Online Purchasing & Supporting Local Businesses During The Coronavirus

Since we’ve been social distancing for the past month or so now, we have seen a change in the way we are purchasing our essential and non-essential items. According to Forbes, online retail categories saw an uptick in sales during March – as much as a 74% year-over-year increase – compared to March 2018. That is a lot! And unfortunately, if you haven’t adopted this “new normal” (ie: going “virtual”), now’s the time. It’s not too late as we expect this shift to stick around.

High-Touch Yet Contactless

At Raleighwood, we have seen non-essential businesses adapt their business models to stay afloat during COVID-19 by quickly shifting focus to limited-contact and touchless e-commerce offerings. From bars turning into grocers, beauty businesses adding virtual tutorial services, and even something as simple as adding online gift cards to the lineup, small businesses are giving consumers a chance to easily show their support by shopping. Even restaurants have quickly added online ordering to offer as much of a no-contact purchase as possible.

In some ways, you might think, “Why have we not been doing this all along?” Human interactions might never be the same if we adapt and truly embrace the “new norm” – in a good way – enabling more and more small businesses to develop more passive revenue, additional sales of add-on products and services, and beyond.

Most of our clients are local and it has been heartwarming to see all of the local love from the community! A new survey from WalletHub found that 87 percent of small business owners say they are struggling due to the coronavirus. Raleighwood has been working hard to help our local businesses ease those struggles: beefing up online shopping offerings for our clients, adding new products to websites, enabling gift card purchasing, and even helping clients figure out how to successfully offer digital an intangible offerings into their online portfolios in a timely manner.

To boot, we have also made sure our clients, open or closed, have kept their audiences updated throughout. Our teammate Tara shares more here about the power of social media and email marketing over the last few months.

Thanks for Sharing

Something as simple as a simple share on your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have meant the world to the small businesses in the area. And for those who have been able to do more, a recent CNBC article notes that sixty-eight percent of people who have recently shopped local tipped more than they normally do. 🥰

Stay well, Raleighwood and beyond!