E-commerce Contingency Plan is a document that aims to design actions aimed at minimizing losses and taking advantage of opportunities in times of emergency in e-commerce companies like yours. It is essential for scenarios such as the Covid-19 crisis we are currently experiencing.
Covid-19 is a severe respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in humans. For the time being there are no vaccines or specific drugs for its prevention or treatment.
This virus has been spreading and claiming victims all over the world . To reduce contagion, long periods of quarantine have been decreed by governments in multiple countries. This, in turn, has isolated people in their homes and impacted commerce and the economy.
But, anyway, how can a Contingency Plan be useful in this situation? This is what we will study next. Follow up!
Access and read the post " Impacts of Covid-19 on e-commerce " as well. This way, you'll learn how Brazilian e-commerce has been functioning amidst social isolation.
USEFULNESS OF AN E-COMMERCE CONTINGENCY PLAN
Basically, an E-commerce Contingency Plan can be useful for:
- Establish short, medium and long-term actions for the areas of Management, Marketing, Sales, Service, Logistics, Back Office and Front Office, etc., of your e-commerce in crisis scenarios such as the Covid-19 crisis;
- Guide employees and consumers about what should be done in the new scenario. Inform, above all, how they can maintain themselves with health and safety in unusual and/or adverse situations;
- Predict the losses that may occur during the new economic scenario and also in the post crisis. In view of this, establish actions aimed at reducing losses. In addition, recognize and explore opportunities in the panorama that presents itself.
Now that you know some uses of a Contingency Plan, keep reading and learn how to create one too!
As soon as you can, click on “ Parque das Aves launches online store ” and discover an e-commerce platform developed from a Contingency Plan.
STEP BY STEP TO PLAN
To create a Contingency Plan for your e-commerce company, you can use a spreadsheet or a simple document in your preferred word processor. If you are working with a remote team, then use a cloud-based work platform such as Sabesim, Workplace, or Trello, etc. Describe the scenarios and procedures you intend to implement. For example:
- First, define a work team;
- Identify risks and opportunities in all areas for the short, medium and long term;
- Demonstrate how much and how risks can generate losses in these periods;
- Then analyze how much and how the opportunities can generate gains;
- Clarify how you will help maintain the health and safety of your employees and consumers during the crisis period;
- Define which are the priorities of actions to be carried out regarding risks and opportunities;
- Establish short, medium and long-term goals for each priority;
- Define who will perform each action and in what period of time;
- Approve the plan together with your partners (make optimizations beforehand if necessary);
- Disclose the Contingency Plan;
- Put the plan into practice;
- Review and optimize actions as needed.
Finally, keep at least one copy of this document on your computer in case you need to do something similar in future occurrences.
E-COMMERCE AND THE COVID-19 CRISIS
After the first weeks of quarantine and social isolation in Brazil, it is already possible to see some changes in behavior in national e-commerce. Indeed, these changes must be taken into account in the Contingency Plan.
According to research by EbitNielsen , ABComm , and NZN Intelligence (click on the links to see more statistics), the number of new consumers in supermarket e-commerce rose 96% during the quarantine. In online retail in general, orders grew 30,5% and revenue increased 28%. Furthermore, 71% of Brazilians intend to increase their online shopping volume in the coming days.
As you can see, the demand for online shopping is expanding, which is an opportunity. However, it is possible to perceive some risks such as overloads in logistics, deliveries, service and other areas.
There's also the issue of working from home , which at first might seem like a bad idea, since it's difficult to coordinate employees' actions remotely. In the long run, however, after a period of training and adaptation, many entrepreneurs like you will think, "Wow, how come I didn't think of the advantages of teleworking before?"
All this, in short, must be included in your Contingency Plan. Minimize risks, find gaps for growth, solve problems, create new habits, adapt, because there is no longer any way to return to the world we knew before Covid-19.
Also access and read the post " How to sell online during quarantine ". This way, you'll get tips for working in e-commerce from your home during epidemics and pandemics.
