Disproportionately Adopter businesses (41% vs. 33% avg.), South Carolina SMBs leaned heavily into tech to get them through COVID–19, with four in five (80% vs. 72% avg.) increasing their use of digital tools during the pandemic and nearly half (47% vs. 42%) reassessing their approach to digital tools as a result of COVID-19.
Despite recognizing that digital tools helped them more during COVID–19 than previously (55% vs. 53% avg.), these SMBs’ rapid adaptation also posed challenges in managing digital tools (59% vs. 46% avg) and training employees on them (52% vs. 41% avg.). As a result, these SMBs need assurance of the overall helpfulness of tools (40%) before adoption.
1) Digital payments (78% vs. 67%)
2) Social media/video platforms (72% vs. 69%)
3) Business website (67% vs. 69%)
How will I...
Recover from the damages done by COVID-19? (48% vs. 44%)
Retain my customer base? (47% vs. 42%)
Optimize my business ops? (43% vs. 39%)
1) SEO (11% vs. 8%)
2) Local Listing (11% vs. 9%)
3) Online hiring platforms (10% vs. 8%)
1) Step-by-step video tutorials (60% vs. 56%)
2) Webinars or livestreams (48% vs. 47%)
3) Step-by-step written guides (47% vs. 42%)
Charleston, South Carolina
COVID-19 was a ‘wake up call’ for this digitally driven company. It increased its reliance on digital even more during the crisis by expanding their e-commerce capabilities and social media presence with great success.
