In this session, we’ll talk about the decisions business face when deciding whether to stay afloat or wind down, and where they can get help to decide what’s best for them.
Small businesses slammed by closure during the Covid-19 crisis are being offered a digital lifeline.
Web design business Zeald is offering to build full-functioning e-commerce websites for up to 500 businesses – for free.
For the owners of Robyn's Cottage, a small wool and haberdashery shop in Greerton, it wasexactly what they needed.
On March 25, Robyn and Rex Parker closed the doors of their much-loved business due to the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown, with no idea when or if they would open again.
"It was like, s***, where to from here?" Robyn said.
While Robyn's Cottage might be closed from the outside, business can continue from the inside. Photo / Supplied
With help from Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, the couple soon got in contact with Zeald, which offers webinars on e-commerce. Within a few days, they couple were in the progress of establishing their own website.
"We're only a little business so an opportunity like this is a lifeline," Robyn said.
"We have found what we can control in this time of uncertainty, and doing the website is that. It has given us the power to keep going."
Robyn admitted computers did not come easy to her but Zeald made her view the experience as a learning curve. It was her partner Rex who first recognised e-commerce was the direction they needed to head.
"E-commerce is going to be the way of the future, and we have some developments we had planned to launch in April this year, but now with our website, we are still able to launch that development," Rex said.
"It certainly is the bright side of Covid-19. We can now look at the future with the glass half full rather than the glass half empty."
Robyn and Rex Parker are now excited for the possibilities the future may hold with their new and free e-commerce website. Photo / Supplied
Zeald Bay of Plenty agency general manager Jarra Borman believed "small to medium-sized businesses simply wouldn't survive unless they rapidly evolve the way they do business".
Subject to lockdown restrictions, Borman said companies rapidly putting up one of Zeald's e-commerce websites would be able to quickly offer products for sale online and doing so would ensure it's future.
"The Covid-19 emergency has seen a quick shift by thousands of New Zealanders to online purchasing. Some e-commerce sellers have been overwhelmed and had to prioritise customers."
However, It was no easy feat to offer the service, and the organisation launched a $1.75m Get E-commerce Movement (GEM) fund to get it off the ground, Borman said.
The organisation, which has been operating for 20 years, quickly retooled its key products and production systems, giving it the capability for rapid deployment of large volumes of e-commerce websites.
"A free website means no setup fees, no monthly hosting costs for 12 months, but we will charge a 2 per cent transaction success fee to help recoup costs," Borman said.
"At the conclusion of the 12-month period, standard monthly charges will apply," he said.
The free websites will be initially limited to a specific set of industries, but Zeald was continuing to rework software and systems to add to this over time.
Can my retail store open at level 3?
Yes and no - you can't physically open your shopfront to customers unless you're a supermarket, dairy or petrol station. Any type of retail goods can be sold at level 3 but the process can't be face to face; it has to be by phone or online.
Delivery or collection must be contactless. That means customers could collect goods from the premises through a drive-through or using a click-and-collect system.
Does anything change for supermarkets, dairies and petrol stations?
Good news for coffee addicts - dairies and petrol stations can start selling food or drink that's been prepared or cooked on-site, such as coffees, milkshakes or sandwiches made to order. Customers can't eat the food before leaving the store.
Supermarkets can remain open at all alert levels but may still be subject to rules like capacity limits. The one-in, one-out rule remains for dairies.
