As restrictions remain in place, and trading difficulties for many industries continue,  Kooomo are thrilled to announce that they are waiving their set up fees in a bid to help bricks and mortar retailers get set up online. Kooomo has created the aid scheme in order to mitigate the risks to these retailers that have come about due to Covid19.
At present, retailers find themselves making large scale decisions within a shortened time – meaning they must now consider avenues that they have not before or had the resources to supply in the past – with the world pulling together, and eCommerce becoming recognised as a lifeline to many retailers now is the time for Kooomo to open the door and ensure retailers can make it through this difficult period. 

Why now?

Late last week, the Irish Government announced that €1 billion of support was now ready for COVID-19 impacted SMEs. The scheme is made up of various offerings including a loan scheme to help with any liquidity issues businesses may now be facing. 
The announcement was made on Thursday last by Business Minister, Heather Humphreys stating; “This package is a significant step-up in the support available for all businesses in all sectors at this very difficult time.” 
The stepping stone of this announcement. is the extension of support to get businesses trading online, worth €7.6 million – allowing Kooomo to gratify services to medium to large enterprises who may not have previously had access to funds for a digital presence. 
There are many things to consider when deciding to move online, which is a contributing factor as to why so many had not made the extension previous to the pandemic. Now, Coronavirus has made companies do things which they have never done before – which is to understand that their business needs a digital presence. Those who are struggling or not selling anything need to quickly move into an online version of their business. The scheme Kooomo has now implemented is designed to help retailers do that and to ensure they continue to trade in these difficult and trying circumstances. 

How it will benefit retailers.

Kooomo – which normally operates on a revenue-share model once a merchant is set-up – has agreed to waive its setup fees that usually consist of about €40,000. The only cost to the retailer is a fixed fee or revenue share on goods sold. Opening the service up to immediate set up without the need for a financial resource.

Ciaran Bollard, CEO of Kooomo says “We made this decision to help support retailers in this trying and uncertain time. No one knows when current restriction measures will be lifted or if a second wave of this deadly virus may be expected. This is a great opportunity for retailers and brands to utilise this support in conjunction with government aid packages such as the COVID-19 impact scheme. We all must help each other out in these trying times and accelerating eCommerce initiatives is a great way to kick-start trade and future proof your business.”

However, the initiative put forward by Kooomo is about far more than simply creating an online presence – the idea is to future proof businesses beyond the lockdown. With the uncertainty surrounding the aftermath of Covid19, Kooomo believes that an omnichannel solution will be the key to bringing people back to bricks and mortar when the time comes, according to Daniel Viniegra, Head of Growth, Spain/ France;

 “People are likely to be wary of going to stores for the next year/year and a half as the fear of Covid19 will likely still be present. More than ever eCommerce will need to do its job in supporting the physical stores that will remain open (although there will probably be less than we had a few months ago). However, there will still be people on the streets going shopping and perhaps shops will convert to pick up locations and increase the use of click and collect to fuel that. We will see, within the next few months, how the whole user experience is going to change. It’s not going to be a total shift toward eCommerce forever more but I think we’ll see a few changes and trends in how people experience brands and retailers.”

Cloud commerce solutions such as Kooomo then allow all of those options, channels, and touch-points to be synchronised – providing a fluid customer experience, regardless of what way they are shopping. Therefore, this is no quick-fix solution but rather an acceleration towards longevity.

Conclusion

Kooomo has always operated on a model that ensures we are all driven to succeed – this has never been more true than now. We have always discussed how online can fuel offline and vice versa. This scheme is designed to help retailers who currently don’t have an online presence or perhaps need to upgrade what they do have quickly. eCommerce is complex and requires a powerful platform to help fuel success and the Kooomo platform does just that. It is born and optimised from over 20 years of experience in the industry. We’re looking forward to a future where current struggling retailers can prosper – Bringing offline and online much closer than the 2-metre rule.