The pandemic has sped up some trends, and business owners worldwide must now consider consumer behaviour changes. As people express regret about the closure of many dearly loved local businesses, they inevitably move their shopping online, from groceries to furniture to gym classes. They still support their local stores if they can find them online, be it on the web or on their favourite social app. And an increasing share of their search queries come from voice search. David, our Head of Product, has covered these trends in-depth in a recent article.
For most business owners, this is a lot to take in. Strapped for cash, trying to survive and lacking either skills or time to start selling online, they can feel trapped. No wonder: setting everything up themselves can be challenging and stressful, agencies are not always affordable enough, and skipping the online store altogether means missing out on a potentially business-saving revenue stream.
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But just like before the pandemic, small businesses still rely on trusted partners, especially the ones that can lend a hand in these trying times. And herein lies the massive opportunity for our partners to assist their existing and new business customers and earn their loyalty for years to come. They can offer affordable, yet effective e-commerce solutions. If the required first-year investment from the business is around a thousand euro, it will typically take 5 to 10 orders per month for the store to pay for itself (assuming a modest average sale of 20 EUR). From the second year on, they will have to invest even less, which increases their margins and frees up money for other marketing activities.
Governments across the UK and the EU support small businesses in moving online, subsidising their websites and stores. As business owners realise the opportunity and get the support to make this leap, our partners must act swiftly. To do that, they must be comfortable with the competencies and capabilities they have. Scoping, positioning, launching, promoting and fulfilling e-commerce products and services is not easy. Fortunately, our partners can rely on Spotzer to help them in every aspect.
When the sales of our e-commerce solutions increased by over 200% after the pandemic hit, we weren’t caught off-guard. We have helped small businesses sell online for years. We knew that more small companies will recognise the opportunities in time, and we wanted to be ready when it happens. That’s why we kept investing in our tech, infrastructure, experts, service frameworks and platform partnerships. We wish that the circumstances would be different, but we find solace in knowing that we can support small businesses now because of our efforts.
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There is a story that possibly illustrates it best. When one of our German partners got in touch with us about helping small businesses start selling online during the first wave, it took us less than a month to scope, code, launch and begin fulfilling an entry-level e-commerce solution. We were happy to see our partner win an award for it, as it recognised their efforts in helping micro-businesses across Germany when it mattered. At Spotzer, we know that we succeed when our partners succeed – and they succeed when their small business customers succeed. That’s why we are relentless when it comes to perfecting our solutions, from advanced automation and tools to best-in-class support, resulting in industry-leading NPS scores.
Unlike other agencies, Spotzer’s expertise is not limited to fulfilment. Behind each solution, there are many activities that we do together with our partners. Among them:
- Conducting global and local market research
- Advising our partners on their product strategy
- Defining the scope of each solution
- Understanding the positioning
- Training the Sales teams
- Preparing marketing collateral
- Providing regular reports
- Investing in continuous improvement
In a recent series of articles, we described how we help our partners achieve strategic goals, increase their margins and manage risks. Our commitment to being a trusted technology, solution and strategy advisor for digital marketing for small businesses (aka Online Marketing as a Service) is what earned us industry recognition and mentions in respected publications like Forbes and agency platforms such as DesignRush.
Stay safe and let’s conquer digital in 2021 and beyond together.
By Denys Koval Product Manager
