The great lockdown
Being an owner of a small repair business today is challenging. The recession has forced the market to shrink, making it difficult to get business and bear the continuously increasing business costs.
During a recession period, customers also tend to shift to less expensive alternatives very quickly, which again puts owners in a tight spot as they need to find ways to provide both; a market competitive price and also the best service to retain old and attract new customers.
Recession this time around has been caused by Covid19, as it severely affected the global economy resulting in a worldwide economic recession, also known as the great lockdown. A recession is a significant, widespread, and prolonged downturn in economic activity. It causes unemployment to rise, reduces disposable income, and tends to slow down industrial trade and other business activities.
Consumer buying patterns and recession
As the economy and business activity start to slow down in a recession, so does consumer activity. The consumer spends and lends less, especially on items and services they consider “non-essential” or “luxury.” The idea of purchasing “basic necessities first” comes into effect as the buyer starts to spend more cautiously.
Along with industries that sell luxury items, an industry that suffers is the repair industry. As people start to invest less in non-essential products, the number of repairs required also goes down simultaneously as both are interconnected. This makes it difficult for repair businesses to survive in a recession as they directly depend on the sales of the industries that produce luxury items. People also tend to only get repairs for their current devices once it becomes necessary.
So how does a repair business survive and fight this period of credit crunch today? Let’s find out.
Below are a few things that businesses can do:
Value addition
It’s an established fact that the pool of customers shrinks in an economic downturn, so the goal should be to gain as many customers as possible. One way to attract customers and beat the competition is to provide value. Value addition helps you separate your brand and product from the competition by giving it an edge. This can be anything, like a great checkout experience for the customer or the facility to book an appointment online before visiting the shop. Customers love businesses that go the extra mile for them; doing so will make you stand out and attain more customers.
Deals and offers
Deals portray a “get more and pay less” image, which is exactly what customers look for in a recession since they look to get maximum value against the lowest possible price. Therefore, coming up with deals is a great way to get more customers, as they tend to switch from higher-priced brands to lower-priced ones in times like these.
Investing in a POS software
Making use of technology today makes much sense. It helps you eliminate inefficiency and errors and makes life a lot easier. POS software integrates all your business activities in one place. This can enable you to stay on top of things and manage things more efficiently. From assigning tickets to tracking repairs, making payments, generating invoices, managing inventory, and everything in between, all is done through a single POS software, making your life and business operations more manageable than ever.
In addition, the right POS will help you automate manual processes, eliminating chances of errors and inefficiency. The decision to invest in a POS might seem like an additional cost initially, but in reality, it can bring down several business costs you usually don’t realize you were incurring and can prove to be a rewarding investment in the future.
Find out how RepairDesk can help your business
Use of social media platforms
Social media has opened doors for businesses to reach the masses without spending a fortune. Marketing your current offers and deals, along with reviews and testimonials from your existing customers, can work in your favor if you play things right.
One can also create engaging content like showcasing how you repair phones or solve different problems is also an effective way to market yourself and gain customer trust using platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. One should definitely look into using these platforms, as over one billion people visit them daily.
Marketing campaigns also become easy to manage and execute with the right POS software that supports different integrations, which is why you should consider investing in one.
Read which POS software is best for your business
Email Marketing
Along with attracting new customers through social media, email marketing can also be used to reach out to old and existing customers. Special discounts, personalized offers, and reminder advertising can help your old customers buy from you again. Sending coupons and other exclusive deals to new customers via email can also be effective sometimes.
Cell phone repair shop software that supports integrations can also help you formulate emails with ease.
Networking
Networking is an easy way to brand your business, make new connections, and create awareness. Actively interacting with people over mediums like Quora and relevant Facebook groups can help people know you exist. This can help you build organic awareness and learn more about your target audience as you interact with them on a personal level. Focusing on these platforms can help create a solid customer base.
Less is more
In an economic downturn, the most significant make-or-break factor for customers is price. Keeping this in mind, businesses that cut down on profit margins and offer the same service as others but at a lower price are bound to attract more leads.
Finding different ways to cut down business costs or even finding suppliers who can provide inventory at lower costs can help you maintain profit margins despite reducing prices. On the contrary, if lowering costs is not an option, only cutting margins can do the trick too. It might not pay in the short term but will in the long run as you will get more market share.
Conclusion
To conclude, not all hope is lost. Today, the market size of the cellphone industry in the US stands at $4 billion, while a good number of the world’s population has shifted to using smartphones. These facts entail there are ample opportunities to explore for your business, you just need to find new, innovative ways to connect to your target audience and position your business effectively.
