Across the country, many small businesses have had to adapt to survive and ride out the coronavirus pandemic.
Top of the agenda for most has been gravitating to selling items online and getting them delivered to doorsteps.
While this sounds easy in theory, it brings all sorts of challenges. Professional websites to be built, photography to be taken, secure payment methods, delivery drivers and transport, and getting the message out there that your virtually open for business.
More physical shops have begun to reopen this week, but lockdown has brought many small businesses to their knees.
‘We pack online orders out of the back of our Crawley store’: Toy Barnhaus’ owners Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes
Most were forced to shut due to being non-essential and demand has dropped with a huge slab of Britain finding themselves struggling financially after losing jobs.
For some, the Covid crisis has meant start selling online for the first time and it could end up benefiting them in the future, with many surveys showing that more Britons are now happy to shop online.
One retailer which has adapted is independent toy chain Toy Barnhaus. Based in Sussex and Surrey, Toy Barnhaus took its physical toy stores online in March just as the lockdown was announced to keep the business moving during the pandemic.
The company, which was founded 11 years ago by former Woolworths managers Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes, went from one tiny 800sq ft store in Crawley in 2009 to having eight stores and employing 80 people.
But as the country went into lockdown on 23 March, all Toy Barnhaus stores closed down and the company took the opportunity to implement an online move they had been thinking about since the start of the year.
Director Mark Buschhaus, said: ‘In January, we started thinking about moving some of the business online.
‘We were initially hesitant, but as news of coronavirus ramped up, we felt the need to explore another sales channel.’
Toy Barnhaus, which has furloughed all its employees and received £25,000 Government grants for each seven of its eight stores, has now moved its business online through eBay.
Online was totally new territory but it was the lifeline we needed for our business due to the lockdown
Mark Buschhaus of Toy Barnhaus
‘It’s just the two of us working at the moment, myself and my business partner Stephen,’ says Buschhaus.
‘We pack online orders out of the back of our Crawley store.’
He adds: ‘Online was totally new territory but it was the lifeline we needed for our business due to the lockdown.’
The company, which specialise in puzzles and games and is also one of the biggest independent suppliers of Lego, shipped over 150 parcels within the first weekend of going online, having expected to only receive 10-20 orders.
In May they made 27 per cent of what they did across eight of their stores in the same month last year, just through selling on eBay, ‘which we are very happy about’, says Buschhaus.
With people spending more time at home, they saw a jump in demand for puzzles and expect to sell more paddling pools and scooters during the summer.
‘People are after puzzles. This is our speciality, so was one of the first products we started listing on our eBay store. With everyone looking for games they can play at home, we’ve seen a big jump in sales’, says.
‘We’re now focusing on seasonal toys – ones that kids can use in the garden as the weather gets better – we expect to sell more paddling pools and scooters,’ he adds.
All of Toy Barnhaus’ stores reopened yesterday with social distancing and other safety measures, as per government guidelines, but Buschhaus says they are now looking at ways of incorporating the new online sales channel within its wider business strategy.
Online sales helped to pay the bills for the brand new shop we’ve had to close
Simon Cordner, the owner of Bangor-based guitars store, Windmill Guitars, saw the lockdown come in just days after moving to a new, larger store – he jokes it’s the luck of the Irish.
He didn’t waste time when the pandemic hit. Having to close the shop, he quickly set up a website and decided to go back to eBay, a channel he used when he was personally buying and selling vintage guitars as a hobby.
Windmill Guitars’ owner Simon Cordner is looking forward to reopening his store this week, but said online sales helped him pay the bills for the shop during lockdown
‘I had just made the decision to open a new retail store at the start of 2020, taking keys to a shop unit on February 21,’ he said.
‘We worked really hard to get the shop ready with a planned opening of St Patricks Day – but were forced to close the doors just a week later. Our shop front is our main outlet so it was a big knock to our trading.’
Cordner started selling guitars as a hobby some ten years ago until it became his full-time business at the end of last year, when he opened its first store in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
With business going well, he decided to move to a new, bigger store, but that’s exactly when the pandemic started spreading in the UK.
‘The timing was horrendous to say the least, however it’s meant that we’ve had to adapt in how and what we sell – quickly building a website, increasing our social media presence and taking up opportunities to trade on platforms such as eBay,’ he says.
‘Rockdown in lockdown’: Windmill Guitars has seen an increase in demand for entry to mid level guitars during lockdown as people took the opportunity to learn to play guitar
They also started to do free local delivery and offer a click and collect service daily at the shop.
While online sales have helped him pay the bills for the brand new shop he’s had to close, he’s been happy to reopen on 12 June after the go-ahead from the Northern Ireland government.
But he hopes he can make the online and physical stores work alongside each other.
‘Increasing our exposure online and through platforms such as eBay and Gumtree has proven really successful so I think we’ll certainly continue to grow with them and possibly expand our product offerings to suit their customer base,’ he said.
‘For now we’ll also keep pushing the ‘click and collect’ facility to enable customers to shop with minimal interaction for smaller purchases,’ he added.
During lockdown, he’s seen an increase in demand for their entry to mid level guitars as lots of people have been using lockdown as an opportunity to learn guitar or improve their skills.
Windmill Guitars received a small business grant of £10,000, but because Cordner is the sole director of a limited company and has only been self-employed for three years, he did not qualify for any income support.
‘We have repeat customers so that is a very promising start’
Some businesses, while already selling online, have taken advantage of the pandemic to expand their online presence and find new direct-to-consumer routes.
That is the case with pet health products brand Overby Farm.
The European brand equivalent of the NaturVet brand in the US, Overby Farm is mostly a ‘private label’ company which makes products for other brands for them to sell under their own brands.
Calm down the dog: Demand for stress relief and allergy relief products soared during lockdown
This makes up the lion’s share of their business, or 95 per cent of sales.
But the company, which always had an online presence, set up an online channel with eBay a couple of months ago with the hope to use that to grow their own Overby Farm brand.
Its own branded products include pet health products such as soft chew supplements, grooming aids and digestive remedies.
Daniel Mackenzie, director of Paddock Trading – the UK company set up in 2017 to handle the import and distribution of the Overby Farm in Europe – said it has been off to a promising start as they already begin to have repeat customers.
He says: ‘eBay is a channel we can really own, and we hope to keep growing our store post-lockdown as we look to establish Overby Farm as its own brand.’
Initially they saw a marked decrease in sales, but shortly after, people started panic-buying and many of their lines sold out within a couple of weeks, ‘which was both good and bad in equal measure’, Mackenzie says.
‘Many of our regular private label customers have sadly had breaks in supply whilst our factory does their best to keep up with manufacturing demands from us here in Europe,’ he adds.
Demand for stress relief and allergy relief products soared during lockdown and they now hope to double their turnover in the next 12 months.
‘We are just starting new relationships with some big retailers which will see drastic increases in our sales volumes.’
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