As the pandemic continues and businesses are still trying to reorganize and react to it, many business owners are struggling with supply chain issues. Due to employee sickness, quarantine, or social distancing restrictions, there are some products that are more difficult to produce now. In addition, many customers are holding off on buying certain items seen as being less necessary. This can make it harder for business owners to market their products.
As any business owner knows, marketing is at the root of your success. When you can market your products and/or services well, you can ensure yourself a nice year-end revenue. However, when you’re currently experiencing issues with your supply chain, you’ll need to change up your marketing efforts accordingly. You will need to assess the situation, look into switching suppliers, evaluate which items are out of stock, and market only the products you have in stock.
Assess the Situation
First, take the time to assess the situation. With the recent pandemic, businesses are facing many challenges. Failures and delays in their supply chains are just one of them. If you’re experiencing this issue, it’s best to start with assessing the full situation. Take stock of what inventory items are being delayed or not delivered at all. This will give you a basis to further evaluate and alter your marketing efforts to ensure you’re not wasting money. So start by taking the time to assess and plan.
See About Switching Suppliers
If your supply chain is struggling, look into switching suppliers. The truth is that some suppliers just can’t produce products due to mandatory state shutdowns. Therefore, it’s important to look to other suppliers who may be still producing. Since you have your list of inventory products that are being delayed or not delivered at all, you know what products you’ll need to locate new temporary suppliers for. You can enlist the help of a supply chain third party logistic solutions provider who can link you up with suppliers who can deliver in this time of the pandemic.
Evaluate Which Products Are Out of Stock
Take the time to look into what products you have in and out of stock. You should have some sort of inventory management system that can tell you where all your product inventory stands right at this moment in time. Take a look at what products you’re out of. In addition, take a look at what products are constructed with the inventory materials you identified above as not being delivered on-time. You’ll want to construct a list of both your out-of-stock items and items that can’t be made due to delays in supplier materials.
Market Only Products You Have In-Stock
While this may seem obvious, many businesses neglect to take into account their inventory changes when marketing products. Lastly, you should take the master list of all the products you offer and remove all the items in the last step. Any products that you’re out of or aren’t getting the materials to make should be eliminated from your list. This will narrow down your list to include items that are currently in stock and can be produced with the materials you’re still getting from your suppliers. You’ll want to focus your marketing efforts on selling these products until you’re able to fix your supply chain issues.
As you can see, marketing your products during the pandemic takes some thought. You don’t want to waste time and effort promoting products that you’re unsure of when you can deliver them to your consumers. Rather, utilize the steps above to ensure that you can deliver the desired products to your consumers for the time being.
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan
