The coronavirus outbreak caught thousands of tradesmen and institutions unprepared, as well as the public at large. With consumer behavior having necessarily changed due to quarantine conditions, tradesmen, the self-employed and every institution, small or large, have had to keep up with this transformation. With buying habits moving toward electronics, tradesmen have begun to look for a solution. Thousands of businesses, as well as educational and governmental institutions, have switched to online meetings and video conferencing. Each solution that helps prevent pileups in hospitals has come from telehealth technology startups. It is now possible to find domestic solutions for video conferencing, digital advertising, e-invoice, remote payments and telehealth services.

Global companies have been giving priority to their own countries, posing various risks in terms of security in the meantime. However, the more successful have come in the form of digital transformation to shore up social distancing.

Online platforms such as fast delivery startup Getir, popular online food delivery website Yemeksepeti and the Migros virtual market have all contributed to social distancing in their own way. Now, while support increases for social distancing with new-generation startups, people whose businesses have been struck economically could be enabled to participate in production again.

Customer data is vital

Now, it seems, customer data is many businesses' golden ticket.

With the streets empty and no one at stores or restaurants, Digital Exchange has been leading the drive to give detailed reports and information about what the customer is looking for and how companies can respond. Step-by-step, the online company both mobilizes and guides its clients, providing support for purchasing.

If you have thousands or even millions of customers, then it means you need a good partner in the field of customer relationship management (CRM).

In other words, according to every item of feedback you receive from customers, you have to act flexibly and work with a solution-oriented approach. Startups like Etiya, which serve millions of customers such as Turkey's leading information and communication technologies company Türk Telekom, allow you to manage your organization and sales teams according to customer behavior with CRM solutions.

Buy online, pay fast and safely

The global pandemic has a huge impact on shopping habits and payment preferences. While e-commerce has become the most important supply platform of basic consumption needs, consumers have also been trying to minimize physical contact in terms of payment methods. Payment methods research conducted by Mastercard Turkey to study the effect COVID-19 has had on transactions shows that online shopping increased by 15% during the outbreak. Some 63% of consumers who shop with cards prefer contactless transactions. While 53% of consumers stated that they used contactless payment because it was "more hygienic," the rate of those who stated that they preferred this method because it was "'faster" only came to around 40%.

Shopping time shortened

According to the results of the study, card payments in market shopping stand at 64%, while cash use remains at 35%. Another prominent finding specified in the study is the shortened duration of shopping. The outbreak has caused 58% of consumers to complete their shopping much faster than they used to. This situation has also revealed a change in gender-based shopping habits. Women who used to spend more time while shopping now try to finish their shopping much faster. While 60% of the female participants stated that they accelerated their shopping in this period, this rate stands at 55% for men. These results show that the difference in gender-based consumption habits has disappeared in terms of shopping duration during the outbreak period.

Corner store of the internet

In fact, being visible on the internet is much like appearing before a customer when it comes to Google searches or social networks. With your restaurant or store closed, Digital Exchange provides a boost to online visibility. Today, it has become even more important to reach the right target audience with the right tools since business owners already have limited resources. At this point, companies can examine where and how much they spend with detailed reporting. Moreover, it is possible to calculate the return as well. This system supports companies' efforts to get the visibility and traffic they need in the digital world, providing support to reach the right target audience and boost customer royalty.

Keep the customer with remote payment

Many tradesmen who normally conduct business in their local neighborhood markets are thinking about how to move their work online under quarantine conditions. Moreover, many tradesmen who cannot establish a company are looking for a solution to eliminating the frustration of barely making a sale. They are currently thinking about how to sell products that they cannot physically sell while maintaining production.

Yes, there are very successful online marketplaces. It is possible to make sales from trendy buying and selling sites such as Trendyol, Hepsiburada, N11 and Gittigidiyor. However, the customers on these sites are not yours, they are simply using the platform. Remote payment systems whereby tradesmen can receive secure payments and meet customers are therefore in need.

PayALL provides all legal entities, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, patisseries, restaurants, lawyers, doctors and wholesalers, to receive remote payments in one day. Those who download the PayALL mobile wallet application can also pay tradesmen via the application without no need for cards or cash.

Start your company, make online sales

With the disappearance of neighborhood markets, farmers producing from small groves, as well as housewives selling homemade baby clothes, micro-producers and small tradesmen, can set up their own company to receive payments remotely within one day. Such small-time entrepreneurs can establish a private company within minutes with the Bizim Hesap application, receiving online payments in one day with PayALL.

Precisely at this time, even if many online marketplaces offer such help, it is not easy to get noticed among the countless producers on the market. The rest is quite simple, you can make sales on the website or Instagram.

Those wishing to establish a company at this time, amid social distancing measures, can establish a company in 10 minutes on Mukellef.co – all with no need to hit the tax office, notary or chambers of commerce.

Mukellef.co, which brings together the financial advisors and those who want to start a company, collects the documents required for the establishment of the company on the online system and after the review of the financial advisor, the company's set-up processes are carried out quickly and safely. The system also includes pre-accounting and e-invoice transactions.

Secure video calls

In every sector, from education to health, in-house meetings to negotiations between parties have all been moved to a virtual realm. However, doubts surrounding privacy on global apps like Zoom are growing.

Video conferencing methods used by individuals, companies and especially government institutions pose significant risks. We know that even major government institutions have been gathering via video calls, web.tv and the like, and these platforms can be used for everything from online education to business meetings. If you want, you can turn the broadcast into a training platform at your dealers or at educational institutions that students can watch. Moreover, you have a video channel that you can use continuously. This domestic startup also allows you to make changes instantly upon request.

Remote doctor's appointment

New platforms for telemedicine solutions have been introduced that allow doctors and patients to meet with no risk of infection.

The way to reduce the pileup in hospitals and the number of those infected, as well as to protect health care professionals, is to ramp up remote health services. Doctor Turkey, which received investment from Türk Telekom's venture capital company TT Ventures, offers a common platform for health care services of many institutions from municipalities to hospitals, thus providing pre-health services without any risk.

Resume customer relations online

If the number of your customers is measured in thousands, you have to respond to millions of people who come not only through the store but also through the call center, website and via social media.

Everything from sales to services has to be designed with a customer-oriented approach.

Here, with a correct CRM solution that sees customer data as a blessing in this regard, institutions are overcoming this challenging period. With its end-to-end CRM solution, Etiya provides tailor-made solutions with its talented and experienced engineering team of 1,000 people.