COVID-19 is changing the face of business in a wide variety of ways. From how consumers purchase and shop for goods to what sorts of items they’re even interested in buying in the first place, there are a variety of factors to consider when you’re setting up a new storefront. Especially if you’re planning on moving to a new city to open up a new branch of business, all of the COVID protocol you need to follow becomes even more important. For example, if you’re heading to the Windy City, it doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to appeal to Chicagoans in the North Side near Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, Andersonville, or Lakeview—COVID protocol is crucial.
Every city has its own regulations regarding the coronavirus, and Chicago is no different. There’s a reason that live entertainment venues like Second City aren’t open for business and that the CTA is much less crowded. That being said, if you’re thinking about opening up a business in one of Chicago’s famous neighborhoods, you’ll want to have your ducks in a row regardless of whether you’re lining them up in Wicker Park or Lincoln Park. Read on for a few tips to appeal to Chicagoans if you’re opening up a shop amidst COVID-19.
Plan your relocation carefully.
Whenever you’re moving to a new city, it’s crucial to plan your move carefully. This is particularly true if you’re headed to a major city like Chicago since each neighborhood has its own energy and clientele. Wicker Park is different than Lincoln Park, which is different than River North, Logan Square, and Chinatown. All of these neighborhoods have their own milieu and if you really want to know how to survive moving to Chicago, you’ll do well to figure out what neighborhood best fits your needs.
While the downtown area is certainly known for its tourist traps, Old Town has a thriving nightlife and entertainment scene and Hyde Park, near where the Obama presidential library will soon be built, is full of history and culture. Spending some time exploring the city by red line or Zipcar is a great way to get a good feel for the area you’ll be moving your business to prior to hiring movers. Especially when it comes to moving to a major city, the benefit of hiring professional local movers who understand the ins and outs of the area can be a major boon for new businesses—and ensure that your moving team is following the right COVID protocol to protect everyone involved.
Be smart about the way you manage your inventory.
If you have multiple locations and have opened them in the last year, then you understand how important it is to keep track of your inventory. Especially with the way that eCommerce sales are buoying small businesses over the last year, it’s critical to know where you have items and where you can ship to quickly if you want to meet demand. Of course, this kind of organizational and logistical work is best handled by a piece of software specifically created to handle the essentials of inventory management.
Enhancedretailsolutions.com offers one platform for better handling the data underpinning your business. From offering retail analytics from your point of sale devices to helping you better forecast and plan inventory to stay in stock, there are dozens of ways that Enhanced Retail Solutions can help your business thrive. Their site even offers customizable dashboards so that you can better tailor your inventory data to your individual workflow. The overall effect of such powerful integrations is a fully-featured platform that makes it easier to understand your inventory from the ground up. Especially if you’re managing inventory in other large cities like New York, having this sort of data will help you manage increased online shopping demand in the time of COVID.
