Closed stores extend the covid crisis for local retailers

Overcoming the COVID Crisis in Local Retail

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The COVID Crisis just won’t go away. As the weather gets colder around the United States, the number of cases continue to climb. There’s great news on the horizon as vaccines are going through FDA approval, but there remains a shadow over everyone as we move into the holiday season.

For retailers, this is typically the quarter that does it all for them – holiday peak! The challenge this year is that just as the holiday spirit is opening up, states are once again closing down. Just today, California announced new restrictions throughout the state which is going to limit the ability and confidence of local retailers to make up for a horrible year of slow to no sales due to COVID.

There’s an alternate story happening in the E-Commerce industry. Since the start of quarantines, E-Commerce stores have seen holiday peak sales to a level that has depleted their inventory at times. According to Statista.com, more than “52% of U.S. adults shopped online in May, 2020“.


Change in E-Commerce purchases during covid-19 coronavirus

For local retailers without an E-Commerce presence, this has been frustrating. Now, it’s a crisis. Statista.com also sites that in February of 2020, 53% of Internet users didn’t shop in physical stores because of COVID-19. That’s a month before the U.S. and most other countries began to shut down. What’s happening now from a numbers standpoint as well as new restrictions is terrifying to think about for local retail merchants

To open a full-fledged E-Commerce store is a process that can take time and planning. It has to be done, but not all retailers are mentally and financially prepared for that undertaking.

There best option for many of them is to focus on developing a Micro E-Commerce store. One that is nimble enough to sell maybe 1-3 products. Something local retailers can send to their customers for some additional sales. Communities want to support their favorite local retailers, but without an E-Commerce model, it’s more difficult.

Azola Creative is hosting a series of webinars in late November and early December to teach retailers how they can get a micro-store open in as little as a day. If you know someone who could benefit from that, please ask them to register at Webinar.AzolaCreative.com.