How to Relaunch Your Retail Business After the Coronavirus

Hey, welcome to the boutique hub, the connection point for the global boutique industry. And every tip a boutique owner, a retailer and an e commerce store must know. Hey, guys, if you have made it this far inside of the coronavirus pandemic, I'm just gonna give you a big old virtual high five and a hug because I know it hasn't been easy. We are all in this battle together and we are all on the same team. And so I'm cheering for you guys as you figure out new ways to operate your business, how you continue to grow and find new revenue streams, and as you prepare on how to reopen your business after this coronavirus pandemic. If you are a brick and mortar store girl, I'm talking to you and I want to talk about a strategy of how to reintroduce your brand into the world once this pandemic is behind us. So today I've got six tips on how to bring your business back your brick and mortar after the coronavirus pandemic. Tip number one, safety first. I know that there's going to be CDC guidelines and there's going to be things that each of your states are going to do to have you follow as you reopen your business. And yes, it's important to follow those guidelines, but it's also important to remember that the general public is genuinely spooked. Right? They're fearful if you've been to the grocery store and if you've seen the way that people side eye you and you walk into the grocery store without a mask, you know what I'm talking about. So. So the more you can take precautions to make your customers feel safe and feel welcome in your space, whether it's more videos that you're posting on Facebook about how you've cleaned the space or Lysol at the door, or hand sanitizer at the door, or a free bottle of hand sanitizer and a mask. To everyone who comes to your regrand opening, just make sure you've thought about how to really make your customers feel safe. Not just during your regrand opening, but forever moving forward. Because there is no normal. There's no how it used to be. There is only how it's going to be going forward. So think about how you want that to look inside of your business and take those steps. Now. Tip number two is guys, don't wing it. I know the dates are going to change. I know the dates are going to be different for everybody. But the day that they say and they give you the green light of okay, go Ahead today you can open make sure you aren't just winging that date and choosing that. You're going to open the doors on that date. Pick a specific date, market the date and make it really, really special. Bring in food and music and entertainment. Hire a photographer to celebrate the moments, right? Send out postcards, send out videos, send out Facebook ads, whatever it is you have to do to really make that day special and well thought out. Not just hey, the doors are open. Come and see me and come and shop today. Tip number three is don't forget, don't go back to your old ways. Keep your online sales going. I know that so many of you have adapted during this process and I think that's the most beautiful thing that has come from this entire situation is it's forced you to really recognize how to have an omnichannel business, how to be strong. Not just in your brick and mortar, but also in your online sales. You've learned how to do Facebook lives. You've learned how to build your ecommerce presence. Do not go back to your old habits of just putting all of your eggs in the basket of your brick and mortar. Spend time, schedule time. Do not wear yourself too thin. Spend time really perfecting your e commerce store, going Facebook live more and more often and keeping that second bit of revenue stream alive in your business. If you need to hire additional staff to help you do that, now is the time. Because so many people are looking for work, even if it's just part time. But rearrange your schedule. Make it new. Make it what you want it to be. Don't feel like you have to fall into the old trap of what your revenue streams and what your life was like before this pandemic. Tip number four Rethink your overhead now before you over commit. So dig into those financials guys. Where do you want to be sending where do you want to be spending your funds during this time? Is it on more staff and more overhead? My music in the background? Is it more staff and more overhead and more hours and being open at all hours of the day just to get people into the door? Or is it actually that you only want to be open a few days a week for limited hours and really focus all of your marketing efforts on getting people into the store while it's open? If you have found that you can be profitable online, if you can build this ecommerce business and build an omnichannel brand, don't forget to focus on running lean and building multiple revenue streams so all of your staff all of your payroll, all of your overhead isn't tied into hoping someone walks into your brick and mortar. Tip number five, your staff may have some free time on their hands right now. So what are we going to do to train them? Right? What are we going to do to train our staff? Are we going to spend time training them on how to interact with our customers, on what we really hope they could be doing on a regular basis during the store, to keep traffic going, to increase sales, on how to increase our UPT or our average order value? Take the time now to train your staff. And finally, tip number six, take the time now to generate your leads. When you have your regrand opening in the store, take the time to make sure you're collecting email addresses and text phone numbers and you're getting people to click in your Facebook event and click on your page and click on your Instagram account. Right wherever you're marketing this, because the second someone gives you that information, now they're on your list and the list is the thing that you can own. Whether Facebook shuts down, Instagram shuts down a pandemic, closes down your storefront or something, takes out your website, you still have the opportunity to be in contact with your customers. So get their emails, get their phone numbers, get them into an audience in your Facebook ads when they click inside of your Facebook or Instagram accounts, there's always got to be a way to reach your customers and get busy in case another pandemic hits. Ooh, fear mongering. All right, those are six tips to help you reintroduce your brick and mortar back into the world after this pandemic. And you guys, this pandemic did not happen to you. It happened for you. And it gave you an opportunity to see your life and your business through a completely different lens. And I hope that you have learned from this situation and you've been able to come out of this stronger than when you came into it. Your business will never be the same, and I hope that it is better forever because you learn new ways to grow your business through the situation. Guys, I'm always here for you if you ever have a question again. I'm Ashley. I'm the founder at the Boutique Hub. Our entire team is here rooting for you. See me inside of the Hub. If you are a member inside of our training library and our weekly live training videos, catch our 600 plus wholesale brands inside of the Hub. And I can't wait to see you at the Boutique Summit or any of the events that we host. Have a great day you guys. Thanks for watching guys. Leave a comment below if you loved this video and make sure to subscribe to our channel if you want to connect with us anytime. It's Boutique of Business on the gram or the boutiquehub.com.