Lockdown Shouldn’t Mean Shutdown For E-commerce Businesses

In these unique circumstances that the world finds itself in, it’s important to keep hopes high and not give in to panic and despair. This is true for the business as much as it is for the individual, especially when it comes to e-Commerce businesses. In this 4 part series, we will reassure you that the right thing to do is to stay calm and look positively towards the future and plan a rebound strategy that will position you above your competitors. It’s a time to relax, plan for the future and get ready to strike.

So, let’s take a look at why it is important to focus and think straight, pushing your e-Commerce business and website further.

Growing Ecommerce Markets

A Growing Market

Despite all of the doom and gloom we hear on the news about businesses around the country, there is one side of the economy that is going strong; online sales. The Office for National Statistics found that 10.8p in every pound was spent in online-only retailing for March 2020. In fact, online sales as a proportion of overall retail grew to a record high of 22.3% in March 2020.

Now that we are all in lockdown and the country is enforcing social distancing, everyone is holed up at home but still have that itch to spend money. Consumers are not currently spending on the usual things; petrol, restaurants, social events, clothes, etc. It’s something we can’t get away from. On top of that, everyone is looking for a new project, or hobby.

But how can they get what they need?

That’s where e-Commerce comes into play. By having a high quality online store, you can be easily found by your target audience whilst they are sitting at home, taking advantage of the increase in searches on Google. This, in turn, will help to boost your sales on the site, as people are desperately looking for places where they can successfully purchase what they need.

Brave are proud to have a 100% conversion rate for achieving Page 1 on Google for all existing retained clients, so if you’re struggling to hit the top of the rankings then we can help increase your visibility. Don’t lose out on sales to your competitors – click here to learn more about our SEO offering.

With companies like Amazon struggling to fulfil deliveries, their customers are being forced to look elsewhere to get the various items that they are looking to buy. This has caused an influx of growth for other e-Commerce websites, meaning that now is the perfect time to really push the growth of your own site.

Sectors such as food retailers are understandably doing very well. However, there are a number of other industries that are also seeing a boom in traffic to their websites and subsequent conversions. These include but are not limited to;

  • Electronics
    • With everyone looking for ways to entertain both themselves and their children, sales of items such as TVs, tablets, games consoles and other electronics are exceeding expectations at the moment.
  • Gardening
    • We have experienced this first hand with one of our clients, which we will get into shortly, but the interest in gardening related products is sky high. This is because, now that we are stuck at home, a huge number of people around the country are using this time to upgrade their lawns and gardens.
  • DIY
    • Have you tried going to the B&Q website recently? They have had to put a queueing system on their server due to the sheer volume of people looking to use all of this extra time to work on their homes! Of course, that queueing can be extremely frustrating, so many people start looking elsewhere, leading to a spike in sales for other DIY related businesses.
  • Sporting and Recreational Goods
    • Perhaps the more surprising industry of the ones listed here, there has been an increase in sales for various different types of sporting and recreational retailers. However, this does make sense, as people need to keep up their exercise or help their kids have fun in the garden.

Of course, there are a lot of other industries that are also seeing a surprising boom in sales and revenue during lockdown. Toys and games popularity is up – with ecommerce businesses in this sector seeing a rise in revenue of 341%. Home office equipment demand is also up 219%. This all goes to show that you really shouldn’t be panicking and taking your foot off the pedal, as it were.

By pushing harder with your e-Commerce website, you can take advantage of the surge in online shopping and really see a strong return on your investment. Plus remember, more and more people are at home and looking online than ever before – social media consumption has boomed by over 40% over the past 2 months with Facebook recording record statistics.

E-Commerce Marketing During Lockdown

Tales From Brave

As mentioned previously, we have seen some of this surprise growth ourselves, as a number of our clients have experienced their highest grossing months on record.

Specifically, a gardening related website we manage for a client has seen a staggering 172% increase in Year on Year revenue due to the significant increase in people looking to work on their gardens during lockdown. This also came with a growth in Conversion Rates of 33.4%.

The sudden and exponential growth has also been seen when it comes to their traffic levels, signifying that the revenue increase most certainly has been driven by the current situation that we find ourselves in. However, since the large majority of that traffic came from Organic Search, it is clear that our client’s investment in E-Commerce SEO has directly impacted this performance. This is because, had they not invested in it, they wouldn’t be found by their target audience, missing out on the growth they have experienced.

Our conversion-optimised Paid Social Advertising campaigns on Facebook & Instagram have led to record return on ad spend (ROAS) levels of over 2000% at this so-called difficult time for our e-commerce clients. Whilst their competitors are being cautious, the opportunity is there to take back that market share and build confidence and trust amongst your target consumers that you are very much alive and well.

To see how our Social Ads can help you to steal a march on your competitors then please give us a call on 0845 544 3626.

The Time Is Now

In order to make sure that your e-commerce business is strong and healthy throughout these trying times, you really should be thinking long term, not short term. Losing valuable traction and market share could cost you more in the long run to return to your original position. Focus on the improvements that you need to make to ensure you are better and more prepared to rebound in style. This includes anything from a refreshed Homepage design to Conversion Rate Optimisation, Social Ads or SEO. Work out where you are failing to deliver and put it right. By doing this, you maximize your potential for revenue generation and return on investment, taking advantage of the current buyer mentality and will become more proactive. Look towards the future and rebuild the future foundations for long term growth.

If you need assistance when it comes to improving the performance and ROI of your e-commerce website, we are more than happy to help, so feel free to get in touch with us today.

Thanks for taking the time to read our article and we hope you found it useful and informative. Please feel free to share with your friends, colleagues and fellow E-com professionals.

Make sure you keep an eye out for the next entry in this 4 part series of articles, where we look at how to plan and strategise for the consolidation and growth of your E-commerce website.

Be Visible, Be Better, Be Different, Be BRAVE.

Written bybrave

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