Early 2020 brought a chance to prepare for and even capitalize on a significant online sales spike. Pandemic-induced physical, economic and emotional shutdowns all but guaranteed meaningful sales growth, marketing exposure and brand visibility were going to happen only through ecommerce, if they occurred at all.
Threat as Opportunity
Those who recognized the COVID clampdown as opportunity rushed to shore up websites with fresh content creation, copywriting improvements and features that made doing business online brisk sailing that was easier and more efficient.
Those who panicked and tucked into their shells were becalmed with little wind to move forward. They missed the first chance.
Ecommerce Sales Boom
During the first six months of 2020, U.S. retailers saw online sales jump 30% over the same period in 2019, according to digitalcommerce360.com. Online spending accounted for a solid 18.6% of total retail sales during the first two quarters of last year. Farreeh Ali, Charts: How the corona virus is changing e-commerce, digitalcommerce360.com, August 25, 2020; www.digitalcommerce360.com/2020/08/25/ecommerce-during-coronavirus-pandemic-in-charts/.
Those positioned to ride the online surge with a strong customer- and user-friendly web presence not only survived the downturn but in some cases made a real go of it.
The Next Window of Opportunity
Businesses that misread the tea leaves and didn’t optimize their websites before the storm may be languishing, but there’s a new wind on the horizon. Another opportunity is coming. You might want to start climbing the rigging and trimming the sails.
In “An Overview of the Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031”, the Congressional Budget Office said the economic expansion uptick that started during the middle of last year will continue.
More importantly, the CBO said Real GDP (gross domestic product) will return to prepandemic levels by the middle of this year. Increased vaccine production and distribution leading to reduced social distancing is cited as a major contributing factor to the economic upswing, the report states.
As encouraging, unemployment will drop over the next four years, with unemployment/employment levels returning to prepandemic numbers by 2024, the report states.
Online Buying is Here to Stay
Brick and mortar reopenings and rebounds will account for most of the rising tide, but there’s also little indication pandemic-imposed trends toward increased online shopping will go away anytime soon. Online business volume is not going to shrink simply because shop doors swing back open.
Those already heavily involved with online commerce have become more immersed, and the sector has seen previously reluctant demographics (think, Baby boomers) buy in and accept the platform for what it can do (and, equally important, what it allows them to avoid.)
Overall, business across the board will build momentum and generate more revenue to be spent on pent-up demand.
Jump-start Content Creation Now
Now is the time to get ahead of the curve and get your website healthy before the dam breaks open.
In addition to checking under your site’s hood – security, on-site SEO, mobile compatibility – look critically at your content. How does it read? Does it say what you need and want it to say? Are your calls to action specific and effective? Are you informing visitors and providing the information they need at the top of the sales funnel? Are you generating leads with quality gated content?
More importantly, does your content create a compelling story to attract and retain those looking for what you have? It’s not hard to show customers you’re a thought leader, it just takes time.
If you haven’t critiqued you web copy recently, or if it hasn’t been updated since the site was launched, it’s time. Now before another opportunity is lost.
We Can Create Content While You Do Business
C3 can help. We can audit your site to determine where content is lacking or nonexistent. We can create content that is fresh and relevant so you can do what you do best, selling and serving your customers.
Contact us today, before the window closes again.
C3 Content and Copy Creation 