Over 47.2% of Americans nationwide are unemployed, essentially that equates to just under half the adult population as a result of the pandemics’ effect on the economy. Businesses have had to shrink in size as an attempt to stay afloat amidst the crisis yet there seems to be no near end to the chaos with buyer behavior unpredictable and trends fluctuating daily.

In hindsight, it’s never too early to start preparing for your business’s COVID-19 recovery. Eventually all will subside and companies that have created strategies to sustain themselves from the aftermath of the pandemic will likely help them survive or potentially recover from any losses. This article will go in depth about what actions brands can take to begin strategizing for the future.

How Will You Work On Adapting Your Business To COVID-19?

Having your own business despite its size, you’ll need to evaluate how you’ll handle the current crisis and the effects that are yet to come. Trends are continuously changing, consumer shopping habits are fluctuating, and online shopping is on the rise while in-person stores are decreasing its sales.

This is a time where your business will need to prioritize and understand the changing industry landscape and adopt new strategies, as well as improve business efficiency to keep an eCommerce company running. Being able to plan your company’s future during COVID-19 accordingly and be open to quick business model changes will not only help increase revenue and sustainability but create a safe feature for all employees and workers.

Adapting Your Business To COVID-19

Post-Pandemic Business Strategy

Companies will need to realize that with the eCommerce environment changing, business strategies will need to readjust and evolve too. During this crisis as well as after, your brand should be used to being able to switch marketing and business plans swiftly and not harp on how trends and behaviors shift. Below is a list of sample approaches businesses can take to work alongside the virus’s future impacts:

Strategize Around COVID-19: The best thing you could do for your company during the pandemic is simply to accept it. Adapting your business to COVID-19 and long after will show consumers your brand morals and values towards the crisis. Ironically, the worst thing you could do during and after this event is to “fight” against it, by not mentioning and avoiding the pandemic whether it be through emails to your employees, posting content on it from your brand’s website or social media platforms, or even the actual products and services you offer to consumers. Your business should be strategizing around the current events of the pandemic to maintain loyalty and trust between your company, employees and customers.

Learn From The Past: Make sure history doesn’t repeat itself and have your business learn from the effects of COVID, implementing safety precautions and working towards boosting the morale of workers. If and when people are allowed to be at full-capacity back into the office, your company should have everything from hand sanitizer stations set up, hand washing reminders, and social distanced desks and seating, to name a few. Possibly, a more flexible schedule for employees and options to work from home a couple times a week will also create a healthier environment for all workers mentally and safety-wise.

Learn From The Past
Evolving Customer Behavior: The pandemic has been changing people’s lives drastically and rapidly over a span of just a few months. However it has also affected consumer behavior too. Day by day, things are still changing in respect to the virus, meaning businesses should be aware that customer habits are likely to be unpredictable and will continue to evolve. In response to these changes, your company will need to be able to react fast and progress with consumer behavior as and when it happens. Agility is now paramount.

Foresight: Despite consumer behavior being unpredictable, it’s possible to foresee more people in the future, or at least in the next couple months, still working remotely and staying at home. Your business needs to strategize around this factor and cater to what customers may need or want during these times. For example, exercise equipment company Peloton continues to offer consumers their machines while the brand has also incorporated more virtual work out videos to their audience, as gyms either remain closed or only allow 10% capacity. This strategy has led Peloton’s revenue to increase by 66% even with the crisis in place.

Experiment: With the unpredictability that Covid-19 brings, a post-pandemic business strategy approach your company can take on is experimenting and adapting new models and solutions. Through trial and error, your brand can learn from these experiences to better sculpt itself as trends and behaviors evolve after the crisis has passed.

Conclusion

Businesses should be willing to prioritize both their employees and consumers during this period. Times are unpredictable for all industries, meaning having the ability to adjust and restructure quickly, experiment with plans, and strategize around the pandemic, will in turn help with the future of eCommerce businesses and the worldwide economy in the long-run.