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The COVID-19 pandemic is a time of global uncertainty. Uncertainty in our personal lives, uncertainty for business survival and continuity, and uncertainly around the future of spending. The spending habits of consumers across the world have altered drastically over the past few months and now more than ever a consumer needs to have confidence in a business's ability to meet their needs.

As more consumers turn to online shopping, they are asking some key questions of e-tailers. Are you open for business? Will my order be fulfilled? Will my order be delivered within the usual timeframe? Bearing in mind restrictions, how will delivery remain safe and secure?

Honesty and Transparency

Businesses that remain honest and transparent with their customers during this time are more likely to weather the storm with a loyal customer base – a loyal, potentially global customer base for eCommerce companies. By following our simple checklist your business can ensure to remain in this category.

• Have you clearly communicated any impact of COVID-19 to your business on your website homepage? This could be in the form of a banner at the top of your website or a visible link to a more detailed COVID-19 FAQ page. Consumers will appreciate being kept informed.

• Address the COVID issue as part of your shipping details page. This is the best opportunity to communicate any expected shipping delays or impacted areas as customers will appreciate your transparency.

In Association with

• Ensure your Meta Description matches the information on your website. Often consumers will find your website as a result of a Google search. By adjusting the Meta Description you are ensuring they can see you are still open for business and delivering, thus generating traffic to your website.

• Leverage your social media channels to communicate with your customers. Social media enables quick and effective communication with a large audience and allows you to spread your message in your way. You can interact with customers, provide business and delivery updates and create trust with your followers.

• Let customers know that you use a reliable and flexible global logistics partner. It is vital for customers to know that their delivery is in safe hands, and that not only you as a business but also your delivery partner is taking the necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of employees and customers.

Consumers may look for things like No Contact Delivery, suspension of the signature required, visibility in terms of network impacts, and offering flexible delivery options. DHL has been working hard to provide these options to our customers across the world.

Maximise Online Confidence

Although we are operating in uncertain times, you can use this time efficiently to maximise online consumer confidence in your business. By strengthening the trust between you and your customers, you will be set up for success even in the most uncertain of times and will help to ensure a quick return to business as usual once we exit this pandemic.

• If you would like more information or to speak to a member of our specialised eCommerce team please email ie.ecommerce@dhl.com.