The wave of Corona Virus – 2019 or Covid-19 has hit the entire world adversely as well as beneficially. Adverse, by slowing down all the processes of the day-to-day life and majorly, businesses. With work-from-home, social distancing, the way people work, and live have completely changed bringing in the benefits. People from all around are now switching their likes or requirements to ecommerce from the traditional techniques. Earlier we stated that the disease slowed down business, and backing that, businesses now are restricted to service in containment zones and are bound to follow some terms and conditions to continue servicing.
Due to this reason, every kind of businesses now focuses on delivering the services that are the most required during these times such as hygiene essentials, daily requirements, medical products, and other miscellaneous essentials. Even the individuals who once never experienced online shopping are now learning as well as using online ecommerce services in order to save themselves from the pandemic. In this blog, we will be discussing the business model that will be sustainable in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic wave.
It was studied that the surge in product demand during this pandemic has significantly risen. However, the disruptions in the supply chains, closure of physical stores, lack of product availability, and so on, have greatly impacted businesses; especially ecommerce business. During the coronavirus pandemic, many ecommerce giants including Amazon have witnessed a significant increase in sales. However, luxury goods and service providers have witnessed a straight decline in their sales.
What are Business Models?
As mentioned above, the Coronavirus has greatly impacted the ecommerce industry. Eventually, it calls for a shift in the way businesses work. Talking about business models, a business model is a framework or business plan to bag higher profits. It focuses on the products or services to be sold, the target audience, and the approximate costs that will be incurred. An ideal business must have a business model in order to ask for investments, recruit the right employees, and boost their already-existing team members. With the changing trends, consumer requirements, and market value, businesses tend to update their business model in order to stay above their competitors. There are four traditional business models, they are:
Business to Business (B2B): It is a type of business wherein one business sells its products or services to the other business. The buyer could be the end-user or can resell the product to consumers. It involves a longer sales cycle as compared to B2C.
Consumer to Consumer (C2C): It is a business model that includes consumer to consumer sales where listing charges or transaction fee is used to earn money. It sees an automotive business growth using interested consumers as well as sellers.
Consumer to Business (C2B): It is a kind of business model businesses to let consumers sell their products to other businesses. Here, the consumers have the power to price the product as per their requirements to stay competitive as well as earn profits.
Business to Consumer (B2C): It is a kind of business model where businesses directly sell to the consumer. It is the most commonly used business model. B2C has smaller sales cycle as compared to B2B.
What is the Suitable Business Model in 2020 Amidst the Covid-19 Wave?
The Covid-19 wave has equally affected all businesses as well as the common man. Let’s see what happens when you choose the above-mentioned traditional business models:
- B2B: If your business follows the B2B business model, you’ll be selling products to other businesses to earn the profit. During this pandemic, the price for almost every product and service is surging and when you sell products to other businesses, they earn their set of profit as well. Due to this reason, people of all kinds incur the losses causing a severe downfall in the demand for products.
- C2C: If your business is following the C2C business model, you’ll need to find consumers who are motivated enough to market your products for you. For this, you might need to provide them with convincing profits and offers.
- C2B: If your business has been using the C2B business model, there will be probably scarcity of the products due to the sudden break in the retail world. If you manage to supply products, the chances of other businesses purchasing from them during this downfall remain doubtful.
- B2C: If businesses are using the B2C model, probably they are doing their best sales amidst COVID-19. With the shutdown of shops and continuous lockdowns, there has been a great demand for supplies. If your business is direct selling to the consumers, you’ll be noticing a constant rise in the number of sales.
With the upright rise in the dearth of essential products, businesses need to focus on keeping their services alive with the necessary alterations and adaptations. During or after the Covid-19 world would be focused more on online services like never before. Majority of the people are now well aware of online shopping and are learning its advantages and convenience. Not only the essential products but all products will be inclined to be purchased online even during the post-COVID times. Choosing the right business model completely depends on your brand and type of business. However, you need to stay alert, revisit your business model, know the current pattern of the supply chain and choose a suitable business plan accordingly. We would suggest the B2C business model; the reasons for which are as follows:
- Consumers will try out every brand that servicing during the crises, you can advantage by offering the best services to the consumers.
- There will be continuously rising brand awareness through word-of-mouth as well as online due to the high-end services you provide.
- Investing in paid advertisements along with this business model will lead you to more sales as people are already spending most of their own time online.
- Direct sales to consumers help in enhancing the brand credibility and instil trust among your consumers.
- The smaller sales cycle help you serve your customers quickly that eventually increases the efficiency of your business and help you grab some loyal customers for a long period.
Things to Consider Amidst Covid-19
Businesses must be proactive and vigilant to the changing business patterns during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as after it. The post-COVID life is predicted to be graver than the 2008 recession. In order to help you sustain your business during this wave, we are providing you with some key things to consider; here they are:
Encourage Online Purchase for your Customers
In order to maintain social distancing and no-contact services along with a smooth business, you need to motivate your customers to purchase online. You can provide them with links to your ecommerce website or online selling apps. Offering discounts over products can further affect their purchase decisions.
Focus on your Existing Consumers
While encouraging new customers to purchase online, you must value your already-existing consumers. You can make them feel valued by offering additional services such as passing over the delivery charges, giveaways, gifts, priority delivery and so on.
Ensure that your Services Meet the Requirements
If your business is not something that sells essential products allowed to be serviced during the lockdowns, you must consider revamping the products you offer in order to meet the demand. Many businesses have started selling essential products online regarding the increase in demand. Make sure that your website, mobile app, as well as the online store, is updated in real-time to let your consumers know about the available products and the ones that are not.
Expand your Business Presence
With the restrictions imposed on businesses from the government and looking after the need of the hour, maintaining social distancing has become critical. Due to the reduced number of workforce in one building, businesses have faced a straight decline in their revenue. You can cope up to this situation by relocating your employees to service in other locations or hiring new employees in various locations. By doing so, you can boost your sales just as you did from one location. However, you must consider that you choose such locations that are in dire need of the products or services you offer to make sure that your sales are increasing even during these hard times.
Protect your Employees and Customers
The Covid-19 pandemic calls for safety like never before. Every individual is looking for their safety to stay away from the infection. During such times, when consumers trust your services, it becomes your duty to ensure their safety along with your employees. One of the ways is to enhance your security measures on your website, marketing ads, and mobile apps. If the government has provided a set of rules to be followed, make sure that all your employees including the delivery personnel’s are following it. Ensure sanitized and safe packaging and make sure that the people who deliver your products or services are taking care to maintain the highest safety measures. After all, the safer your service is, the higher is your business revenue.
