Many business owners faced an incredible and unparalleled challenge when the world went into lockdown: “How can my website help me reach out to customers at home?”. Having a strong online presence was increasingly important in the lead-up to the outbreak, but few could have predicted that the pandemic would serve as such a powerful catalyst, transforming and fuelling eCommerce more than ever before.

There were plenty of lessons to be learned from the multiple lockdowns of 2020-21.

While we hope that the threat is subsiding, we’ve decided to republish and update our checklist of simple ways for you to optimally utilize your website in a crisis.

1. Update the homepage of your website

Update your homepage with a banner explaining whether you are fully operational. Make sure it’s prominently positioned and obvious to your website visitors. Even better, take a leaf out of Nike’s book and include a “run of site” banner on all of your website’s pages. Include a link to a news page or blog post with more information.  Which brings us neatly onto point number 2…

2. Add a webpage or a blog post clearly explaining your crisis policies

Here’s where you can explain what changes you’ve made to your service. Some information to consider:

  • Is your store still open?
  • Are all locations affected?
  • Should customers expect a longer delivery time?
  • Are you still delivering to all regions?
  • What date will you revise or update your policy?

Even if you are fully operational, your clients will still want to be reassured of the measures you’re taking to help mitigate any risks to them. For example, in the event of a public health crisis, are you providing your workers with sanitizers and masks where necessary? Are you implementing a curbside delivery service to protect your customers and your delivery staff? Reassure your audience by sharing how you are looking after them and the health of your workers.

3. Consider offering online deals 

While the world was cooped up at home, many of us were looking for pretty much any excuse to treat ourselves. Consumer insights research at the time found that the more time employed people spend living under stay-at-home guidelines, the more they start to buy impulsively. And what’s more irresistible than a bargain?

If you’re a service-based platform, the US Chamber of Commerce had a great tip for businesses operating a service-based platform during the 2021 pandemic: “[offer] online sales of gift certificates. Encourage your customers to buy a certificate now, so they can treat themselves and redeem it when the virus outbreak has slowed and their self-quarantine period is over.”

4. Help boost visits to your website through social media channels

More so than usual, share everything you’re doing with your followers on your social media channels. In the event of a crisis, it might not occur to them that you’re still operating, take every opportunity to appear on their newsfeed.

Why not get creative? Small business owners are great at coming up with inventive and shareable ideas. UK-based card company Jelly Armchair created adorable coloring in sheets free to download from their website – great for parents looking to keep their kids occupied! The restaurant chain, Sweetgreen,shared photos of front-line workers they fed for free during the pandemic.

Businesses that followed these guidelines during the pandemic had a much greater chance of keeping their customers engaged and reassuring customers that they were still operational. This helped businesses survive the strictest lockdowns, and spring back more quickly once things began to reopen.

If you’re looking for innovative solutions to generate online business on your existing e-commerce website, or you’re considering e-commerce for the first time, we’re here.We offer a free 15 minutes consultation to discuss your needs, so get in touch and we’ll be more than happy to help.