Drilling down on impact of COVID-19 on eCommerce business!

Let’s start the discussion with a positive note on COVID 19.

“In a small trial of 53 people, who were sick with COVID -19, the scientists noticed 68% improvement by using a drug called “Remdesivir”.  It is still very early to conclude, but researchers have reported positive findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.”

Some developing stories about COVID 19…

• Over 1.8 million confirmed positive cases recorded worldwide.
• Tech giants like Apple and Google shake hands to develop contact tracing apps to alert users exposed to COVID 19.
• Several studies are going to validate the effectiveness of antibodies to get details of disease spared and help in opening the world economy.
• A lot of speculations going about the extension of lockdown across the world.

The pandemic continues to expand all over the world. More than 214 countries and territories have been affected by the COVID 19. With cases of more than 1.8 million and 114,270 deaths, the world has seen a great impact of coronavirus on a social, mental, and economical level. The sudden pause experienced by businesses ranging from airlines and the hotel industry to banking and information technology could be an alarming situation for survival.

While higher authorities across the world are juggling to figure out how to move ahead with lockdown situations, in such a surreal experience of self-isolation, the discussion is heating up about how the businesses in the different sectors will be lifted after lockdown. Based on the CRISIL rating, there is a total of 35 business sectors impacted due to the COVID 19 pandemic, with a total debt of Rs. 23 lakh crores! The IT industry and eCommerce businesses are one of those impacted business sectors.

Pretty soon, the countries will figure out how to open with a positive note and move forward. The leaders will try to convince us all to get back to normal and everything is going to be positive. But, how eCommerce business across the world sees the world after lockdown? Will it is a game-changer for the future generation or will it be a flop show after COVID-19 pandemic?

Let’s try to figure out how eCommerce business will shape in the future and how you can get help website development services to regain the market share in such a pandemic situation!

Understanding Online Consumer Behaviour

As more and more cities are currently in lockdown status, there is a huge decline noticed in visiting public places even to purchase necessary household things. Limiting the shopping for only the essentials has become a normal behavior in the consumers. Moreover, panic buying was the major psychological behavior witnessed in the customer.

360-degree change in revenue across the eCommerce business

Since people have embraced social distancing as a remedy to overcome the pandemic, there is a natural drop in brick-and-mortar shopping. This means that there will be an exponential increase in online shopping to purchase life essentials. Was the prediction accurate?

Well, in reality, eCommerce sales are not at all as high as expected, except certain industries where they found exponential growth in their online business during COVID-19. This is 100% true for the online retailers of household goods and groceries. One survey from Engine found that people are spending 10% to 30% more online at this moment.

Which products are seeing growth in the current situation?

Grocery eCommerce is on the peak!

In the lockdown period, grocery eCommerce business soared during March month, since customers were coming online to search the goods required but were not available at their local grocery stores. The graph below from Rakutan Intelligence shows the behavior of grocery eCommerce in comparison with other eCommerce businesses.

Medical, Cleaning, Food & Beverage are winners – other eCommerce product categories received negligible growth

In addition to grocery eCommerce, medical, clearing, food and beverages received a great response from the online consumers. However, it was observed that other eCommerce products were not at all showing any progress in terms of business. Just refer to a graph shown below from Common Thread Collective.

Subscription services are doing excellent during COVID 19!

While other eCommerce products are not so excited in terms of overall sales or revenue, there are some exceptions in it. One such exception is subscription and convenience services, which is the most popular among the consumers during the lockdown period. Have a look at the survey from WITHIN to understand how well subscription and convenience services are doing at this moment.

Which search terms are declining?

While healthcare and safety products, stable goods, food & beverages, and digital streaming products are doing well in terms of sales and revenue, luxury goods, fashion and apparel have lost a lot of visitors at this moment. Aside from this, travel has understandably suffered a big hit at this time.

So, how eCommerce business can get up and ready for the future?

Well, many eCommerce businesses should be revisiting their budgets considering digital marketing, product listings and supply chain management. If required, they should consult the professional web design agency or web development company India to plot a future strategy. It is a high time when eCommerce businesses should follow the strategy shown below:

• Utilize or track digital marketing budget efficiently to target specific products or services considering COVID 19 pandemic.
• Go for retaining organic visibility at this moment. Organic search is the most trusted option in this scenario. People will start searching, and in reality, more than ever before. So, hold your organic visibility.
• Try to innovate with your eCommerce solution with the help of the professional website Design Company in India and enhance user experience through AR/VR technologies.
• And don’t forget to be a helping hand in this pandemic situation! It is a great opportunity to re-gain your lost image or improve the existing image in front of the customers.
• Try to create the community on social media to help out the needy ones.
• It is important to be available early in the morning until late in the evening. It is important to understand consumer behavior in this situation and try to let them know you are always available anytime, anywhere!

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At this time, even though we feel isolated and frustrated, but the coming days will be positive for everyone one of us and will give enough opportunities to do excellent on the social as well as eCommerce level. However, if you still feel you need expert guidance or assurance that everything will be alright, get in touch with the professional web development company India! meanwhile, STAY HEALTHY, STAY HOME, and STAY SAFE!