It’s no secret that the pandemic has taken its toll on city centres all around the UK, but Manchester in particular has been hit particularly hard. According to initial studies from the Economics Observatory, the mix of continued lockdowns, higher infection rates, orders to work from home and dropping consumer confidence, has seen Manchester suffer significantly from an economic view – second only to London. 

While there are of course support structures – like the continued furlough scheme – in place to help the city’s businesses, more still needs to be done to rescue the centre from the current slump. At the same time, it’s also fair to say we’re still some way off life returning to ‘normal’ until the vaccine roll out has been completed. 

So, what can be done? Well one option could be for businesses in the city to turn to, or focus more on, eCommerce, as this can be a way of both boosting trade and helping Manchester’s beating heart keep pumping – below you can find out how and why.

It plays to Manchester’s strengths

Before the first lockdown Manchester was named the ‘fastest growing tech city in Europe’, meaning there’s a real appetite for digitally-led opportunities from consumers in the area. In other words, businesses shouldn’t be too concerned that their eCommerce offering won’t have much uptake, as there’s clearly a sizeable demographic out there. 

It’s more covid-safe 

One of the biggest factors with eCommerce is that it’s within the current covid restrictions. Businesses offering online sales with delivery or store pick up will be allowed to trade and won’t pose a big infection risk to their customers. 

There are opportunities to diversify

As a business owner you’ll be please to note that eCommerce can also allow you to diversify your product or service offering. One notable example of this can be the quantity or range of products you can provide, which you may otherwise have been limited by in your physical store. With a variety of different delivery options available, you can also still aim to give your customers a fast service, similar to what they’d get by visiting your store on the highstreets. 

It’s potentially futureproof 

There’s a lot of debate still about how consumers will behave once the pandemic is over, but it’s likely many will possibly avoid heading straight for the city centre for a while yet. As such, eCommerce can still help keep these customers engaged and gives them an opportunity to keep shopping with you in the future. 

What the future holds exactly of course remains to be seen, but by turning to eCommerce it can at least help give businesses in Manchester’s centre more of a fighting chance – and at the very least help them keep going. The hope is also that when our national circumstances do change – be it post pandemic or not – an eCommerce-supported infrastructure could then be a key part of getting Manchester and other UK cities back on their feet. 

Andrew Rogers 

Andrew is a veteran eCommerce consultant who has been on the frontline of eCommerce for over 10 years, firefighting the industry’s problems from setup to acquisition and writing for a variety of publications. His aim, with the help of his self-help website eCommerce Value, is to educate the sector and help fill the skills gap.

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