This is a difficult time for many businesses in the retail sector. As retailers either lay off employees or ponder how long they can keep them on payroll many businesses have been forced to reinvent themselves. Creative solutions for businesses in the restaurant industry include creating entirely new menus. A shift from elaborate sit-down meals to what is currently in demand: grab and go and delivery. This shift caused some restauranteurs to create novel new products like “emergency” meal kits that can be used from the comfort of a customer’s home.

Other retailers are selling their products and services online for the first time. While companies that are not new to eCommerce are experimenting with virtual classes and consultations. If you are trying to keep your business afloat here are ten sales ideas you can consider implementing today to provide relief.

1. Sell something different in the short term

Drastic time often require drastic measures. Many businesses trying to stay afloat have decided to pivot and sell something new. Seattle’s fine dining restaurant Canlis which normally serves patrons multi-course meals started selling bagels during breakfast hours through a takeout only service and for the lunch crowd it is selling burgers via a new drive thru option. For dinner the restaurant delivers a meal along with a bottle of wine to customers. This pivot has enabled the restaurant to keep all of its 115 employees employed.

The Federal Store, a café located in Vancouver, which typically sells coffee, food and groceries has shifted towards selling mostly groceries. "We're trying to within the course of about five days triple, quadruple the amount of groceries we have available for our customers" "It's just shifting what we do and maybe adding on so that people have options, what fits best for them right now" said Christopher Allen, Co-Owner. Federal Store is also preparing more pre-made mixes so that customers can bake at home.

Strathcona Spirits a distillery in Edmonton which pivoted and started making and selling hand sanitizer due to the pandemic. It quickly sold out of its $4.75 bottle of hand sanitizer and is awaiting more supplies of glycerin so that it can continue to manufacture it.

2. Rethink how you package your products and services

Several restaurants are finding success is creating meal kits that are now in demand by customers. Guerrilla Tacos in Los Ángeles is selling a $155 emergency taco kit. It comes with ten pounds of meat, tortillas, beans, rice, salsas, 30 eggs and what would a survival kit be without the four rolls of toilet paper that are also included. The meat is cooked and the kit comes with 60 ready to eat tacos. The restaurant also sells an emergency nacho kit and an emergency margherita kit (I will leave that to your imagination). This pivot has kept 12 people working. Due to high demand for the kits Guerrilla Tacos cannot offer delivery but pickup is available.

A pizza restaurant in Michigan called Pizza Transit which has closed their doors to restaurant diners but has started selling pizza kits to give kids stuck at home something to do. “A lot of our business is families and with all of the kids at home right now, we really wanted to have something fun for families to be able to do since they can’t come in and dine with us like usual” said owner of Pizza Transit, Sarah Brittin. For $10 each pizza kit has the dough, sauce, cheese and two toppings for a single large pizza. “We’ve had a great response,” Brittin said. “Lots of people coming in to get them and asking questions about it so far, so it’s been really positive.”

World class restaurant Alinea located in Chicago has made more than $5,600 on margherita kits it recently launched.

For people who want to keep their hair looking great while not being able to go to the salon, several salons have created customized hair kits for their clients so that they can colour their hair at home. Sharon Dorram, who owns a salon in New York created a Colour to Go kit for $125 plus shipping costs featuring hair colour, instructions and gloves that is so popular it sold out.

3. Start selling and / or promote gift card sales

Now is a good time to see if your customers are interested in buying one of your gift cards so that they can use it at a later date. You can promote these cards either on social media or through email marketing like this independent bookstore did. Queen Books in Toronto added an online option to buy gift certificates as well as book subscriptions as the virus started to spread through the Toronto area.

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4. Promote sales through online discounts

Not everyone is in the mood to make non-essential purchases right now but you may be able to entice some customers into buying something new. On March 20th, 2020 Nike sent an email to customers promoting a site wide 25% discount. In an email promoting the deal Nike wrote “right now, it’s more important than ever to make sure athletes like you are healthy and positive.... That’s why we’re giving you 25% off everything.” Offering such as broad discount is rare for Nike. Nordstrom is also offering a 25% site wide and American Eagle is offering 50% off its AE collection online for a limited time.

5. Offer contactless delivery and curbside pickup

Many businesses are transitioning their service staff into delivery drivers. If you are a restaurant you can partner with a delivery platform like GrubHub. But some for some busineses if the demand is manageable they prefer to deliver orders themselves and avoid the 15%-30% commission that delivery platforms typically charge.

At Sugarfish, a sushi restaurant chain in the U.S. many employees have transitioned into contactless delivery workers. Jerry Greenberg, Executive Chef for Sugarfish’s parent company made the change in order to keep staff of more than 600 people employed during the pandemic. “We’re now taking phone orders,” Greenberg said. “We haven’t answered phones in our restaurants in quite some time.”

Instacart alone is planning to hire 300,000 fulltime workers over the next three months to keep up with demand.

6. Sell classes and consultations online

Is there a specific service related to your business that you can sell? Perhaps this will require some creative thinking. Some restauranteurs are now selling cooking classes online. A Sydney bar named Golden Gully started selling online cooking classes with its chef in the wake of the coronavirus. The classes cost $60 each. Promoting the course on its website the bar writes: “a 1 Hour culinary experience over video chat with Emma Evans - the legendary chef will guide you through a recipe and cook up with even the most mundane ingredients! Upon purchase shoot @thegoldengully on insta a DM and we will arrange a time & date to your convenience for this magical experience.” Speaking about the new online offering Daniel McBride co-owner of the Golden Gully said "it was either just cop it or do something about it."

Joanna Vargas a facialist is offering virtual skin care consultation for $70. Customers that partake in the consultations receive a $100 credit for future products and services. Speaking about the consultations Vargas said “it’s helpful, but there’s no way it could make up for being open.” But the consultations have had a positive impact on digital sales. During the period between March 14, 2020 and March 20, 2020 sales of Joanna Vargas Skin Care increased by 251%. Another facialist, Joanna Czech is virtually offering consultations for $300 for 30 minutes. Fifty percent of the fee pays for products and the remainder is used for staffing costs.

7. Launch a crowdfunding campaign

Many of your customers would like to help you stay afloat during this challenging time. To provide a means of doing so some businesses are starting crowdfunding campaigns. It is easy to set up one up and just as easy for customers to donate to it. A café in New York City called Jack's Wife Freda has a GoFundMe campaign to subsidize the three employees it has on staff. It has already raised over $7,000 which is not enough but it is a start.

8. Set up an online store

If you have never had an online store this is the time to set one up. Platforms like Shopify make it easy for any business to get into eCommerce by providing a simple and cost effective way to sell products online. Due to the coronavirus crisis Shopify is offering businesses free 90-day trials. Shopify is a leading eCommerce platform with over 1 million businesses on its platform in 175 countries. Once you have built your online store invest in a social media and email marketing campaign to promote your online offering to existing and potential customers.

Queen Books is a small business which recently launched an online store to keep sales going during the crisis. On the retailer’s Facebook page it says:

9. Allow customers to make pre-purchases

This might be a great time to offer your customers the ability to pay for your merchandise now and pick it up later. This is an especially good idea for service businesses like nail and hair salons that depend on foot traffic.

10. Host online events

You don’t have to leave all of the online selling to QVC. Some businesses are holding livestreams were they promote merchandise as well as gift cards. A London bakery called Bread Ahead Bakery has livestreamed baking classes while selling vouchers for bread and workshops to take place in the future.

Top 10 Sales Ideas for Retailers During COVID-19