DIGITAL business growth is the upside of lockdown and COVID restrictions, according to the new WP Engine Generation Resilience Report 2021.

Published on Tuesday, 21 September, the report looks at the impact Covid-19 has had on Australian online behaviours, motivations and preferences, including young Australians’ interest in opening online retail businesses.

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The data shows COVID regulations have driven the inspiration of a new generation of retailers and that consumers demand better eCommerce experiences.

Shane O’Brien of Coast Agency, a local boutique creative design and marketing agency, told News Of The Area, “We’ve assisted a lot of businesses to pivot and reinvent themselves during COVID – all part of a ‘create, adapt and thrive’ approach to using this moment as an opportunity for our clients.

“During the pandemic, brand strategy/logo design and e-commerce website development have dominated our project schedule.

“With so many people having to shift focus and direction, my team has dubbed 2021 as the ‘year of the rebrand’.

“That said, we’ve also assisted countless bricks-and-mortar businesses finally do business online.

“Doing so has allowed many businesses to keep their doors open 24/7 during COVID.”

As a long-standing local business themselves, Coast Agency’s processes and understanding of their community have meant they could provide speed to market for clients who had to close their doors to customers in a matter of hours in some cases.

“For example, Kristi Mulhall of French-inspired café Pansabella Providores, is one of our local hospitality clients that we worked with when her café wasn’t able to operate.

“We used our digital marketing skills to get creative, setting up flexible online campaigns that supported new sections of her website that focused on the gifting opportunity and made it easy for people to buy online.

“When you can’t meet for coffee, you can still send florals, hampers and gifts – all of which were incredibly divine and unlike anything else on the market.

“Kristi’s e-commerce side of the business has had huge success during COVID, with significant exponential growth and amazing ROI.

“We are so proud to have grown alongside many successful local brands and businesses.”

By Andrea FERRARI