When Should Shops Move Online?

When should large shops move online? As soon as possible!

It is becoming clear that businesses cannot simply wait out the coronavirus. The sooner companies move their sales online, the easier it will be for them to get back on their feet, especially since the post-pandemic world will be more online. Those who produced a lot and mainly for business, relying on face-to-face sales, have it hardest. Merce.com offers advice on where they should start.

Where to begin the transformation?

Although there are already more than 30,000 online shops in Poland and their number has been growing at a rate of over ten percent per year, this growth has mostly concerned small businesses and larger retailers. Distributors, manufacturers, and wholesalers — the key links in trade — rely largely on sales networks. They usually contact them through sales representatives who are constantly on the move and on the phone.

Now, due to forced isolation, small businesses are moving to marketplace services overnight and setting up shops on ready-made templates within days. For larger players, launching online sales is the only way out, but also no easy task. There are, however, ways to shorten the time of digital transformation.

- Our experience shows that implementations of online sales systems usually drag on because of the temptation to build a visually dazzling website. Meanwhile, especially now, the idea of "done is better than perfect" should guide them. In recent days on television programmes, it has stopped mattering whether an expert connecting from home to the studio has an elegant suit and makeup. The most important thing is that they can be heard well. Similarly, for customers, what is crucial is whether the new system actually works and sells. Product photos in 360 degrees can be added later, and right now it is important to get back in the game as quickly as possible - says Bartosz Górecki, Brand Manager at merce.com.

Logistics and people

The specifics of B2B trade

B2B trade has resisted digitalisation for so long mainly because it is more complex and complicated than retail sales. Distribution is harder to automate when suppliers have hundreds of different products in various types and different price lists for different customers.

Meanwhile, online shops stopped being mail-order catalogues suspended on the web two decades ago. Online sales today is a set of thousands of synchronised connections and dependencies. From the moment a customer adds products to the basket to the shipment of goods, a complex process based on the specific company's business logic takes place in the background.

- Equally important as building the right technological processes for products is integrating the work of teams operating online and offline. It is a common myth that "robots will take people's jobs." Employees are still very much needed by trading companies; only their role must change from carrying the burden of distribution on their own shoulders to supporting the online sales system. This requires conducting a series of training sessions for all staff and dedicating time to adjusting to a new work rhythm. It is worth starting this already at the stage of building the new sales system, as obtaining feedback from employees can result in building a better system - says Bartosz Górecki.

Online sales like card terminals

At the end of March, the offer of the Media Markt shop appeared on the Allegro service, and a week later the Biedronka chain announced that its products could be bought through the Glovo app. In the case of large retailers who based their operating model on a nationwide network of branches, it does not seem likely that new online distribution channels could instantly compensate for the decline in profits at traditional points of sale. However, launching them notifies customers and partners that the company has taken up the fight against the new crisis.

- Having an online sales system is becoming a guarantee for large companies that their business processes have not been frozen. It was similar a few years ago when at some point we instinctively began to take places where you can pay by card more seriously. Contractors do not have to wonder how their supplier is coping now. It is enough for them to know that it has an efficient online sales system. Businesses that will be able to send the market a similar signal may come out of the current crisis unscathed - notes Bartosz Górecki from merce.com.

Summary

The article analyses why large trading companies should move their sales online as quickly as possible. It points to logistical challenges and the need to integrate online and offline teams. An expert from Merce.com emphasises that the key is the rapid implementation of a working system, even at the expense of visual perfection.

An interesting point is the comparison of the current situation to the moment when payment terminals became widespread — having an online shop is meant to be a signal to the market that the company is operating. The authors note that the largest chains, such as Media Markt and Biedronka, are already testing such channels, which may help them survive the crisis.