Business View Caribbean | February 2021

72 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN FEBRUARY 2021 store’s bottom line and helped to build trust with customers. “I think people assumed that we would be a lot safer to shop with because of the way we went about things, how quickly we responded,” says Chang. “So our sales remained strong despite COVID.” Early on, Fontana positioned itself to become the go-to shop for COVID essentials in Jamaica. They were quick to respond in terms of changing their product mix, as well as changing the environment that people shop in and how they want to shop. During the first couple months of the pandemic, people were stocking up on their prescriptions, so the pharmacy side of the business began to outperform, along with the other departments in all the locations. Chang shares, “I think we pivoted quickly to the things that people were really jumping on early – hand sanitizers, the masks, thermometers, all of those types of items. We did see a drop off in other things like cosmetics. That was a global trend.” COVID-19 encouraged Fontana to pivot to new product avenues, as well. For example, they recently added more pet products to their lineup. “During COVID, so many people got new dogs,” Chang explains. “So, it’s an area we haven’t really looked at before, but we have been growing that. We are always looking to offer new lines.” To keep costs low, the company made adjustments to employee hours, moving to a four-day work week and other initiatives to reduce expenses. They also saw a significant jump in their website traffic. “Our online sales obviously grew,” says Chang. “It’s an emerging part of our business and we saw significant growth. Year-over-year it was roughly 400 per cent. We had been investing more in our website, even before the pandemic, but I think it just pushed us to do even more.” Fontana has been investing into its general technology as well, having recently hired a new IT manager to make sure their stores are all well-equipped. Upgrades to the point-of-sale system are also slated for the near-term future. The new system will provide Fontana Pharmacy