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Coronavirus has become the worst nightmare in the world. With every passing day, the increasing infected cases are rising with the death rate ringing the alarms. The latest updates say that the infected patients around the world have crossed 29 million marks with more than 900K deaths.
Businesses have been shutting down, laid-offs increased excessively, unemployment went to shocking figures, partial and impartial lockdowns were imposed, gatherings of all types were canceled, all this has been happening since the start of this year.
However, businesses seem to turn the tables by transitioning to digital platforms. With physical shopping banned and stores were closed, the only possible means to carry the business operations is going digital and use e-commerce methodology.
The e-commerce industry has been expanding every year for more than a decade. But in recent circumstances since the start of 2020, the e-commerce industry has even seen more expansion. Advanced e-commerce is collaborated with Artificial intelligence and machine learning to make the processes even smoother.
E-commerce sales are surging – Be a part of it
E-commerce sales are surging up since the start of this pandemic. The reason has been quite clear. Almost all businesses are forced to shut down, and people are not allowed to shop physically, because maintaining social distancing is necessary to slow down the spread of the disease.
Although things are somewhat getting back to normal in many parts, stores and businesses are reopening to some extent. Still, e-commerce sales are soaring and not seem to slow down.
In the first two quarters of 2020, consumers had spent around $347.26 billion with online US retailers, a surge of 30% from the same period in 2019, when the sales were $266.84 billion, according to United States Department of Data.
The rise in e-commerce sales mainly came in the second quarter of 2020. This period was notable, or the change in consumer behavior as this was the time when the whole world was greatly plagued with the virus, and people were stuck at homes doing nothing. Only in the second quarter of 2020, online spending was $211.5 billion, which was 31.8% over the first quarter.
Although the e-commerce spike was a little less because physical stores are opening as soon as the things were started going back to normal, in New York, a significant number of shoppers believe that online shopping is the new trend and will stay longer.
According to a consulting company, Kantar, 40% of the consumers believe that they have increased or shifted their shopping nature amid the coronavirus.
E-commerce has been the trend that is here to stay. For example, in the early 2000s, the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) made e-commerce giants such as Alibaba and JD.com the shopping solution for every house. A very similar situation is what we are experiencing now, and business giants are eyeing everything.
Why you should invest in e-commerce business
Unfortunately, not all businesses have shifted their paradigms and gone digitally. Some were still trying hard to run things traditionally. E-commerce is the new face of the business industry. The digital world has been occupying everything, and it is better to run along with trends, or you will regret later.
Here are the 12 best ways to motivate you to step-in digitally and earn well.
1. Consumer behavior is changing
The Coronavirus pandemic has altered human behavior to a great extent. Business nature has been changed, too, as the governments all over the world appealed people to stay at their homes and use digital platforms for making purchases considering public safety.
With the increasing developments in the technological sector, this change in consumer behavior was not difficult and achieved well. Although many people have depended on e-commerce stores for their essentials for quite a long time, the recent turnover in the circumstances has taken a massive chunk of the public on e-commerce platforms.
According to Nielsen, the changes in in-store and online shopping have been substantial. The sales of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) increased and recorded at $8.5 billion in the last two weeks of March 2020. More people were inclined towards online shopping because of the growing tension caused by Covid-19.
So, with the increasing shopper behavior, the businesses that aren’t using e-commerce platforms for their business can lag significantly.
2. Increase your online presence
Increasing online presence is also important for today’s brands, especially if you are a brick and mortar brand. You do not have the daily foot traffic of customers on the street because of the closures.
Having an online presence is a must for businesses these days because people do not trust brands that lack transparency. If your consumer is looking for something online, they must find you there. If you aren’t there, then you’re losing potential business.
Online presence is of great importance to reach out to new prospects as well. As internet users are growing, it would be great to capture them by ensuring your online presence.
You can be part of great online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Walmart Marketplace, etc. to market your products at their e-commerce stores. It is the best time to present your product to the audience as people are home and the only means of shopping is through online marketplaces.
3. Panic buying amid Coronavirus
Demand for certain goods has increased significantly during the pandemic. According to a marketing firm Brick Meets Click, 26% of online users are using e-commerce stores for the first time, and 43% of the people have been shopping online in the past and are likely to continue it.
Director of Gartner, Kyle Rees, said that presently consumers are not choosing the famous brands and are not even after brand royalty. They are looking for the quickest deliveries, and whosoever is doing that is getting the maximum orders.
So, taking your business to an e-commerce platform in this hour can give your business a boost, which is beneficial for you in these dire circumstances.
4. Safe business opportunity
All over the world, governments have asked the businesses to shut down their operations in the wake of public safety. But the best tip for small businesses to survive during this pandemic is to go digital and streamline their operations.
E-commerce allows you to continue your functions and avail of all the business opportunities. Business can be taken forward, deliveries can be made, social distancing can be practiced, and public health is safe. E-commerce is the better option in these times.
5. It builds a resilient business
Many businesses, particularly small and medium-sized, were struggling greatly with the virus outbreak, but companies that invested in the e-commerce technologies already didn’t lose much.
They continue their operations smoothly while keeping their operating costs (utilities, rent, and insurance) to the minimum.
Digital transformation has shown its importance to the world. In 2019, the Annual Industry Report of MHI, 80% of survey respondents believed that digital supply chains would be the most dominant model in the next five years.
The Guardian also reported that during the pandemic, consumers are spending $11,000 per second on Amazon. Best Buy, an electronic online store, has skyrocketed sales in a pandemic with 155%.
6. Agility with cloud shipping
A thought that perplexed several e-commerce businesses are to reduce the order fulfillment costs. Shipping the orders to the consumers can be expensive. This pops up many questions and concerns.
But, things aren’t difficult if you have strategies for better cost control. A lot of e-commerce businesses adopt a multi-carrier parcel shipping strategy for this purpose. Retailers contact multiple carrier service providers to have a deal according to their requirements, such as delivery locations, package sizes, and payment procedures.
All this is done through a cloud multi-carrier shipping system. With this system integrated, you can improve customer service and reduces the cost of transportation. Taking your business on the e-commerce platform gives your agility, and you can continue your operations without fearing the extension of the pandemic.
7. E-commerce is here to stay
Every person out there knows that e-commerce is the need for everyone, specifically in this time of coronavirus pandemic. Businesses are more precisely relying on e-commerce platforms to continue their operations.
Still, if you are missing out on this big opportunity, then you better reconsider your decisions. E-commerce is a solution in the longer run. Millions of people are adopting other ways to cope with this situation; for example, 44 million Americans have a side hustle reportedly for income.
People are connected with technology and as long as the technology connects them. There isn’t any going back, and e-commerce stays for a longer time.
8. It allows you to showcase
E-commerce platforms allow you to show and display what defines you the best- your strengths and claim to fame. By using these platforms, you can show the audience your best talents and what you sell that customers love the most.
E-commerce platforms give you a digital presence and remove all the barriers that come in your way. With this option, you can display your brand and showcase your products to a massive audience that wasn’t possible with the physical shops.
For more popularity and enhancement, word of mouth also plays an integral part as it gets popular like wildfire and creates excellent demands. E-commerce stores are go-to platforms for millions out there. Youth has been the most addicts to it.
For example, Millennials are most found on social media and e-commerce platforms. If they get attracted to one brand or a platform, they discuss it on different platforms, and hence the popularity of the brand grows.
They do photo captions, discussions on different platforms, share it with their friends and peers, or even use it in their family conversations. Isn’t that an exciting way to market your product with zero investment? We know it is! So, taking your business to the e-commerce store is of high importance.
9. Target specific audience
E-commerce business allows you to target your product to the right audience. By having the exact strategies implemented, you can serve and win the audience in your expertise’s exact niche.
Targeting the exact niche can be tricky. You can use the following steps if planning on shifting to an e-commerce store. These would surely help you. You can also look for useful tips to increase e-commerce conversions.
- Understand what your brand is about and what consumers are looking for.
- Picture your potential customers and what they expect from you and how you can make their experience wonderful and pleasing.
- If you deal with multi-products, then segment your products for a different audience.
- Always take surveys and ask for customers’ feedback as it would help you in improving and serving better.
- Never let go of the competitors of your sight and focus.
- Always update your marketing efforts and ever just let it be standardized.
10. Giants are tripling their revenues – You should too
The e-commerce giants have been witnessing massive spikes in their businesses during the covid-19 pandemic. For example, Amazon, the world’s leading giant of e-commerce, has continued seeing increased traffic since the pandemic.
The second quarter of 2020 was unexpected for Amazon’s sales, as the revenue surges 43% because of the grocery sales tripled the charts.
Have a look over the comparison of sales (2019-2020).
11. Innovation is necessary
It is important to use innovative methods for your business so that nothing stops you from moving on. In the current circumstances where the world has taken by coronavirus and companies succumb to it, the only possible thing for the business industry is by adopting innovation and going digitally.
E-commerce stores are the innovation that most of the businesses have been using for a long. Still, for brick and mortar stores, it has been entirely necessary to stay in trend, adopt innovation, and see your business’s progress.
12. The best option amidst the crises
Nations have been seeing partial and impartial lockdowns, closures of stores considering the public safety and avoiding every chance of contracting the coronavirus. Amidst all these, the best option is to go digitally and make an e-commerce store where people can easily purchase what they want.
Many online businesses have developed a curbside strategy amidst the pandemic to counter the circumstances. The curbside pickup growths have grown more than 35% since December 2019.
Conclusion
Having an e-commerce store is of great benefit, especially in these current times when the situation is upside down. Businesses will only be stable if they go digitally and increase their digital presence.
