The COVID challenges have hit local businesses in many unexpected ways, but it is not all bad news. Many Huron County businesses are reporting huge sales growth, and are hoping the trend continues.
The source of growth comes from enhanced consumer appreciation of their home spaces. Spending more time at home means those home improvement projects that were put off in past, are now getting the attention they need. If you are a supplier in the home improvement business, these are good times. Paint, home decor items, sheds, landscape scrubs and trees, even comfort foods are all flying off the shelves.
This trend is now a tidal wave which is further enhanced if your local business has a modern, functional and visible website to help make consumer product research convenient. Most consumer buying decisions are now made after some on-line product research. If your website supplies enough product information that is easily found on your web page, chances are this will prompt an on-line inquiry. This is the "sweet spot" in today's COVID economy, to be local and accessible.
The second element of success is ease in receiving the product. Businesses that provide efficient product delivery services, either with home delivery or easy curbside pickup are doing very well. As an illustration, here is a story of a business startup success which had both of these elements at work.
The business is outside Huron County in an adjacent community which opened its doors in November, 3 months before COVID 19 became an issue. The business was doughnut production and sales. Particular attention was paid to invest in an on-line presence and product branding.
When COVID 19 hit Ontario, like so many other businesses, they laid off staff and shut their doors. Then something interesting happened. Their website traffic jumped, and customers were asking for boxes of doughnuts for pickup from their only location. Once they started taking online orders, they called back their staff, and soon they were sold out of their daily doughnut production by 9:30 am! They now had to hire more staff and find ways of producing more product without compromising quality. Within three weeks this problem was solved, so they began to address another problem that arose. People wanted product delivered to their homes. So the business began hiring delivery drivers. Business expanded again. Gross doughnut sales during the COVID lock down expanded 300 percent! As a final twist, the company has now taken advantage of the Ontario Government's regulatory change which now allows home delivery of alcoholic beverages. This adds further value to the home delivery infrastructure.
The question now on the minds of businesses who were fortunate enough to expand in the COVID economy is "will this last"? Only time will tell. However one thing we do know for sure - a good website is now an essential tool to maintain and grow you business in 2020.
If you would like to have your website upgraded, improved or made more visible on-line, please contact RBN Web Services, located in the "heart of Huron County"
