Back in March, local businesses had no choice but to close up shop.
"It was really scary, because we have these big beautiful storefronts and a lot of rent due. And no customers. We shut down for nine weeks. We move very fast, so we immediately just pivoted and asked ok how can we do this," says Monique Fremin, Founder and Owner of Morgan Claire Boutique. She and her daughter, Morgan, the boutique's Chief Marketing Officer, knew the answer was something they'd seen even prior to the pandemic.
"We saw the shift happening in 2019 for sure. Our store sales were lower, and people were asking and a lot more instagram traffic and a lot more website questions popping up in our storefronts," says Morgan.
They directed traffic not only to a website but to a new platform: a free app where they started live sales. They're modeling clothes, interacting with shoppers in real time, and offering deals only available in the moment.
Now facing the biggest shopping weekend of the year, the store will switch up its annual tradition.
"We cancelled our traditional beat the clock, open early, this huge rush.. And we're just going to 50% off for people who do want to shop in stores," says Monique. "So we're going live every hour on the hour friday with new door buster deals each hour," adds Morgan.
The idea is that the shopper won't have to make a tough decision between a fun person to person, local shopping experience and feeling safe when it comes to the virus.
"The virtual sales have been just a little bright light in all of this darkness because I feel like we get to connect with them and just reach our people again and hang out," says Morgan, who looks forward to Black Friday.