Top Diwali tips for B2C exporters

Summary-

• The best time for businesses has come.
• With festivals coming up one after another, shoppers are ready.
• But holidays also come with sales, offers and discounts that often lead to miscalculations and additional tax complexities for sellers.
• Businesses need to have robust strategies to tackle these challenges and keep their customers happy.
• This blog contains tips and tricks for small B2C exporters to mind before holidays.

The golden times for small businesses have come. It’s hard to miss how happily shops and public spaces are opening up one by one, with Dussehra and Diwali on their rearview. But, with the third wave of the pandemic still ambiguous, every business is worried about whether things will be back to normal.

But here are a few changes that the pandemic caused.

• Access to good quality internet and mobile phones increased.
• The number of online shoppers increased.
• The physical boundaries were no barriers for eCommerce.
• More and more people began trusting foreign organisations to buy from.

Well, that is no bad news. Last year, the festive season brought a boom to eCommerce like never before. Especially for small businesses and retailers, the number of shoppers hunting for the right kind of gift for their loved ones, goods for their homes and everything they loved increased as against what the sellers had expected in a pandemic. The problem was that since the sellers had not seen that coming, the retail and  shipping  industry experienced a sudden pressure. There was a delay in deliveries, and there was tax trouble. Who would like it if a gift that you ordered does not arrive on time, or is stuck at customs and now you have to pay more to get it. Don’t make your customers go through that this Diwali. Here is a list of tips for doing great this holiday season.

1)Promise only what you can deliver-
Small, newer businesses tend to overquote and under deliver. Instead, taking up smaller orders that you can fulfil and ship on time is a better strategy than taking up a lot on your plate and then asking for more time.

2)Prioritise quality over quantity- 
As difficult as it may seem, saying no to excess orders and prioritising quality over quantity works in the longer run, especially at the time of the festive season. Most of the time, and especially during holidays, markets run based on sentiments. So, a poorly made product or improper delivery can hurt your business more than turning a few customers down.

3)Automate compliance-
Planning for the festival is not only about planning your production and shipping. It has to do a lot with strategising automation. For example, did you know that most retailers face the following problems while selling across international borders?

• Goods stuck at customs
• Rejection by customers and abandonment of cart
• Penalties and fines
• Hidden costs charged to customers.

There are three common things about all these problems.

1. All these problems arise due to inadequate compliance or miscalculation of taxes, or misinformation.
2. All these problems result in disappointment among customers.
3. One can avoid all these problems with automation.

This festive season, make your customers happy by delivering your beautiful products on time by picking automation. Using technology in compliance makes it faster, cheaper and error-free. You will be able to estimate taxes correctly and save time and focus on fulfilling your orders.

4)Communicate with your customers-
Whatever news it is, communicating with your customers about delivery, taxes, and delays have become important. Many businesses also resort to writing small personal notes, thank you cards and feedback forms to elevate the shopping experience. Proper communication has more than one benefit and can help you build solid and long-lasting relationships with your customers.

5)Plan to keep the business accessible during the festive season-
While many shoppers shop proactively before time, there is an equal number of spontaneous shoppers during the holiday season. If you plan your production, marketing and shipping and compliance strategies, you will have more room for the spontaneous shoppers and, in turn, make more business. You will have more time for work and other family commitments as well. Spend your holidays at home by having foolproof strategies.We are in the new  age where digitalisation has paced life, and welcoming it with open hands will take your business places. Embrace the new markets fearlessly, putting innovative strategies to use.

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes implement strategies utilising automation in compliance in the place of  manual processes. Our cross-border solutions have helped many organisations in estimating duties in real-time and unifying reports for compliance. Check out our website and get in touch with our experts today.

Tax policies keep changing. Keeping up to date with them becomes an extra task. We keep posting about  changes in tax regulations and keep updating our software to ensure a seamless selling experience for our  customers. Please read our blog to stay up to date with the changes and get tips and insights on eCommerce.