The spring of 2020 is witnessing the rampage of the novel coronavirus. Singapore companies that planned to draw Chinese customers during the Spring Festival were let down by the sudden outbreak. However, although their offline operations have been obstructed, they can still manage to pull themselves out of the red by leveraging online resources, and possibly gain even better exposure.How should Singapore companies restructure their operations and stimulate users’ needs online?
To help companies minimize the damage their physical stores are taking, W-axis Technology will work with business owners to build online marketing systems on Mini Programs and provide relevant solutions.
Scan and know more about the plan
1. Online operators’ new favorite: Mini Programs
Problem No.1: Retailers can’t open their stores
Solution:
In retailing, Mini Program stores and social network marketing can be mutually complementary: social network can reach and activate users, while Mini Programs can be directly shared and opened in group chats for customers to make purchases. This synergy fosters a complete link and paves the way for transactions.
Based on the “Mini Program + social network” model, W-axis Technology developed a WeChat Mini Program for Si Yuan Quan Yuan Tea, where details of their products are displayed. Marketers can share it to group chats and customers can make orders online. Therefore, goods are sold even without physical stores.
Problem No.2: Capital chains of restaurants are ruptured
Solution:
Restaurants are typical offline consumption scenarios. Now that people hardly go outdoors, many restaurants have been seeking self-help through online food delivery Mini Programs. By ordering on WeChat Mini Programs, users can pay online and receive the food without being near to other people. Compared with third-party food delivery platforms, companies don’t need to pay commission on their own Mini Programs and the “Mini Programs Nearby” function can attract consumers faster.
Thanks to food delivery Mini Programs, Xi Bei who once thought they couldn’t make it after three months pulled through; Yoshinoya has seen its proportion of business on Mini Programs, official accounts and other online platforms rising to 80%.
Problem No.3: Educational companies suffer decrease of students
Solution:
Many college placement agencies have been struggling since students from China are blocked by the quarantine methods. In that light, WeChat Mini Programs can keep the students updated on overseas study.
Take “Overseas Study in Singapore” Mini Program created by W-axis Technology, users can quickly access comprehensive information about higher education in Singapore including universities, majors and qualifications. They can also chat directly with consultants on the Mini-Program, which is highly efficient. By tracking contents viewed by users, the company can do promotion in a targeted manner and better lift the conversion rate.
Problem No.4: Corporate images can’t be promoted
Solutions:
Facing the epidemic, companies must control their loss and guard against the black swan crisis based on their own advantages, so they need to continuously provide quality products and services to maintain good corporate images.
In addition to promoting corporate images, WeChat Mini Programs can display products, introduce corporate culture, and release information.
2. How to operate online
A. Acquire customers
Customer acquirement is a key step in online operation and is the prerequisite for retainment and conversion.Business owners can demonstrate their brands and products on official accounts, Moments ads and Moments posted by personal accounts. During the epidemic outbreak, people under quarantine at home would spend hours online. Therefore, by promoting on the internet, companies can help their products gain even better exposure and, consequently, more customers, which is highly conducive to conversion.
Example:
Wedding photographers’ offline business is sabotaged by the virus, but they can draw traffic for their brand by resorting to the “Moments ads + official accounts” solution. For example, Sophia Wedding Photography has acquired many customers by posting ads on Moments. By clicking on the pages, users can be guided to the official account and become followers. These are exclusive private traffic owned by the brand.
The official account of Sophia launched a themed activity that paid tribute to frontline workers and donated supplies to local workers in Hefei city. It resonated with followers and helped retainment and conversion.
B. Create private traffic
The topic of private traffic gained even more popularity these days. In short, private traffic refers to the traffic in the hands of business owners, such as the new customers drawn to the brands’ WeChat accounts. To know more about it, read a previous article of ours. (Why Did Private Traffic Suddenly Go Viral?)
Many physical stores are closed, but online business can still go on. Owners can do promotion through official accounts and ads on WeChat, thereby leading customers to avatar personal accounts operated by employees. Then through one-on-one messages, Moments and group chats, the users can be retained and be tempted to make purchases.
Example:
Bestseller, a garment company, sold an eyebrow-raising RMB 6.41 million’s worth of products. Liu Dongyue, head of the company, said that it was private traffic that helped the company maintain at least some control during the outbreak.“WeMall”, the online store of Bestseller, adopted the “personal shopper + Mini Program” model. Personal shoppers have one-on-one conversations on Mini Programs with the customers who added their WeChat accounts before, and provide tailored service.
Meanwhile, the marketing team creates templates for personal shoppers to post ads on the WeChat ecosystem, which greatly save their time and efforts when generating promotional contents.
C. Online stores
After pooling private traffic, companies can build stores on Mini Programs. Not only are the Mini Programs able to introduce products, but they can also help develop business online since they are social platforms in nature.
The Mini Programs can effectively integrate information from many logistic companies, so that buyers can be notified in real-time about the shipping progress of their goods. The couriers can leave the parcels at certain places so that receivers don’t need to meet them in person. This can ensure that companies continue their business and lower the cost in the face of such a force majeure situation.W-axis Technology can help companies develop WeChat Mini Programs, so as to promote sales and set up online product matrices.
Example:
Words like “standstill”, “zero transaction” and “plunge” have been everywhere to describe the real estate industry’s opening quarter, but W-axis Technology, by developing a Mini Program called “One-Click Real Estate in Singapore”, moved the offline business online. Users can look at the property at home and talk with sellers on the Mini Program.
4. Digital operations
W-axis Technology can help companies analyze data like the number of times the products are viewed, saved and bought, so that owners can identify their target customers more precisely and give personalized recommendations about products to buy. In addition, W-axis Technology can help companies maintain their relationship with customers and give solutions for problems like customer acquirement, repurchase and retainment.In fact, underneath the shift of focus to WeChat and social network is the attention paid to digitalization and private traffic. While doing business offline is not an option, such efforts can at least keep the business running.
Above are some ways W-axis Technology can help with operations of companies in all sectors. If you have any trouble doing business online, please scan the QR Code below and we will offer tailored plans to you.
