E-commerce: The Coronavirus Effect

In the initial days of the coronavirus pandemic, the e-commerce industry played a crucial role. When retail stores were being closed, it became the lifeline for people to get essentials and non-essentials delivered to home. But, as the pandemic progressed and lockdown extended, the e-commerce industry was staring at a grim future.

Initial Loss

Travel bans and limits on people’s movement in the initial weeks have put the e-commerce industry in a spot. With travel restrictions, making deliveries became impossible. The threat of the virus spreading by touching the surfaces of infected goods led to the banning of non-essential deliveries. Businesses have stopped promoting their goods online.

E-commerce As the Saviour

With large crowds being a source for the rapid spread of the virus, governments have banned shopping malls and big shopping centers from opening. But, to cater to the non-essential goods demand, e-commerce operations restarted in a staggered way. The result is businesses began investing heavily in digital marketing to promote their goods.

According to the COVID-19 Retail Trends Report of Bluecore, in North America, online sales of retail chains have increased by 80% year-on-year in April 2020. And the number of first time online purchasers through e-commerce sites of these traditional chains has grown by a whopping 119%. All this shows that there is a renewed interest in e-commerce.

Future of E-commerce

A survey from Core sight Research painted a grim picture for retail businesses. As per the survey, consumers are reluctant to go to shopping malls and stand-alone stores. The trend may persist for some years to come. Consumers are thus turning to e-commerce sites to buy goods. This means the e-commerce industry will see a bountiful future. On its part, the industry must ramp up its warehousing capacity and be innovative in managing the supply chain. It must find innovative delivery solutions owing to increasing demand.

As office space is moving to people's own homes, e-commerce players, and business that are taking online orders must keep up their online campaigning, be it through paid ads or social media marketing.

Consumers Are Seeking Value

According to a survey conducted by Survata, amidst the pandemic, most consumers are buying trusted and branded goods over generic goods. Thus, to boost sales, e-commerce businesses should adopt strategies to attract more branded goods to sell on their platforms.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic locked people away in their homes, making them dependent on home deliveries for survival. This makes e-commerce a savior. Overall, the e-commerce industry is in a sweet spot from where it can become the next big thing in the world.

Winning The Race

With the masses shifting towards e-commerce platforms for all their consumption needs and wants, and the growing fierce competition in the industry, their is a dire need for organisations to really connect with the audiences to ensure their survival in the market.

Advertising and marketing with localised content have proven to get twice as much results in terms of quality and quantity. ICS Dubai has all the localised marketing and advertising solutions under one roof!

So, if you aspire to penetrate and prevail the markets of UAE, just drop an email at info@ics-dubai.com.

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