Whilst COVID-19 and lockdown have seen a big rise in the demand for online suppliers and services, it should be noted that the digital takeover was inevitable. Many traditional businesses have transformed their services online due to the amount of money they save and make. In many cases, it will also help them save money with how they conduct business. Here are some examples.
Streaming Services
One of the biggest innovations over the last decade has come from streaming services such as Netflix or Disney Plus. Netflix led the way for many, getting ahead of the digital age when people thought the future would be in DVDs. Not only has Netflix gotten the online rights to stream TV shows and movies for a small subscription fee, but they also create their own unique programs just for them.
After their quick success and market domination, others such as Amazon wanted to get in on the profits. Amazon followed the same idea of hosting the rights to shows and movies as well as their own unique programs, but they also offered the service as a bonus to owning their free delivery service.
Prime has become more popular since, with Amazon becoming one of the largest companies in the world in a short amount of time. They offer a convenient and effective service that many people have been happy to sign up for.
Food Shopping Straight To Your Door
One very popular online supplier and service comes from supermarkets. Over the last few years, major retailers such as Asda and Tesco have been leading the way in delivering shopping straight to customer doors. These days, you are able to go online in the morning and select all the shopping and food you want for the week and pay for it instantly. If you order before a certain time, it could be delivered to you the same day.
This is a useful service that became crucial during the lockdown of 2020. It was convenient not just for the shoppers, but also for the staff as they could limit the number of people coming into the shop, and make their work more productive.
Consultations Over Video And Phone
Many different businesses have moved away from forced physical consultations. This is in a wide range of industries, from estate agents offering remote viewings, lawyers giving free consultations before hiring a service and doctors and physios seeing their patients 24/7 from home.
These consultations can help you with finding the right product you want or the specific service you will need—all with the aim of saving you time and money.
Online Pharmacies
Something that is becoming more popular for people is using an online pharmacy service. This became more popular during COVID-19 when individuals weren’t allowed to leave their house due to self-isolating. But truthfully, these pharmacies had been rising for a while.
They offer a convenient service that allows you to order your prescriptions to be sent straight to your door, rather than having to go collect. They usually work either by linking with your doctors or using their own in-house clinician. They will ask you to fill out a questionnaire to assess your needs and dosage, before requiring you to verify who you are.
You should use a pharmacy service that you can trust, that has years of experience that is accredited by the MHRA and GPhC, ensuring you are in a safe place to purchase from. This online pharmacy, known as Chemist Click, allows for next day delivery with discrete packaging. That means that your medicine will arrive in a packet that has no medical details on, if you were worried or anxious about embarrassment from others getting the post.
These pharmacies help you save time with collecting your medicine, allowing you to get same day approval with the medical care you need arriving the next day. You should check out the reviews of a service to ensure you’re getting the best service available, in a way that suits you.
You will be able to get most prescriptions from an online pharmacy as you would from a traditional physical outlet. If there is a unique prescription that is not commonly available, then consider contacting the team online to get a quote and more information.
Game Subscriptions
If you’re a gamer, or looking to get into gaming, then you should be aware of the subscription services available these days. There are a few examples, with the most popular service being Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. This subscription service allows you to get access to hundreds of games each month for a small price, much like a video sharing platform with movies and tv shows.
They offer a chance to save money on games you might not be wanting to buy, perhaps due to high costs or uncertainty about if the game is for you. These subscription game streaming services seem to be becoming more popular, with most major gaming platforms offering some form of deal.
They can also save time in searching for games or going out to purchase copies of physical games, as they are available to download instantly, to the speed of your own internet service. In some cases, you can pre-download a game up to a month before launch, meaning you can play it the minute it releases without ever leaving your home.
Web-Building Sites
Many new and established businesses have turned to web building businesses to help create their website previously. These businesses will charge a premium price to build your website, sometimes taking up to a month to get it done. This can be costly to businesses in both money and, more importantly, time.
Fortunately, there are a lot of do it yourself hosting sites that allow you to build a website and launch within the day, if you have the resources ready. These sites, such as Squarespace or Wix, make it easy for you to create your website, either using custom made designs or using their own templates. They have everything coded for you, allowing you to customise a site without having to know about web design.
You can set up an online store using these sites where all you need to do is enter an item, the amount available and a place for the payments to go, and you are set. You can also use these sites for company information if you aren’t looking for anywhere to sell a product.
Advertising Services
Advertising, and marketing in general, has been transformed thanks to the internet. Several online services will allow you to advertise your website or products for a small fee, getting an advertisement posted overnight.
One common way of advertising is pay-per-click advertising. This helps businesses save money as they will only pay a hosting site or advertising service money for each person that clicks on an advertisement, such as a banner. This means they are getting value for money, as it’s directly gone towards someone looking at your business.
With other types of advertisements, it could be a flat higher fee that may not get value for money unless you’ve created an engaging advertisement. It’s worth looking into advertising services to see how they can save you money with more engagement and save you time with quicker recognition.
