Stage3Motorsports placed a banner on their home page as well, but they went beyond it.

By clicking, the customer will be redirected to a blog post where Stage3Motorsports explains how their team is working during the pandemic and how they make certain everything is safe for their customers and employees.

Another thing you can do is to send a supportive e-mail where you explain how your e-shops are operating during these times, but without extra promotions and offering discounts. It’s important to show customers that you put people first and provide them with comfort. Assure your customers that you care about them and aren’t risking the safety of your workers. Speaking the truth about possible delivery delays and internal sanitation procedures you perform will build trust between you and your clients.

Use the support your e-commerce platform offers

In these trying times, companies need all the support they can get. E-commerce platforms understand it and have come up with different resources.

Bigcommerce, for example,  isn’t charging transaction fees. Also, if you planned to move your store, right now might be the time for it as Bigcommerce is offering three months free on all plans for new merchants. They also have a special blog section dedicated to COVID-19 that’s full of useful information and resources. 

What we all also need during the pandemic is a supportive community. That’s something Shopify understands well, so they set up a special discussion section where merchants can discuss everything related to COVID-19. The company is also offering its email marketing and gift card selling services for free and suggests using their POS system to create local pickup and delivery. If testing Shopify as an e-commerce platform was in your plans, you should try moving your store now, as it’s currently providing a 90-day trial. 

Magento Commerce is also allowing new stores to operate for free for the first three months.  Magento suggests everyone train and upgrade their skills via Magento University and Marketo University for free during the three months.  Last week, they released an AI-Powered Product Recommendations tool. It is now available for all merchants on Magento Commerce 2.3 and up without any additional cost. 

Stay human, and don’t overproduce content

As people are staying at home, the only way to reach them is through blogging and social media. Communication is essential during these times, but at the same time, people are already tired. They’ve been bombarded with so many news articles, blog posts, emails, and other content over the past month that people are starting to suffer from information redundancy.

E-mails stopped generating as much traffic as they did during the first weeks of lockdown. Also, as many brands used COVID-19 as a reason to have a promotional campaign, people feel like someone is trying to deceive them. It’s important to stay ethical and human.

Right now, shoppers aren’t looking to be sold to—they’re looking for a connection. What they need now is something cheerful and supportive. So keep that in mind as you engage with your customers by email, social media, or something else. Try to focus on something positive while producing your content, and keep it at the same level it was before the pandemic. If your stats suggest that customers are enjoying your blog posts, it might be reasonable to increase the number of posts, but try not to overdo it.

Keep advertising

Paid ads are becoming cheaper. The cause of it is an increase in web traffic and a slide in the number of advertisers. According to Statista, during the coronavirus pandemic, the cost of Facebook advertising is going down. In mid-March 2020, brands paid on average close to 9 U.S. cents for a click on Facebook ads, while at the beginning of the year, it cost 11 U.S. cents. 

Even though there was a slump in conversions rates in almost all industries, paid ads are producing a much higher ROI than before the coronavirus outbreak.

Maybe there is a sales channel you’ve never tried before, and now the perfect time to test.  Can you get more traffic and conversions from social media? The current crisis is not a time to cut your advertising budget, but make sure to watch your campaign data closely and adjust your promotional strategy if necessary.   

Closing thoughts

There are always crises affecting our businesses. And every crisis ends. The COVID-19 pandemic will pass, too. Don’t give up, and do the best you can.

Convermax team members use different ways of keeping themselves busy (and sane) when they stay locked in their houses 24 hours a day. Here are a few of our suggestions to spend a quarantine evening and ease the stress.

Our CEO, Alex suggests watching and reading about Kon-Tiki. It’s an inspiring real-life story that shows that people are capable of incredible resilience and diligence.

UI engineer Dmitry thinks that it’s a rare opportunity to spend more time with your close friends and family, discuss millions of topics with them, play board games, and watch Disney classics.

Integration engineer Nickolay knows from personal experience that quarantine is a perfect time to give up a bad habit and suggest reading Allen Carr if you want to quit smoking. 

Content marketer Daria is re-reading the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, as she thinks we can discover something new in the books we once loved as children. And if you’re ready to splurge on another video content subscription, she recommends Masterclass.com as the source of positive energy and inspiration.