Don’t leave your business in the dark during load shedding.

In Cape Town alone, stage 2 load shedding has been estimated to cost the economy R150 million daily.

The constant battle for businesses to keep their doors open to customers during load shedding has been challenging for most business owners.

Business owners in Durbanville, Cape Town’s load-shedding woes.

With Pathfind Media’s offices located in the Buena Office Park on the corner of Durban and Kendal Road in Durbanville, we’ve gauged from everyday conversations with other business owners in the area what effect load shedding has had.

The feedback included the following:

Equipment breakages caused by power surges.

1. Loss of foot traffic and revenue.
2. A decrease in staff productivity, with the same responsibility to pay wages, whether staff could work during load shedding or not.
3. Investment in equipment and infrastructure such as solar inverter battery systems and diesel or petrol generators to keep trading during the outages.

A certain saving grace for many businesses, such as The Wimpy in De Ville Centre, is the greater shift towards prioritising the importance of a consistent online presence. Many restaurants started relying more on delivery apps, such as Uber Eats and Mr Delivery, which help to offset the reduction in foot traffic during load-shedding over lunch or peak restaurant hours.

De Jagers (clothing store) has also implemented online shopping, which means their customers can continue shopping during times that suit their schedules, and when they are closed due to load shedding, the same applies.

How to ensure your online presence is a helpful resource during load shedding.

Customer support is a high priority during load shedding, especially considering that people will experience higher stress levels during this time. Ensuring that your business is able to respond quickly and appropriately from its designated online platforms (such as a website, Google Business listing, WhatsApp for Business and social platforms) when people need it, is an opportunity to build a loyal customer base.

1. Is your Google Business listing up to date?
2. Is your website linked to your Google Listing with Google Maps Integration?
3. Are your trading hours up to date on all your platforms, according to the load-shedding schedule?
4. Are your doors open during load-shedding, and are you communicating this to your clients?
5. Is your website easy to navigate on a mobile phone so that customers can continue shopping during load-shedding?
6. Are your apps, such as Ubereats, Mr Delivery and WhatsApp, easily accessible on the website for the customer to download or navigate?
7. Do you have a power bank to keep a dedicated mobile device that can be used for responses fully charged during load-shedding?
8. Do you make it as easy as possible for customers to pay using their mobile phones?

The prospect of continued load-shedding casts a dark veil (pun intended) on Cape Town’s economy.

According to Brendon Williamson, chief sales officer at PayGate, A DPO Company:

The value of online sales in South Africa was predicted to pass R14bn by the end of 2019 (approaching 2% of total sales). That is still a small base, but it means the potential growth is enormous, provided online retailers can deliver a great customer experience.

Investing in improving your online presence to benefit your level of customer experience will continue to be a shining beacon, even IF load shedding ever comes to an end.

If you don’t know when load-shedding is coming, download the EskomSePush (ESP) App on Android or Apple Store.

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Pathfinding our online presence through load-shedding woes.

Pathfind Media is the most innovative website design agency in the Western Cape, South Africa, as rewarded by Corporate Vision in London, United Kingdom. Our flagship service is a managed website solution.

This means you don't have to be concerned about your website being hacked or slow and that it will be mobile-optimised from the get-go with all the necessary software to ensure you stay connected during load shedding. From planning to content to development and support – we'll navigate the way.

To explore how Pathfind Media can assist you in navigating the challenges of load shedding and enhancing your online presence, get in touch with us today.

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