FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, file photo, a driver with FedEx carries a package away from a van, in Seattle. FedEx says its profit nearly tripled in its most recent quarter, despite winter weather that hobbled some of its facilities. Online shopping has surged during the pandemic as more people avoid going inside stores. That has made package delivery companies like FedEx in high demand. When the pandemic hit, Carolina Sanchez-Hervas had to make some big changes to her small business.
Before going virtual, “we were all in a closed room for eight hours with no mask or anything,” Sanchez-Hervas says, “I think everyone has had to kind of adapt because it wasn’t an option to do in person” anymore. “Pre-pandemic, people sort of thought that social media was a nice-to-have,” says Elyse Flynn Meyer, owner of Prism Global Marketing Solutions, a digital marketing company specializing in inbound marketing. “It’s really a need-to-have.”As public health guidelines encouraged more people to stay at home, many small businesses that used to rely on in-person sales quickly moved online. Seeking these alternative sales channels was a quick lesson for brick-and-mortar shops.