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The health alert decreed considering the spread of Covid-19 directly affects the Retail sector in several ways. The vast majority of local businesses have been forced to close, SME owners are forced to make layoffs because sales have fallen, potential buyers no longer go past our stores and retreat to their homes, demonstrating great civic conscience. But that does not mean the end of our activity, but rather it allows us to explore new digital tools allowing us to maintain our social media presence, even with the closure of our business.

Importance of social media presence considering the closure of your trade

Covid-19 has serious repercussions on the Retail sector. Shops close and life in the neighbourhood stops. Are you sure? More than ever, it is important to know how to work your social media presence and manage it correctly to stay present in your customers’ lives. From CapKelenn we encourage you to use certain digital tools to restore “the smile of a bakery”.

At CapKelenn, we understand the difficulty of this situation and we encourage you to reverse it in a positive way thanks to your online business presence. A new scenario has opened up for you, your customers, your employees and yourself to interact in an alternative and original way. If the Retail professionals are characterized by something, it is by adapting to circumstances, often unfavourable, so that the spirit of your business does not drop. Retail is detail, and as such, all the small actions contain great solidarity which will make your store a meeting place even in difficult times.

If face-to-face interaction is not possible, online interaction becomes essential and social media presence is mandatory in Retail. Enterprise social networks and the Web provide you with a multitude of digital tools that can make the difference at a time when the Covid-19 forces your customers to be at home.

Here are some ideas to demonstrate why having a social media presence is essential right now.

Some ideas for working on your company’s social media presence

The digital tools are numerous; but contrary to what many people think, the important thing is not the quantity, but the quality and the good management of our presence, to guarantee a good relationship with our customers:

Presence on Instagram

Instagram has become one of the most widely used apps on a personal level, but it can also be understood as an enterprise social network. The special feature of Instagram is the use of photographs. Why don’t you ask your followers to post a photo in which they use a product they bought in your store and say what they think? If they use a hashtag proposed by you, your store will have great visibility and you will encourage the community to interact. At the end of the week, you can post a collage of photos of the most successful customers.

Moreover, in “your story” section, you can suggest a vote for users to decide which of the 3 or 4 products you offer deserves a discount. The most voted product will have a discount that you envisage for several weeks. In this way, you appreciate the preferences of your customers and you will have a more approximate idea of ​​how to channel the line of your products.

Presence on Facebook and Skype

Coordination between different digital tools can be a great source of ideas and resources. Skype helps you connect more closely with your customers and Facebook lets you create events. In this regard, we suggest that you create several events on Facebook that your employees will later animate via Skype. Each event will deal with a theme related to your activity sector.

We have some suggestions for working your online presence based on the type of business you run:

Social media presence for clothing stores

If you have a clothing store, one of the events will focus on luxury clothing, another on new trends and another on baby clothing.

Social media presence for cafes

If you have a cafeteria, one of the events will deal with different techniques for preparing coffee with different utensils, another on the rituals of tea in Japan, another on homemade products such as jam, beer or pastries.

Social media presence for restaurants

If your business is a restaurant, one of the events will teach your customers cooking techniques, another on wine pairings and another on vegetarian recipes. Some restaurants have started showing their customers through social media how to prepare some of their favorite dishes. Click here to see a very illustrative example.

Social media presence for cosmetic stores

If you have a cosmetics store, one of the events will be devoted to natural cosmetics and creams, another to make-up tips and another to aromatherapy.

In this way, you will encourage your customers to register for one of these Facebook events, which will then be organized by your employees on the day and at the time agreed via Skype. They are understood as webinars in which employees conduct sessions, but interaction between participants is allowed. The goal is not just to entertain and encourage your customers. You can also take advantage of these experiences to know them better and discover their fields of interest. One of the sales techniques that we promote in Retail Coaching is to establish a relationship with the customer to co-create a new reality in which he and you “dance in unison”.

Presence on Twitter

Launch an initiative on Twitter so that your followers can ask you questions about the company. For example, what materials do you use in your products, what is the history of your store, what was the product you liked the most in the previous campaign, etc.

The limitation of characters on Twitter requires you to send short messages, but not without impact. Contrary to the previous point, we encourage you to ask questions that arouse your followers’ interest and invite them to consult hyperlinks related to your business. If a famous person bought something in your store, you could post a tweet like, “Did you know that this singer bought our X hat model? ‘Hyperlink to an external news’ “. Another example could be: “For the summer campaign, we have 2 possible candidates for a new product. Which do you like the most? ‘Hyperlink to both models’ “. Depending on your business, the options vary, but in any case, the possibilities are endless.

In summary, we have shown you why having a social media presence is important in the current situation. As you can see, digital tools are at our disposal to deal with the Covid-19 crisis and ensure our online business presence. These are some of the many ideas that you can apply depending on your store. In any case, the goal is to keep your customers active. Not so much in the form of sales, but that they feel that your company is accompanying them in these difficult times. You will transmit values ​​of proximity and solidarity and you will build a network of people loyal to your vision of the company.

CapKelenn in luxury retail

CapKelenn is the primary certification in Retail Coaching worldwide, certifying managers in Retail to really become coaches for their sales teams, facilitating the transition towards a supreme clienteling savoir-faire. CapKelenn delivers the certification in 12 languages on all the 5 continents. CapKelenn accelerates change, thanks to people, with results that are fast, visible and sustainable, contributing to fertilize a client experience that is memorable and personalized.