When Should Large Stores Move Online?

When Should Large Stores Move Online?

It is becoming clear that business cannot simply wait out the coronavirus. The faster companies move 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. The hardest hit are those who produced a lot and mainly for business, and relied on face-to-face sales. Merce.com suggests where they should start.

Although there are already over 30,000 online stores operating in Poland and until now their number had been growing at a rate of over ten percent annually, this growth mainly concerned small businesses and larger retailers. Distributors, manufacturers and wholesalers, the key links in trade, rely to a large extent on sales networks. They contact them mostly through sales representatives, who are constantly on the move and on the phone.

Now, due to forced isolation, small businesses are moving to marketplace platforms in a single day and setting up shops on ready-made templates within days. For larger players, launching online sales is the only way out, but also a difficult task. However, there are ways to shorten the digital transformation time.

- Our experience shows that implementing online sales systems usually drags on due to the temptation to build a visually stunning website. Meanwhile, especially now, they should be guided by the idea 'done is better than perfect'. In recent days on TV programs, it has stopped mattering whether the 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, the key question is whether the new system actually works and sells. Product photos in 360 degrees can be added later, and now it is important to get back in the game as quickly as possible - says Bartosz Górecki, Brand Manager at merce.com.

B2B Trade and Digitalization

B2B trade has resisted digitalization 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 stores ceased to be mail-order catalogs suspended on the web two decades ago. Online sales today is a collection of thousands of synchronized connections and dependencies. From the moment a customer adds products to the cart to shipping the 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, but 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 devoting time to adapt to a new work rhythm. It is worth starting this already at the stage of building a new sales system, as obtaining feedback from employees can result in building a better system - says Bartosz Górecki.

Online Sales Like Card Terminals

Online Sales Like Card Terminals

At the end of March, the offer of the store Media Markt appeared on the Allegro platform, 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 network of branches covering the entire country, it does not seem likely that new online distribution channels could instantly compensate for the drop in profits at traditional points of sale. However, their launch notifies customers and partners that the company has taken up the fight against the new crisis.

- Having an online sales system becomes 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 started 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 a similar signal to the market can emerge from the current crisis unscathed - notes Bartosz Górecki from merce.com.

Summary

The article discusses the urgent need for digital transformation of large trading companies, for which the pandemic has forced the transfer of sales to the internet. Expert Bartosz Górecki from Merce.com advises focusing on fast, working implementations instead of visually perfect ones, and integrating the work of online and offline teams. Launching an online sales channel sends a signal to the market that the company is operating.

The examples of Media Markt and Biedronka show that even retail giants are looking for new ways to reach customers in a crisis. However, the key point is that an online sales system becomes a guarantee of business continuity for contractors — just as card payment terminals once built trust in a place.