COVID-19 had a huge impact on digital marketing and commerce, forcing many industries to re-think about the way they operate. While the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic had a very negative impact in many areas, it could prove to have had a positive impact on the ecommerce industry.
Why do we expect to see a growth in ecommerce?
Ecommerce has been steadily growing for years, with more and more businesses introducing an online shopping element to their websites. Despite this, high-street shops are still popular, seeing millions of customers every year. However, in early 2020, that started to change.
New government guidelines brought about thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that all non-essential shops had to close their doors in April of 2020. Naturally, this was a major impediment to a variety of businesses, but many online industries saw almost no changes, while some began doing even better than usual.
While it’s impossible to say whether it’s the case yet, we predict that due to the closure of many traditional shops, online retailers may look back and see a boom while the high streets were closed. 2020 proved to be the year where ecommerce became well and truly essential. Because of this, offering existing and new customers a way to purchase products even when the shopfront is closed, ensure’s that you’ll be able to keep your business running even in times of crisis.
A new type of ecommerce customer
With shops being forced to close in line with new government guidelines, ecommerce websites saw substantial growth in their audience. Self-isolation was particularly important for elderly people, a group historically less likely to engage in online shopping. However, unable to get to the shops in person, it’s likely that more and more members of groups such as this began moving their spending power online.
With these new customers entering the ecommerce market for the first time, the importance of having an ecommerce component within your business is highlighted. For the first time ever, many bricks and mortar businesses who rely on the patronage of elderly and vulnerable customers need to seriously consider bringing their business online.
A different online catalogue
Traditionally, fashion is the best performing industry online. Whether that’s from the ecommerce wing of high street retailers, high-end designer brands or online-only retailers such as Asos and Boohoo.com. Alongside fashion, travel companies and tech companies are some of the other top-performing ecommerce industries, but with people being forced to stay home, it’s likely that certain retail sectors which usually under-perform online started to see a big boost.
Health and beauty, as well as office supplies companies rely on in-store footfall to generate revenue, but both likely saw major growth in the wake of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. If you’re in these sectors and have put off implementing ecommerce into your website as your industry is not historically a high-performer when it comes to online shopping, now is the time to change that. Even after the pandemic, these new shopping habits are unlikely to change any time soon.
It’s impossible to say exactly how the ecommerce market will look following the Coronavirus pandemic, but we have no doubt that it’ll see some serious growth. If you’re now considering bringing an ecommerce element into your website, get in touch with Venture Motion to see how we can help. We’ll bring all of your products online and create a streamlined ecommerce site that your customers will love.
