With no immediate end to the lockdown in site, most businesses are having to change the way they operate and adapt to the realities of the situation. This means thinking outside of the box, and exploring avenues not previously considered.
The term ‘pivoting’ is used in business to describe a change in business model. Though it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that the model in place isn’t working, it is the case at the moment that businesses are looking at change because their normal practices are unsuited to the current climate.
A textbook example of pivoting that has been profiled by the BBC of late is what food wholesalers are currently doing. With restaurants and pubs currently shut down, their usual sources of income have dried up. In the meantime, people are struggling to get the food items they need in their home, either because of supermarket shortages or due to the need to self-isolate, opening up a new source of potential revenue.
Last week, a BBC video highlighted one of these wholesalers, Bidfood, whose Head of Operations described making its stock available to consumers as a “no-brainer”. The company is now offering a click-and-collect service at several of its warehouses around the country, as well as home delivery in some areas.
Sensibly, the Bidfood website has made changes to draw attention to this new, though possibly temporary, business model. The first thing you see on the site at the moment is a banner promoting the home delivery and click-and-collect services.
We can see by using the web archiving tool Wayback Machine that this is a recent change. Below is a screenshot from how the homepage looked on February 13th.
As you can see, the emphasis here is still very much on catering. You can also see changes with the green ‘Order online’ button, as the site has made it easy to register and identify yourself as a home consumer. Once you’ve done this, you are taken to a form, where entering your postcode tells you whether or not delivery is available in your area.
At Engage Web, we’re currently working with our clients on how we can best promote the aspects of their business that are least affected by the lockdown, or even new opportunities the restrictions are creating. If you are looking to pivot and need advice, and want to know how to use your website and social media to promote this change of direction, talk to our team.
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[…] As well as the above two pieces of outreach, don’t neglect your own site. Make sure your homepage promotes your delivery service. Last week, we looked at how wholesaler Bidfood has remodelled its website after introducing a home delivery service. […]
[…] under 2 – Lie low and hope it all returns to normal before they resort to option 1 3 – Pivot – change their way of working to make use of the fact their website is open for business, […]