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The changes brought by pandemic pose a formidable challenge to the retail industry and businesses in general. With movement and travel to physical stores limited and even impossible for some, online selling and buying has stepped in to solve pandemic-related problems for both sellers and consumers.

With all eyes online, your business needs to be in tiptop shape (now more than ever) to handle operations through virtual channels, or quickly adapt to doing so. Here's an easy three-step checklist to get started.

Boost your online presence. Are your social media accounts empty or outdated, with the last post dated last year? Spruce it up with catchy visuals that capture your brand best.

Make sure to align your social media branding and messaging with your main portal (ex. website or online store) so your customers will remember you and your products and/or services more easily.

Social media is almost a whole enterprise on its own, but you can use tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to schedule your posts. This way, you can be sure your posts are constantly fresh, with new items on the top of your page every day!

Build a meaningful community. While actively promoting your business to a wider audience, reward your loyal customers with perks like special offers, freebies, and updates that are relevant to their interests. This added touch of care will have them giving you good reviews in writing and/or word-of-mouth.

Properly organized, this community can also help your company get things done faster - doing the work of more expensive research departments and creative teams by providing inputs you would have had to pay for, before technology caught up.

“A beautiful trifecta is happening, where there's an exponential decrease in the cost of social mobile computing and big data,” explains Nadaf Wilf, online community expert and cofounder of Matrix Media Technologies.

“[It’s] creating this exponential increase in the number of people that are connected… it's bringing together people that have money, organizations that have money… with people that have passion and time, and that's where the magic is happening.”

Organize your paperwork and logistics. Use this time to do an upkeep of your inventory, supply chain, and distribution processes. Consistent timeliness and convenience can greatly increase customer satisfaction; guarantee them all by implementing simple payment schemes and timely deliveries.

The best part of doing business online is that you don't have to do all three steps by yourself. There are reliable business solutions providers such as Entrego, a technology-driven end-to-end fulfillment and logistics solutions provider, that can work out some of the nitty-gritty details for you.

With a partner like Entrego taking care of those small details, you can focus on the larger picture, and have a better outlet to channel your passion and creativity into.