How To Leverage Online Tools During The COVID-19 Crisis

Use ShopMidland.com to make a quick e-commerce shop, sell gift cards online, update your hours, make posts, etc.

COVID-19 will change our lives in countless ways over the next few weeks. For all of us as small business owners, there is a pressing economic concern. Our customers will, appropriately, be changing their shopping habits. Some of those changes will be temporary, and some might become a “new normal” over time.

It’s more important than ever that we communicate effectively with customers online. You may be considering selling online or taking online payments for home delivery. You may be looking for more ways to communicate your business updates, in-stock items and changes you’ve implemented to make your business safe and welcoming during this time.

ShopMidland.com is here to help and is making an effort to help all small businesses.

E-Commerce, E-Gift Cards & More

If you'd like to start selling online, here are some steps you should take:

1. Make sure you’ve added your business to the ShopMidland.com directory here: shopmidland.com/add
2. If you're in a free package, contact us at chris@shopcity.com OR (705) 527-3064 to learn how you can upgrade.
3. Setup your online shop using these instructions: How to Add a Marketplace Item
4. Arrange for delivery or pick-up of the items in your store.
5. Share the link to your new ‘Shop’ or ‘Products’ page on your ShopMidland.com profile with your customers (see an example here).

Please note: we do not collect a portion of online sales made through our site. We do use PayPal for payment processing and they collect 2.9% from each sale.

If you’d like to start selling online gift cards here are the steps you should take:

1. Make sure you’ve added your business to the ShopMidland.com directory here: shopmidland.com/add (if not done before).
2. Setup your online shop using these instructions: Activate Gift Certificates
3. Share the link to your new ‘eGift Cards” page on your ShopMidland.com profile with your customers. (see how it looks here)

Please note: We do take a 5% processing fee from gift card sales (10% for free profiles) – this fee goes directly to paying for the staff who distribute payments from the gift cards to you and our support team who are here to help you verify gift cards when they are redeemed. Gift cards are not paid out as they come in, we process bulk payments for gift card sales on the 15th of the month. Please take the time to read our Terms & Conditions during the activation process.

Bonus: Please remember to update your ShopMidland.com profile with opening hours if they are changing day to day. As always, you can always post updates to our Newsfeed on our homepage on the main Dashboard under “What’s New?”. We will be sharing links to our site to help keeping consumers informed.

#CommunityFirst

We know how unsure and scary things are right now – we are living it too as small business owners. We will be busy with requests, but we will do everything we can to support small business in our community. We have to put community first right now, so please let us know how we can help. Wishing you wellness and community in tough times.

Tag us on social media and we'll share your content OR contact us at chris@shopcity.com (705) 527-3064 OR matt@shopcity.com

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