Here's what to do when your retail website

becomes your primary storefront

In mid-March, when the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic began to
become clear, I talked to more than 40 of our retail customers about their
concerns and asked how Google could help. Weeks later, I’m continuing to
hear from these customers about the challenges they’re facing, especially
with the ongoing closures or restrictions on their physical stores.

Consumers are facing uncertainty too. More than 50% of U.S. shoppers
searched for what is open or closed near them last week. So the pressure is
now on retailers’ new primary stores — their e-commerce sites —  to not
only sell inventory and generate revenue, but also to support, inform, and
reassure customers along the way. It’s a delicate balancing act, but not an
impossible one, and I’ve worked with my team to identify eight strategies that
retailers can apply to provide their customers with relevant, frictionless, and
helpful shopping experiences right now.

1. Prioritize business challenges

Your team is likely being inundated with requests and new ideas. But you
can’t tackle them all at once. Prioritization is key. Evaluate whether there are
aspects of your site’s messaging or design that are hurting the brand or
having a negative impact on customers’ experience. Adjust that first. Then
dig into optimizations that can either improve the experience or improve
performance.

Things to consider include site performance and matching the messaging on

your marketing channels to your site. You may also want to look at ways to
optimize customer support and promotions, as well as ways to manage
volatility in site traffic and transaction volume. Focus on those projects that
will drive the most impact, then define how you will measure their success.

2. Optimize site speed

With ongoing store closures, more and more people are shopping online.
And as online traffic spikes, it’s critical that your retail website can handle
increased volume. These tips will ensure you’re ready.
 
Check your content delivery network (CDN) providers (for example.,
Akamai, Cloudflare, Google Cloud CDN) for settings that can enable
faster requests.
 Many site resources don’t require updates on subsequent visits. Adopt
simple HTTP-caching methods that improve load times for returning
users and reduce server load with minimal code changes.
 Make your site load faster by compressing your images and text,
without compromising visual quality.
 Implement font-display swap so customers can read your site’s text,
even if the primary font doesn’t load fast enough.
 Delete unused tags from your tag managers, clean up bloated CSS
and JS code, and remove other deprecated features.
 Regularly check your site’s speed using tools like Test My
Site and PageSpeed Insights. You’ll find more tips on how to speed up
your website here.

3. Provide a seamless checkout experience

Seventy-six percent of smartphone users are more likely to purchase from

companies whose mobile sites or apps allow them to make purchases
quickly.1Ensure your payment processing system is fast and effortless. Also
identify ways to incorporate personalization enhancements, such as storing
shopping information or recently explored items. In short, your front- and
back-end framework and technology need to deliver the best experience
possible. Work with your tech teams to map the infrastructure and tech stack
that support your site and make sure they interact seamlessly.

4. Leverage technology to alleviate customer support demand

More than 1 in 4 U.S. shoppers say brands could be most helpful to them by
training their customer service teams on how to best handle their needs in
the moment.2 With that in mind, are you giving customers the kind of support
they need in today’s environment? Use your teams and chatbots to clarify
customer service updates, be transparent about expectations, and signpost
handy resources. Enable and check any customer messages on your Google
My Business profile too, so customers get answers quickly and easily.
5. Use prime real estate for critical information alerts

We know that over 50% of U.S. shoppers want to hear how brands and
companies are responding to the crisis. 3 Use your site’s homepage  to share
information about how you’re supporting customers. Remain authentic, avoid
corporate-speak, and ensure your banners and other site notifications are
simple, yet distinct, with calm colors and fonts. Also remember to allow users
to easily “X” close any banners so they can continue navigating.

6. Make your product offerings and promotions relevant

The closure of nonessential stores and continued shelter-in-place orders
have disrupted consumers’ routines and changed their priorities. Is what
you’re featuring on your site relevant to this new normal? Are you promoting
the products that can help your customers most? Nearly 40% of U.S.
shoppers say they can’t find the products they need or want to buy and have
bought brands they wouldn’t normally buy during this time. 4 The new rising
retail categories toolon Think with Google can help businesses keep pace
with rapidly changing consumer needs during COVID-19.
7. Adapt your creative and media campaign strategy

As routines and schedules change to meet the demands of social isolation

and shelter-in-place orders, so are shopping behaviors. Make sure your
brand campaigns and creative assets reflect that.

 Update your content to drive shoppers to your site instead of physical

locations that may be closed.
 Discontinue campaigns in regions where you can’t operate or where
the content may seem insensitive, such as areas where your supply
chain is disrupted or stores are closed.
 Make any brand message or creative relevant and empathetic. Refer
to these 5 guiding principles for media teams .
 Use automated solutions that respond to real-time signals to keep up
with customer demand and optimize within your digital budget.

8. Be consistent across channels

In this turbulent environment, people are struggling to find information they

can trust, and they’re going online to find it. Nearly 60% of U.S. shoppers
searched online for what’s open or closed near them last week. 5 Whether
you’re communicating product availability, shipping times, or brand
messaging, make sure the messages reflect what’s on your site.