ELITE BRIDGE
Why you need to be unique to do well right now.
Written by Nicholas Ross on 17th October 2020
For those whose pay relies purely on voluntary exchange – pouring pints for customers, for example – the truth is obvious - it is they who will shoulder the cost of lockdowns. These lockdowns will leave visible scars on the UK economy for years to come. I don’t think the mountain of consequences are even fully in view yet.
I’m in the very fortunate position of being able to work remotely, and without children to look after as yet. For those reading this in the opposite situation, I wish you the best and hope you’re well provisioned for the trying times ahead.
If you're considering going online, or you're online already, you'll be assaulted by a barrage of emails from marketers telling you to try this thing or that thing to get in on the massive spikes in eCommerce right now.
While it's true we're certainly riding some very pointy spikes, Amazon is reporting record growth. This generalist has, of course, been poised for events just like these and is well able to shoulder the operational implications.
It is pretty well pointless to try to dislodge Amazon as a general store. That's a given.
And while people shop online for essentials which are either selling out within hours or else seeing prices jacked up, they're not exactly paying attention to emails trying to persuade them to click over to your site, instead. They're pretty well covered.
Doom and gloom? Not really. This has been the case for years now; it's just more obvious now.
This is why you can't just be another 'source' for a product. You need to offer something superior to that. What makes someone split their shopping between Amazon and your store? What makes someone click your ad or open your email?
You might sell home improvement products. That's good. It's not a massive gap to cross to get a prospect to see how you might help brighten their lives inside their temporary home/prison. Wood flooring has gone bananas.
But what about offering something unique, that adds value, that is priced sensibly, and has a story to tell.
3 stores I am working with that are doing well:
Online artisan cheese- cheese with a story. Market stall turned leading online cheese merchant. Brighten the mood. Good conversation. Family business supporting local producers.
Boutique clothing store- recently gone online. Home of new and up-and-coming fashion from smaller labels. Online consultations offered- personal shopper approach.
Home medical equipment- non virus-like angle- purely about health and wellbeing. Capitalised on 10+ years of searching for great products, then making them better. Trustworthy. Separate from the hundreds of identical Chinese Amazon sellers. Promised rapid, next day delivery
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