The covid-19 pandemic has significantly shifted many business dynamics; in particular, retail and marketing fields were highly disrupted, forcing brands to reevaluate their strategies and ways that enable business continuity and stability. As a result, marketing is being redefined- what should we take away from the pandemic?
Small and independent stores matter
Covid-19 has changed the way we shop locally. As some of these businesses were among the most affected by the pandemic, and governments introduced new restrictions, it is clear customers have changed their shopping habits.
The “shop local” movement has gotten a massive boost amid the pandemic. The public chose to stay close to home and opted for nearer alternatives to their usual corporate groceries while also helping the economic reactivation of businesses.
Challenges that stores are facing
Small businesses have been facing various difficulties beyond reduced footfall; with the pandemic, retaining on-site employees, those who check and fix store issues have been tougher. That means that visiting retailers across the country is significantly more difficult due to the lack of staff, which directly affects smaller and independent stores which are more dispersed and remote than big retailers.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity of tracking these important locations!
We’ve already established the importance of local stores. Not having the resources available to check them should not be a limitation. SmartSpotter has compiled some strategies that are useful in this situation.
1. Competition
Coopetition is a business-to-business marketing strategy, which means simultaneous cooperation and competition. This method of collaboration includes retailers sharing information on the day-to-day stock position and levels, in-store audits, and other kinds of data collection.
2. The Power of Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is the most cost-effective model for brands and agencies to collect the data they need in the field. With this model, SmartSpotter guarantees a connection between the company and the retailer, avoiding deploying staff to remote locations and saving time, fuel, and money. The platform connects customers with shoppers all over the country. They can collect instant data on a day-to-day basis and complete all tasks so you can maximize turnover.
This data is then sent to the cloud to be scanned and analysed using our AI technology, which reads and categorizes the information. Finally, source the crowd with SmartSpotter so you can get immediate results!
