Did you know that Corona brewer has lost $170 million in profit due to the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic?
AB InBev reports that in the two months of 2020, the company recorded a huge decline in sales.
Other giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Nike face the same problem.
Coronavirus effects show itself in the loss of revenues in both online and offline businesses.
How?
Coronavirus outbreak hurts the online and offline businesses that have warehouses and factories in China.
For instance, 15% of Apple revenues come from China. The company is highly dependent on both Chinese factories and consumers. The company says that since the factories reopen more slowly than expected, supply is low.
The demand is also down; the stores are under quarantine: 42 of Apple stores are closed in the country. The company says that working is restarted in the country, but to return to the normal condition takes time.
Besides, people have become more hesitant to buy online. They are skeptical about if the virus can spread via imported goods and packages. This means there is a huge sales drop in online businesses.
If your product suppliers are located in China, you should know that most of the cities are under quarantine; and manufacturing facilities, logistics, customs, postal services, and more are shut.
We should sit back and think about the solutions to the problems the virus caused.
What should you do in this period to sustain and retain your sales volume and customers?
In this article, I am giving strategies on how to act in the coronavirus outbreak.
What problems may you face?
If you are a dropshipper from AliExpress, or other China-based wholesale platforms, then you know that there will certainly be a delay in the shipment processes.
Chinese New Year causes delays already. Plus, the Chinese government extended the holiday to 18 February; there will be additional delays.
For this reason, you will get a lot of complaints and refund requests.
What can you do?
Contact Your Warehouses
Ask your agent about the warehouses and suppliers about the schedule and check if the government approves them to resume working. If it’s not allowed, then the manufacturer may be shut at any time.
Also, it would be better to get information about how many packages the warehouse can handle each day. So, you will know if it’s a good idea to run ads or not.
Plus, contact your suppliers about the delay.
After getting enough information about shipping processes, you need to contact your customers as well.
If you do not want your customers to wait for so long, you can try to find other suppliers that have warehouses in the US or Europe.
Notify your customers
It has always been proven right, to be honest with your customers about your business.
Inform the customers about the delays.
It would be great if you send an email to the customers stating that there will be a delay.
Don’t forget to thank them for showing patience and understanding at the end of the messages.
You can also take into consideration to offer them gift cards or discounts for the unintended delays.
Don’t run any ads
There’s a delay in logistics. It wouldn’t be wise to run ad campaigns, get customers to purchase your products, and make them wait so long. This would damage your brand reputation, and of course, you will get negative trust pilot reviews.
For this tough period, you need to prevent getting a large number of sales. Don’t forget that it is better to sell less rather than to lose customers.
Good News about Wuhan Coronavirus
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus cannot be transmitted via packages.
Thus, if your customers know that your products come from China, it would be wise to send them emails to end their worries and skepticism.
Wrap Up
We are in a hard but hopefully temporary period. In this period, we need to be patient until the Coronavirus epitome ends in the upcoming weeks.
With the right strategy applied in the outbreak period, you will retain your customers and sales in your dropshipping – eCommerce businesses.
