Picking Up the Opportunities in the Middle of The Pandemic by Shafira Store

It has been more than a year that we have been fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, which, in fact, not only reminds us to maintain our health, but also encourages us to make various innovations. The reason is, since the emergence of this epidemic, we cannot carry out our activities as usual. We must always use a mask when outside the home to avoid the risk of transmitting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Business people also feel this change in habit, especially those who operate their business offline. How not, the number of visitors has decreased significantly because people are encouraged to stay at home. The same condition was experienced by one of Cashlez’s business partner from Bandung, namely Shafira, who then made an innovation so that their customers could still shop safely, easily, and quickly without having to come directly to the store.

On Cashlez’s visit to the Shafira Store located in Cikajang, Dede as the Store Manager explained how important the strategy of "picking up the ball" is in the midst of a pandemic. Instead of waiting for visitors, Dede and his colleagues created opportunities to keep Shafira running amid the pandemic. They optimize digital platforms and instant messaging to reach customers.

For Dede and his colleagues at Shafira, customers are not only parties who buy products, but also parties who have an important influence on Shafira’s development. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of maintaining good relationships with customers. "When interacting, we don’t only think of customers as people who want to find Shafira’s products, but also show our family attitude so that a sense of trust and closeness with buyers can be awakened," said Dede.

In order to maximize the quality of online services, Shafira has also optimized Cashlez to provide an online card payment feature that can accept various cards. So, after Shafira’s customers choose products such as scarves, blouses, dresses, and religious equipment, Dede and his colleagues will send a payment link via instant messaging. Besides being safe, easy, and fast, customers don’t need to think anymore, whether the bank they are using is the same as the holding bank in Shafira or not.

Whoever we are and whatever role we play, the Covid-19 pandemic has an impact on our daily activities. However, through the creativity that we have, of course we can adapt to the existing situation. What adjustments have you made due to this pandemic?