E-commerce can boost your turnover in times of the Corona crisis; check these examples in other countries!

Even though these uncertain times with the Covid-19 virus are causing people to be more cautious in spending money there are cases of e-commerce performing exceptionally well. First of all, e-commerce enables the buyer to stay at home and so avoid contact with people in the stores so obviously there is the feeling of less risk. A nice example is seen here from Box24 in Thailand. E-commerce are all using specific delivery protocols, avoiding customer contact. Overall, renowned research organizations like TNO predict an increase in E-commerce and this message seems to be verified by transport companies like PostNL (largest parcel company in Benelux) which reports a vast increase in the online orders, even warning for a delay in delivery timing.

 

Buying behavior

Buying behavior is known (for some people) to manage their emotional status: buying gives them a feeling of control and that feels good. This explains the extreme increase in turnover at grocery stores, people buying much more than usual while there is really enough stock available. People are forced to stay at home and as business is slowing down there is more time to make note of things people are usually too busy for, for instance in their homes. This is clearly proven by the busy timings at hardware stores, people use the extra ‘free time’ during the Corona crisis to work on their homes, etc. So secondly people are buying (online and offline) furnishing, games, books, training & courses, a good bottle of wine, etc. Here is an opportunity for textile cleaning as well. The idea of a spring-cleaning campaign, focused on curtains, bedding, jackets & coats, shoes, etc. might do particularly well with all this attention to hygiene.

 

Cases on E-commerce & PTC

While in general the professional textile care industry is experiencing a large drop in turnover there are some companies in the laundry on demand space that experience a vast increase. Rick Rome, CEO of Wash Club NYC (laundry on demand service in New York) and WashClubTrak (the platform his business runs on which is also offered to other licensees) states: ‘My pick-up and delivery is going through the roof right now with 5x normal turnover. At the same time my commercial business went to zero as they are closed’.

Some companies like Fantastic Services in the UK even go a step further. Laundry is just one of their services, they also do cleaning at home, pest control, gardening, waste removal, repairs, storage, etc. In these times of Corona they’ve established a Specialist Antiviral Sanitisation across the UK that is killing 99.99% of bacteria and viruses (according to their campaign).