Is your business ready for the second lockdown?

Is your business lockdown proof?

With the second lockdown looming, it could spell trouble if your business isn't ready to withstand another lockdown. It's imperative that we all look at our businesses and ensure we have measures in place to prevent them succumbing to the crumbling economy, in the event of another lockdown. So I've put this article together to help you with a few tips to ensure that your business is covered from covid.

What we'll be going over:

• Do you have a website?
• If so, is it mobile and tablet friendly?
• Can you take payment online?
• Does it have any barriers to sale?

First off, do you have a website?

The first step in making your website lockdown proof is a website. The first lockdown propelled the online shopping world forward about 5 years and with everyone expecting to find everyone online these days, a website is an absolute must!

Now that people are being more cautious about venturing out and fairs and events have been cancelled, you'll need to ensure that you are accessible and visible online so you aren't missing out on business! Before the initial lockdown, online sales were already more than 50% of all retail transactions in the UK but they're now at 87% of all UK retail transactions.

We've now been in the Antiques website business for 16 years and counting, and would be more than happy to help you lockdown-proof your business with a great looking, functional website. We've got hundreds of happy Art, Vintage and Antique Dealers on our books, why not join the club? Get in touch with me today for a chat to see how I can help you keep your business safe from the curse of Covid.

If so, is it mobile and tablet friendly?

As I mentioned above 87% of all retail transactions in the UK are now online, so making sure your website is mobile and tablet friendly is absolutely essential. There's nothing worse than going onto a website that isn't responsive and you're having to zoom in and scroll side to side, in addition to the buttons being too small to click and it just being a massive headache in general.

Your website not being user friendly can be the difference between someone purchasing from you or giving up and not coming back, when what we are all aiming for, is pleasing our clients and receiving repeated custom.

Your website not being mobile and tablet friendly can also greatly impact your Google rankings in a negative way, which of course is the last thing you want when we're having to resort to business strictly online.

Can you take payment online?

If you do have a website, do you have an online checkout? Again this is something that is becoming essential in this climate. I've mentioned in our blog posts before that in today's world of the 'I want it now' culture, it's crucial to your success that people aren't waiting around and are able to shop around and go elsewhere, because they weren't able to get what they want instantly.

Online purchases and Antiques in particular are emotional and impulsive purchases, so when a visitor to your website wants to buy something from you and there is a barrier to them making the purchase, then they have time to re-evaluate, look elsewhere and then change their mind. Having a checkout on your website removes that barrier to sale and makes the buying process smooth and easy, which in today's convenience culture is essential!

Does your website have any barriers to sale?

I have written about this in depth in another article that you can find on our blog, but essentially I'm asking if there is anything on your website that restricts or makes it difficult for a client to purchase something from you?

To summarise, these types of things can get in the way of a sale on your website:

• No price on the item e.g POA
• Leaving off the cost of delivery
• Not being able to pay online
• Not having high resolution images
• Insufficient information such as leaving off dimensions, condition etc
• No contact information

In short you want to make it as quick and as easy as possible for someone to purchase something from you online. If they come across barriers such as missing information, inability to check out online etc, this gives them time to change their mind and also shop elsewhere.

Conclusion

The silver lining we have going into the second lockdown is knowing what to expect and how to adapt! So make sure you set yourself up for success in these uncertain times by making sure your website is robust and lockdown proof. And if you don't have a website, get in contact with us today, so we can help you flourish during lockdown 2.0.