Entrepreneur’n Moore

How do You Move Your Brick-and-Mortar Business Online? U nlike months passed, current conditions have a lot of you feeling the pain of decreased sales but Add a search bar Let’s continue talking about simplicity. made. That won’t drive sales. Provide easily accessible customer more so if you’re a brick-and-morNow that you’ve removed some clutter service tar retailer. Online selling platforms such and simplified your menu options, you’ll Not all of the transactions on your as Shopify, help retailers shift from brickstill need to make additional changes. e-commerce site will go smoothly. Cusand-mortar to online, so they can weather Since visitors will have fewer menu setomers will have questions and problems. this storm and build a more resilient business. lections, they’ll see more products when This is inevitable. When people are expethey click on each category. I know some riencing an issue, such as finding a prod

Below are three options which will help of you may not have a ton of products for uct or troubleshooting an item they have increase sales, depending on your particsale, but other e-commerce sites could previously purchased, you want to make ular situation: have hundreds or potentially thousands sure they can get help as soon as possiof options to choose from. Forcing users ble. That’s why you need to have readi• Set up “curbside pickup” for local to scroll through these choices randomly ly available customer service support customers: Curbside pickup allows your won’t drive sales and conversions. That’s through various options such as Phone; local customers to buy something online why implementing a search bar is the Email, Live Chat. and pick it up outside your store—withbest solution. out ever having to leave their car. This Go mobile

“drive-through” option not only minimizBuy a premium web hosting service. Your e-commerce site needs to be opties person-to-person interactions, but it’s Speed is one of the most critical elemized for mobile devices. That’s because, also faster and reduces shipping costs. ments of a successful e-commerce webin the last six months, 62% of people who site. Each page needs to load fast to owned a smartphone used their devices • Offer “local delivery”: Local delivyield high conversions. Research shows to complete online purchases. ery allows customers to buy your proda one-second delay in page loading time ucts online and have you deliver them can lead to a 16% decrease in customer Display high-quality product images straight to their doorstep. An email lets satisfaction and a 7% loss in conversions. Having an e-commerce shop means them know you’re on your way, so you If your site has a two or three-second deThe visitor’s eyes should customers don’t get to touch and feel can drop their package at the door without any face-to-face contact. It’s safe, fast, and convenient. lay, you’re in big trouble. Even worse than a slow loading time is site crashes, glitches, or error reports. be drawn straight to a Call to Action button or the products the same way they can in a physical store. They rely on pictures to give them a sense of what they’re buy• An Alternative to Using Online Eliminate steps in your checkout process products you sell. ing. That’s why you need to take multiple pictures from every angle of each prod

Shopping Platforms: like Shopify, AmOnce a website visitor decides to buy uct you’re selling. I know this may seem azon, E-bay, Etsy… is to make changes to your existing web site or create a new something, they should find it easy to complete the purchase. It’s your job to search engine optimization. tedious, but it’s necessary. Zoom in and highlight all the top features and benefits. website to accommodate an e-commerce store. Here are thirteen best practices to consider which will help you increase conversions from your e-commerce store, to generate more leads and add additional sales revenue to your bottom line: Avoid clutter E-commerce websites with simple designs have higher conversion rates. There should be a clear point of focus. The visitor’s eyes should be drawn straight to a CTA (Call to Action) button or products you sell. 53% of websites have CTAs that take visitors more than three seconds to locate. You should be aiming for a time make it so. Each additional step in the checkout process will increase the chances of them abandoning the transaction. In fact, 28% of consumers said they abandoned a shopping cart during checkout because the process was too long and complicated. Don’t force shoppers to create a profile (but encourage it) You want your buyers to go through the checkout process as quickly as possible. That’s why you need to offer a guest checkout option instead of forcing visitors to create a profile. That said, you can still encourage them to create a profile. Build an email subscriber list To have a successful e-commerce site, you need to have lots of visitors ready to buy. But how are you planning on driving traffic to your website? Building an e-commerce email list is one of your best options. Once you have a subscriber’s email address, you can contact them with special offers and promotions to entice sales. A great way to add subscribers is to collect email addresses during the checkout process. By default, this box is already checked off. Shoppers will have to deselect this option if they don’t want to be added to the subscriber list. Once people are added to your list, it’s the perFeature customer reviews and testimonials Testimonials and reviews are another way to add credibility to your products and brand. It’s vital that you include these on your e-commerce site. Conclusion Online shopping is the new normal – even before the current pandemic. Developing a strategy to sell online is essential – start with your best selling products. There are online platforms like Shopify, which make it cost-effective to get started. There are resources available to cremuch quicker than that. fect opportunity for you to send them ate your own e-commerce site. In today’s Prioritize SEO personalized offers to drive traffic to your environment, the ability to sell online is

Simplify your menus Not everyone who wants what you’re website and increase sales. essential to helping your business stay vi

Menus are a great way to stay orgaselling will navigate straight to your webable and a going-concern. nized and group what you’re selling - you site. In fact, research shows that 46% of Write informative product descriptions. don’t want to overcomplicate things. Too consumers start the buying process You can’t sell something with just a Henry Dumas many menu categories will confuse the through a search engine, such as Google. name. Each product on your website needs Business Coach consumer, preventing them from findIf your e-commerce site isn’t one of the to have an informative description. Explain ICF Credentialed Coach – PCC ing what they’re looking for. Your menu top results, they’ll buy from one of your how the product works by highlighting the linkedin.com/in/henrydumas shouldn’t be super-specific. Instead, use competitors instead. That’s why it’s so key benefits. You don’t need to explain the Moore Norman Technology Center broad terms to categorize your products. crucial for you to focus your efforts on entire history of the product or how it was 405-801-3540 • mntc.edu

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“Administration, leadership, teachers, support staff, kids, parents,” said McNear “For me, making sure that everyone’s opinions were heard was critical. And then doing it to what we really felt like was best for our kids, because the bottom line that’s what we’re here for is our kids and our teachers. I think it’s important to bring everybody to the table when you’re going to make a big decision like this. You have to make sure you get it right for them”.

In addition to a commitment to transparency, Peak and McNear say a commitment to the health and safety of everyone is the highest priority. With that in mind, the district has established the following health protocols for schoolday operations at the elementary and secondary levels:

(Again, there is a tremendous amount of information related to these protocols that we cannot include in this article. To see the entire plan, visit www.mooreschools.com and click on the red “plus” button near the top of the page.)

HOME HEALTH SELF-SCREENINGS

It is important that all families and staff partner with us in monitoring health. We ask that students and staff take their temperature on a daily basis at home prior to coming to MPS facilities and events, and follow the self-screening checklist on page 10. No student or staff with a fever of 100.0 degrees or higher may enter any MPS facility. No fever-reducing medication may be taken to reduce fever.

TEMPERATURE DEVELOPS WHILE AT SCHOOL

If a student or staff member exhibits a fever of 100.0 degrees or greater while at school, they must immediately be picked up from school or leave (if they are a driver). They cannot return to school until they are fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.

MASKS & FACE COVERINGS

MPS will make every effort to promote healthy practices and protocols. Social distancing will be implemented when possible. Mask requirements may change due to the COVID-19 health climate, local, state, and/or federal requirements.

Grades 7-12: Masks and face coverings will be required for students and staff due to larger classes and greater student mobility during passing periods and lunches.

Grades PreK-6: Masks and face coverings are recommended for students and staff. This is due to appropriate developmental level of elementary students. All MPS families are encouraged to have a mask and/or face covering available for their child(ren) in case a requirement for school is enacted.

Note: Teachers will work to encourage that students follow their parent’s/guardian’s wishes to wear a mask or face covering, though it is ultimately the responsibility of the student to follow their parent’s/guardian’s directive. This is subject to change if we receive other directives from the

Oklahoma State Department of Education or other state authorities.

Mask and face coverings are not always best for the health of our students with medical concerns. Their parents/guardians must contact your school nurse to receive an exemption.

All MPS staff will be provided face coverings and/or face shields.

Face coverings and masks must not include messages or images that distract from the learning environment as outlined for other articles of clothing in school dress code policies.

TRANSPORTATION MPS transports approximately 12,000 students daily. The district intends to continue traditional busing services for existing routes. Due to the large number of students that rely on transportation provided by the district, social distancing will be challenging and may not be possible on all buses. Therefore, masks are required for all students while riding the bus due to close proximity. Mask and face coverings are not always best for the health of our students with

medical concerns. Their parents/guardians must contact your school nurse to receive an exemption. Transportation vehicles will be frequently cleaned and disinfected daily. When possible, windows will be down for air circulation, as recommended by the CDC and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Parents need to take these factors into consideration when deciding if school or personal transportation is best for their child. Also, plan for longer drop-off/ pick-up lines. If there is a shortage of bus drivers, due to COVID-19, the district may need to alter and/or temporarily suspend bus routes.

ACADEMIC PROGRESS

MPS Curriculum Coordinators and Teachers worked throughout the summer to revise yearly curriculum pacing guides to include academic standards that were not taught last spring due to COVID-19. Students will have the opportunity to master any missed standards throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

ATTENDANCE

It is imperative for the health and safety of all students to learn remotely on days they have a fever or other symptoms of illness. Students who have a health reason that is verified by a parent/guardian or medical professional will receive an excused absence.

CLASSROOMS

Classroom desks and common seating areas (including tables) will be arranged to maximize space between students.

“We’ve been careful to show that we do care about safety for everyone as our primary concern,” said McNear. “That’s one of the reasons we’re offering three different options for students and for all the safety protocols. We understand that it can be a tough call for parents on whether or not to come back for traditional school. We want people to make the best decision for them.”

“No two people view the situation in the same way,” said Peak. “Families are all in different places when it comes to their home situation. Some families are multigenerational and have older people living in their household that they don’t want to risk exposure to. Other families have a lack of resources or other issues that it’s essential for their kids to be able to go to a classroom and have a hot breakfast and lunch provided. There is no one-size-fits-all option on the table. But we can do everything we can to make it as safe as possible.”

When it comes to safety in a pandemic setting, nobody understands the challenges better than Dr. Doug Drevets, Infectious Disease Specialist at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center. While Dr. Drevets’ isn’t directly involved with back-to-school efforts, he said he appreciates the challenges faced by everyone ...........................continued on Page 16

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involved in the education environment as they look to return to school in the fall.

“I think you have to remember that in this world, with COVID, nothing is ever truly ‘safe,’ or is ever going to be safe,” said Dr. Drevets. “You have to think about it as low-risk vs. high-risk and what you can do at schools to make things low-risk.”

To see the entire plan, visit www.mooreschools.com and click on the red “plus” button near the top of the page.

“For those who are capable of doing distance education, it would be reasonable to let them do that,” said Dr. Drevets. “That just decreases the numbers of students you have in school that you have to deal with. I realize that not everybody can do that, but if some can, that would be a win for them.”

The social distancing options, hand sanitization, and extra precautions during mealtimes are also important, according to Dr. Drevets. One other thing he strongly suggests is that parents pay special attention to this fall’s flu vaccine and make sure their children are vaccinated.

“We will have influenza this fall, and it’s just one infection you don’t need to worry about so much if you just get the kids vaccinated,” said Dr. Drevets. “If you have an outbreak of influenza, you won’t know that it’s influenza until you test everybody, and it would just eliminate so many headaches if you would have a high uptake of flu vaccine coverage for the school children.”

The health of students, teachers, and staff is at the top of the list for MPS administrators as they continue to adapt their Return to Learn plan. A quick glance at Facebook or Twitter is all you need to see the challenges faced by the team. Peak and McNear said they understand that no matter what plan or options they come up with, it won’t cover all the changing possibilities. And for that reason, there will always be second-guessing or questions from the public. They just want people to understand that the motivation for everything they do is the Moore Public School students.

“We truly love kids,” said McNear. “We love our teachers. We love our community. And I think that’s just, I mean, what I would want people to know.”

“Every single person I have visited with by phone or email in response to our plan has been positive about what we’re trying to do,” said Peak. “Folks are legitimately struggling to figure out what is best for their child, and we’ve been happy to give as much personalized attention as we can. We do that because, as Michelle said, we truly love our kids, our teachers, our staff, and our community.