Mark Simpson recommends WooCommerce for small hospitality businesses to sell products online cheaply. Set up subscriptions like big hotel chains do, sell existing inventory through your site or Facebook groups, and build income streams before you reopen.
Chapters
So I use WooCommerce. So WooCommerce is a plugin that you add onto your website. I've been using this for well over a year. And what I love about this service is that it's low cost, it is a cost to get set up, but it just makes life so much easier, simple. Some of the big chains in the world of hospitality are starting to create subscription services, member services, Hilton, I know Marriott are doing it as well. Now, just because the big chains are doing this doesn't mean that us smaller independents can as well. If you are fortunate enough to have a very good social media account, a social media page, an email following, you've got regular guests who know, like and love you, then try and think of maybe a monthly subscription service that you could create that somebody would pay to, to be part of right now. If you are on lockdown right now, if you can't open and if you can't take guests for whatever reason, and if you want to make full use of your time, then on your WordPress website right now, you've got the ability to go and sign up to WooCommerce. You can either upload something that you can easily sell. So if you've already got, say, a farm shop, but you haven't been able to get the things online, you can add the options to upload it online, or you can start to network in your local area, start asking around on Facebook groups. The cool thing about all of this is that when lockdowns do end and when you can reopen and when you can take on guests, is that all of this is being created, all of this has been set up so you've generated for yourself an extra income.