How Can Small Business or Entrepreneurs Take Advantage of e-Commerce during Covid-19?

 

How Can Small Business or Entrepreneurs Take Advantage of e-Commerce during Covid-19?

Rising concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak have derailed the economic activities worldwide. Companies are bearing the brunt of supply-chain bottlenecks due to travel restrictions imposed to contain the further spread of the deadly virus. The outbreak has caused people in most cities to stay indoors, resulting in lower store traffic.

Meanwhile, sales at e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) have surged while many Americans remain stuck at home. Not only will more retail chains go out of business but also the sector as we know it will not survive, said billionaire fintech investor Glenn Hutchins in an episode of “Yahoo Finance Presents” on Monday. “Physical retail was in the last stages of its decline, Many of these retailers are going to be toppled over as a consequence of this crisis.”

In today’s market, virtually all large brick-and-mortar retailers also have a strong online presence. For small brick-and-mortar businesses, deciding whether or not to spend the time and effort to expand into online sales is clear. Given that most people tend to search for businesses on the internet, your business should always have an online presence, even if it consists of a Facebook page or simple website containing your address and contact information, as well as a brief description of your product or service offerings.

If you do decide you want to sell your products online you don’t have to go to the trouble and expense of setting up a complete separate e-commerce website. Setting up a Facebook or eBay storefront, or selling through Amazon as a third party can be very expensive. Dollarstore.com is all relatively simple and serve as inexpensive alternative and provide a turnkey solution.

The Major Difference Between Shopify, Amazon and Online DollarStore

The key thing to remember is Shopify is a specialized ecommerce platform and Amazon is an online marketplace. At Amazon, the procedure is complicated, and you have risk of inventory being deemed unsellable or restricted at any point in time. It also requires use of several third-party software tools to be competitive with other sellers through its marketplace alongside other online sellers. It goes without saying, but Amazon’s FBA is not free. You have to pay based on how much inventory they store for you and how long they have to store it, which means you need to have a good understanding of your sales volumes to keep just the right amount of inventory needed to maintain a profit. However, ecommerce stores pay $3192 a year on Shopify at most for virtual ‘rent’.

Dollarstore.com is offering an online shopping platform in USA for fast moving consumable goods (FMCG) to entrepreneurs, a turnkey operation with built in customer service and full marketing support. One of the e-commerce benefits for entrepreneurs is that it has a lower startup cost as low as $995. On the other hand, Physical brick and mortar Dollar Stores have to pay up to thousands of dollars to rent one of their store locations. They also have several upfront costs such as store signs, store design, buying inventory, sales equipment, and more. Physical retail stores also have to pay staff to work and run each location.

DollarStore is also helping Mom and Pop Stores and Physical Brick and Mortar Dollar Stores to have online presence with an online DollarStore and also offering wholesale buying services. This enables these small business owners to compete with Dollar Tree both in Marketing and sourcing.