Many small businesses are struggling at the moment with the current stay-in-place order temporarily closing in-person business for many people in the state. But local business owner Brenda Timmermans has found a creative way to keep business going.
“I was frustrated that my sales were down to half last month, and the first 10 days of April, I didn’t even have any sales yet,” said Timmermans, the owner of For The Love Of Local. “But I didn’t want to push sales because I was also uncertain about how to offer a safe shopping environment.”
Timmermans said she thought about making shopping by appointment, but as grocery stores sold out of cleaning products, she wasn’t able to find sanitation products for the store anymore. After seeing a question about whether the video meeting app Zoom could be used for advertising, she had the idea of doing virtual shopping.
“Since I had already used Zoom for other purposes, I thought I’d give it a try,” she said. “As soon as I posted it on my Facebook page, I got a request.”
She said she was inviting a person to her ‘meeting’ and walking the customer through her store with her phone, showing all the available merchandise and was able to answer any questions.
“I have to admit, my teenage daughter had to help me set it up and use it for the first time,” she said. “Although I probably won’t be doing many big groups, because it is hard to keep track of who is asking what and making sure that everybody gets what they ordered, but it left me with such a food feeling because of the review I received.”
Timmermans said anyone who wants to shop with her virtually can text her at 248-627-3671.
“This turned out to be a great solution,” she said. “Also, because I live where I work, so people can text or call me any time and there is an easy front porch pick-up.”