COVID-19 - How To Grow Your eCommerce Business in Australia

There’s no denying that the current pandemic is having an unprecedented economic impact around the world, regardless of how well an individual country such as Australia might be doing in fighting the virus. It’s also quite likely that your eCommerce business is targeting an audience beyond Australia alone, and is therefore just as prone to the ups and downs of foreign economies. When it seems like nobody is spending, and consumer confidence is plummeting, how can you encourage consumers to visit and purchase from your store? Read on for our top tips on how to not only survive, but thrive, in the pandemic economy.

1. Sales Aren’t Everything

With spending rapidly falling, making a sale might seem just about impossible right now, and that’s OK. Of course, limited positive cash flows are unlikely to be helpful for a business, but there are still ways you can grow that are less financially clear. Perhaps individuals aren’t ready to buy, but they might still be willing to engage with your brand, so don’t stop growing your following and building your audience. These are consumers that represent a prime audience to target once the economy gets going again, so don’t just turn everything off and wait out the downturn, if you can avoid it.

2. Pivot, If You Can

While this might not apply to every business, consider what existing capabilities you possess and how you might be able to leverage them to generate revenue in other ways. A business is a living creature, and can adapt in more ways than you might think. Look at the breweries pivoting to hand sanitiser, as just one example of many. It may not be ideal, but there are likely ways you can put your assets, skills and resources to productive use with just a little bit of ingenuity.

3. Take a Step Back and Plan

Times like this are also a perfect opportunity to do that thing you’ve been putting off for the last year because you’ve been too busy. While business quietens down, step back and improve on whatever you can. Work on the product, rewrite your website copy, analyse and optimise your advertising and so on. There’s so much you can do when your day-to-day responsibilities disappear to ensure your business is in a stronger position on the other side of this pandemic than when it started. This will allow you to hit the ground running as demand starts to pick back up as a fresh and re-energised business. Think of it like a spring cleaning, and get dusting!

At the end of the day, thousands of businesses are shutting their doors, and millions are losing their jobs. To merely survive this period as an eCommerce business is an achievement to be proud of. If you’re fortunate enough to be in such a position, do what you can to stay afloat and capitalise on any opportunities that may present themselves. Most importantly, stay safe and look after those around you!