At the start of the pandemic, retailers immediately turned to online solutions and scaled up digital operations to keep sales afloat. Some were left scrambling to build a website or an online store to stay engaged with customers. As states begin to open, it’s possible to eat at your favorite restaurant, go to the salon and try on clothes in a store. As a merchant, it’d be easy to ignore the e-commerce side of your business, but many consumers will limit going out until we’re in the clear. Use this time to fine-tune your digital solutions to connect with shoppers.

Build a website and enable e-commerce capabilities

If you haven’t done so already, build a website. Having an online presence is important to reach your customers and create a branded experience that will generate sales. It’s one of the primary tools to help with marketing and enable online payments. When you’re a merchant, you need a payment management system that allows you to set up online transactions. 

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce and other nonstore sales increased in the last two months. Nonstore retailers were up 30.8 percent from May 2019. Think of this as an opportunity to expand your business.

Simplify digital payment options

When your website is up and running, you may wonder what’s the best way to receive payments. There are plenty of tools and applications available that allow customers to pay sellers or set up invoicing for later payment. When businesses were closed, it’s possible to have experienced some difficulties in taking orders over the phone and using an online point of sale system to process payments. 

With ReliaFund, we simplify and streamline payment processing for ACH, credit card, web and phone payments. Plus, this can be done across any application, including mobile point of sale.

Make checkout easy

Too many steps to get through checkout can be a turnoff for customers. And if you’re a brick and mortar store, make sure your online shopping experience is competitive with other sites. This includes having a responsible website for mobile phones. By next year, it’s predicted that 54 percent of all e-commerce sales will take place through mobile.

Checkout should be easy and simple, with a variety of payment methods and a user-friendly interface to get consumers from start to finish. 

Businesses are adapting to the times we’re living in to keep customers happy and safe. Building or optimizing an online store helps your business bring in a new source of income and address changing consumer needs. Do more for your business and Check out our solutions for merchants.