Small Business Saturday is quickly approaching and now, more than ever, our local small businesses need support as they attempt to recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
If you’re a business owner, you are well aware of the various changes the pandemic has required and you should expect no less from holiday shopping in 2020. Like most everything this year, we anticipate that it will not be like holiday shopping seasons of the past with new protocols to follow, expectations to meet.
On the bright side, shopping local is top of mind for many consumers. Google reports that 66% of shoppers said they plan to shop more at local small businesses. That means now, more than ever, preparation is important.
Photo Credit: Lambert Carriage Company
How to Make the Most of Holiday Shopping 2020
Go virtual. As much as possible. Make the effort to move whatever elements of the shopping/service experience you can into the online space. Reservations, orders, payments, communications – a lot of that can be done online before your customer even enters your space. As much as you love seeing your customers face to face, the current situation doesn’t lend itself to that for many. If you can sell it online and ship it directly to them, make the effort to make that happen so you can stay competitive with online shops that have been doing this.
Be clear about your safety protocols and procedures. If you want people to come out, you have to make sure they feel safe doing so. Radial reports that “63% of shoppers say they are slightly or very much more likely to purchase from a retailer they know was following COVID-19 safety precautions in-store.”
To keep your customers informed, use your social media to share what safety protocols and procedures are in place so they know what to expect when they interact with you in person. Transparency is super important to making sure that the relationship you have with your clients is maintained through this time.
Keep up with your social media. You may have gotten away with not having an Instagram account or a Facebook page in the past, but if there’s one thing 2020 has taught us, it’s the power of digital marketing. Business owners need to reach their customers where they are and, for many of us, right now that’s at home.
Focus on making your digital platforms as informative and engaging as possible so that they can support your business through the holiday season and beyond.
Plan incentives. Giveaways are common ways to attract and engage customers. Band with other local businesses to offer a larger prize opportunity where possible. If you can push some of these giveaway opportunities into your digital space, it’s a great way to build your online audience and brand awareness.
Make your space COVID-19 friendly. Move furniture and other obstacles to allow for one way traffic flow as much as possible, eliminate things in the store to make social distancing easier, provide hand sanitizer and touchless payment where you can. The more amenable to social distancing and other precautions your location is, the more likely shopper will be to want to return.
Implement curbside delivery. Google found that, “47% of planned shoppers said they’ll use options to buy online, pickup in store/curbside pickup.”
So make curbside happen and focus on making it work. Shoppers making the effort to place an online order and schedule a pickup expect this process to be safe as well as efficient. If you’ve not perfected how to make curbside happen as seamlessly as possible for your clients, make sure you invest time in that option now.
For businesses that provide services, you should be thinking about alternative, COVID-19 friendly options to provide your service as well. Things like drive up services, touchless payments and virtual consults can really make a difference for business owners willing to think outside the box.
Don’t slash your prices. Forget trying to compete with the pricing of local box stores. Instead, focus on the quality and uniqueness of your product, customer service, and community building opportunity shoppers get when they choose to spend their time and money in your location. As previously mentioned, shopping local is top of mind for all of us. You just have to make sure consumers know you’re there and able to provide what they need in a safe, efficient way.
Support a local charity. It’s not a great idea to slash your prices to encourage shoppers to choose you, but pairing with a local charity you’re passionate about might. Consider giving a percentage of the day’s sales to the charity you choose. Not only will it allow you a tax break, but it will also incentivize shoppers who are also passionate about the charity to stop by, humanize your brand in a way that will make you more relatable, and potentially allow for a great, mutually beneficial partnership with you and the charity.
Participate in Small Business Saturday. You can find information and resources for that here: Small Business Saturday Resources
Don’t feel like you can benefit just because you don’t sell a “holiday item”. The Shop Local movement is stimulating all business types by encouraging local shoppers to start with a locally based or owned business. That is a sentiment that is being felt by all types of business owners. Plumbers, mortgage lenders, dentists and insurance agents, shopping local is about you too! You just have to get creative about how you spread awareness about what you do and where you do it. Get out into the community (the live one and the digital one) and meet your neighbors, fellow business owners, and potential clients so they know that when they shop local they can support you too.
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.