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Retail lessons from the financial crisis

by Dani Hoek


Posten on 30 August, 2022


The crisis is unfortunately unavoidable, yet you can prepare well for it and make sure it affects you as little as possible. In this we will discuss lessons so that you will be better prepared against a crisis and you may still be able to grow during a crisis.


Provide more ways to deliver value to your customer

Consumers at this time are less likely to buy products they would normally buy. General customer purchases will stagnate during a period of uncertainty. Because of this, e-commerce retailers need to make sure they find new ways to fulfill a customer's need.

During these types of periods, it is actually useful to provide something extra with your products or ensure that there are special offers on certain products. By ensuring that prices are low, it can lower the consumer's purchase threshold.

The most effective outcome is to focus on the current customer base. According to the quote from Harvard Business Review Study has been told that it takes five times more effort to create new consumers than it does to retain your existing consumers. This is the most important thing to remember during a crisis.


Cost reduction and building a good buffer

During periods when things are going well financially, it can be tempting to expand. But e-commerce businesses should always keep an eye on what is coming in the future. Make sure the steps you take are not too big and ambitious when things are going well. If you do, the steps can be a big financial hit.

Not only during a crisis should cost savings be looked at, but long-term cost savings should always be looked at. Here are a few ways to cut costs:

- Dropshipping

- Reduce error rate returns

- Focus on better service

- Leverage automation


Optimize account

With FiveX you take care of the optimization of your account. With the Business Manager you always have insight into profits. In addition, you get all sales results in one overview. A big advantage of the FiveX tool is that you can link all the sales channels. This brings all sales of the channels together into a clear overview. This allows you to manage the assortment much more which will result in achieving more profit.


Invest only in the products that actually pay off the most

Make sure you do good product research to see how products are actually doing. FiveX's tool makes it easy to track products and see if there is a niche in the market. But what makes products yield the most or sell well. They tend to be products with the most potential. That is:

- Have proven demand in the marketplace

- Have a clear target audience

- Are suitable for online sales

- Not be saturated by other retailers


Narrow the range to the runners-up

A huge assortment with thousands of products does not guarantee great sales results in most cases. 20% of the sales account for 80% of sales. By shifting the focus to those top products, the chances of success are many times higher. Scaling down the products in the assortment is a common trend.


Beginning Omnichannel

Omnichannel retail allows the consumer to make purchases on different channels, they can look online to see where it is in the store and pick it up physically in the store itself at the nearest store. This ensures that there is a better retail experience among consumers themselves and retailers can build a better relationship with their consumers. A good omnichannel strategy has already led to a 33% increase in some cases.


Which categories continue to do well during the crisis

During a crisis you notice that people are more likely to buy products from the "DIY" or "gardening" product groups. They will eventually lead to cost savings and a more economical lifestyle.

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