Moving Your Offline Business Online: Ideas for the Post-Covid-19 Reality
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While large-size companies and corporations have a developed online strategy and necessary tools for efficient online work and sales, many businesses still find digitization challenging. For some reason, offline business owners believe that going online is not an option and that it would kill their business or add tons of labor. However, applying IT for business goals and needs is vastly beneficial when done professionally. Learn more about what ideas and solutions you can add to your local business to make it prosper in the new Covid-19 reality that is already very different from the one we had a year ago.
Some businesses in the beauty industry offered their clients personalized kits with detailed text instructions or professional guidance using video streaming. For example, a client who needed to dye their hair could contact the stylist and describe their requirements like hair length, the color of choice, etc. Then the stylist created a personalized kit that includes all tools and products required for hair coloring and very detailed instruction on the process, and delivered it to the client. The instruction can be replaced with an online session so that a specialist can tell the client their moves during the real-time streaming, and the client only needs to follow the instructions.
Portrait photographers also can benefit from this model when they cannot be physically present with the client. With the help of the in-app streaming services, a photographer can guide their client on the posture, light setting, etc. When a client takes a shot of themselves via the mobile app, the system automatically sends the photo to the photographer for approval and further retouching.
The idea with the DIY kits and instructions can be successfully implemented by bakeries and restaurants that want to satisfy their clients with the freshest meal. Bakeries can sell ready-made dough along with instructions on how to bake it so their customers can enjoy delicious bread or sweet pastry straight from the oven. At the same time, restaurants can offer items from their menu as a set of products and precise instructions on how to cook these dishes along with selling their traditional ready-made food.
Changing a Business Model in a Changing Reality
Entrepreneurs flexible to changing their business model can survive even the most dramatic global situations. While thousands of businesses around the world permanently terminated their existence, the ones that adjusted their business model and processes had strengthened their position and revenue.From Providing Offline Services to Services + Infopreneurship
Even if you believe that bringing digital solutions is not applicable to your business, you just need to have a broader perspective. For example, hair and makeup stylists, fitness instructors, portrait photographers, and other specialists whose services imply their physical presence with the client struggled most during the lockdown. While many of these specialists terminated their business, the ones flexible to changes had found the way to their clients.
Some businesses in the beauty industry offered their clients personalized kits with detailed text instructions or professional guidance using video streaming. For example, a client who needed to dye their hair could contact the stylist and describe their requirements like hair length, the color of choice, etc. Then the stylist created a personalized kit that includes all tools and products required for hair coloring and very detailed instruction on the process, and delivered it to the client. The instruction can be replaced with an online session so that a specialist can tell the client their moves during the real-time streaming, and the client only needs to follow the instructions.
Portrait photographers also can benefit from this model when they cannot be physically present with the client. With the help of the in-app streaming services, a photographer can guide their client on the posture, light setting, etc. When a client takes a shot of themselves via the mobile app, the system automatically sends the photo to the photographer for approval and further retouching.
From Selling Products Offline to the Online Ordering + Delivery Model
Large, medium and small companies selling traditional products benefit from using advanced technologies for business. According to the Roi Revolution, shopping for groceries online has never been so common as today. The new reality shows that 58% of consumers are now comfortable with online grocery shopping. Moreover, 71% of Millennials and Gen Z and 44% of Baby Boomers use digital tools for their grocery shopping. Businesses that deal with selling products can easily switch their business model to eCommerce so customers won’t have to come to the offline store to purchase what they need. They can order anything they want from the store online and get it delivered. In case your store sells something expensive and unique, you can offer the client a video of the product or show it using the streaming service. Restaurants, diners, and other businesses in the food and beverage industry had also embraced the advantages of changing their business model to online ordering and delivery. By including food delivery in their services, these businesses survived lockdowns and got even more client-oriented.
The idea with the DIY kits and instructions can be successfully implemented by bakeries and restaurants that want to satisfy their clients with the freshest meal. Bakeries can sell ready-made dough along with instructions on how to bake it so their customers can enjoy delicious bread or sweet pastry straight from the oven. At the same time, restaurants can offer items from their menu as a set of products and precise instructions on how to cook these dishes along with selling their traditional ready-made food.
Offline to Online: Innovate Your Business
Having an application or at least a website brings multiple advantages for businesses and has become necessary for their survival during the pandemic.A Digital Product to Reach Out to Your Customers
You can use ready-made services for reaching out to your clients and notify them about your services, products, and news. This way is less costly, but it also has serious drawbacks. By choosing to use some open-source platform instead of getting your own custom website or application, you should be aware that you won’t be able to control how and where your information is stored. On the other hand, businesses that have developed their own custom software can choose a place for their data storage; this may be a hardware server at home or a trusted cloud solution like AWS. Custom applications and websites have a good impact on the client’s perception of your brand and your business. You can use them for customer experience personalization to increase customer loyalty and retention rate. Filling your application with valuable functionalities and features like online booking, detailed item or service description, streaming, notifications, reviews, personal discounts, and loyalty programs will help you gain love and loyalty among your customers.Business Process Optimization by Automation
Advancements in modern tools and technologies for business allow automating many processes like booking and scheduling, answering frequently asked questions, promoting, emailing, reporting, and many others. Booking a table or appointment is one of the most helpful optimizations any business can have. One single CRM system can replace the hours of work and eliminate human errors. At the same time, customers won’t have to communicate with the manager by phone because they will be able to do it in a couple of clicks or taps. According to Inc., 75% of American Millennials and Gen Z choose communicating via texting over talking (based on a 4,000-person survey). In fact, this tendency started long before 2020, and Statista indicates that the younger age groups worldwide prefer text-enabled communication with businesses.
