Our expert Angus in the video: The three biggest problems for online retailers during the Corona crisis

The Three Biggest Problems During the Corona Crisis

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The three biggest problems are:

1. Instant short-term decline in revenue
2. Increase in customer service requests
3. Pausing digital growth projects

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Watch the video for more information on this and learn how online retailers can solve these problems.

We're here to help online retailers in these uncertain times. Find out how parcelLab can support your business here and contact us.

More Insights from the Video

We are currently living through a time of uncertainty in commerce and also in our lives. For online retailers, this means they are in a very uncertain and fast-moving phase. Making plans for the future is now almost impossible. But can online retail weather this storm? The experience of the more than 450 brands that we currently count among our customers shows us that there are three critical problems for all these online retailers that need to be solved as quickly as possible:

The first problem

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The first problem that most retailers are currently experiencing is an immediate short-term drop in revenue. Customers are no longer able to shop. Many of them have found that their behavior has changed almost overnight and people have become very cautious with their disposable income in this state. Therefore, it is important to continue to drive sales despite the uncertainty of customers. This starts by explaining to your customers simply but clearly that your store is open to them. Possibly by contacting your current customer base or using your social networks. Many customers who would have gone to your store will need to be redirected to your online store instead. But in either case, your message needs to be clear: We want to keep you as a customer and our store is still open for you!

The second problem

The second problem merchants experience is a huge increase in shipping-related customer service inquiries - at a time when it is very difficult to handle this flood of phone calls and emails. It's imperative to be proactive when this happens. Customers need clear, personal and reliable communication. This means that during the shipping process, any delivery delays or other issues must be communicated immediately. If something went wrong with the order, be quick and proactive in reaching out to the customer before it becomes an issue and they contact customer service. Even if shipping goes smoothly, the customer needs to be kept informed of the status of their shipment at all times. If you put the customer at the center of this communication, you will massively reduce shipping-related inquiries in customer service.

The third problem

Many retailers are now freezing projects designed to drive digital growth or putting them on hold altogether. The paradox is that by pausing these critically important projects, the transition to sustainable online revenue is slowed, which will also hurt the business in the long run. Therefore, despite today's uncertainty, it is important to continue investing in growth and digital infrastructure. With the right partner, such projects are also promising in the long term. One thing is clear, however: retailers must give their partners the benefit of the doubt and continue to invest during today's uncertainty in order to secure growth in the weeks and months ahead.