The impact of Coronavirus on Ecommerces

With COVID-19 on the horizon, the change in people's behavior will happen not due to the influence of technological advances, but due to environmental and sociological factors generated by the spread of the virus. This will make expectations about the growth of ecommerce higher than the usual expectations - since to prevent the disease from spreading, people will be more at home and will try to make their purchases online to avoid going to public places. In addition, many people who still had some doubts about online shopping will give themselves a chance to try this method given the circumstances.

Some studies predict that ecommerce sales in the UK could increase up to 40% because of the coronavirus, doubling the current figure of 20% of all retail sales. Some categories, such as food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, personal hygiene and beauty, are likely to see significant growth, as there will be a rising demand for essential products and goods during the peak of the crisis. Streaming videos and restaurant delivery are also expected to accelerate sales volume. Other categories of non-durable goods such as books, fashion & accessories and automobiles are expected to suffer little from the drop in demand as they will continue to be in demand. On the other hand, durable and high-value consumer goods tend to lose share, as consumers will prioritize other purchases until there is greater social and economic stability.

If we compare with what happened in China during the most critical phases of the outbreak, utility goods had sales spikes, while the sale of luxury goods showed a brief drop that is only resuming now, almost 3 months after the beginning of the problem in the country.

In addition, it is important to observe that both in China and in Europe and to a lesser extent in the USA, that many essential products have disappeared from store and market shelves due to high demand. The replacement time and the capillarity of physical stores means that these products may take a long time to return, while planned ecommerce purchases, as well as centralized and controlled inventory, tend to be more efficient in the process of replacing disruptions, which will be beneficial both for the entrepreneur, who sees an opportunity to increase his business while helping people to have access to products that are becoming scarce in physical stores, and for the consumer, who will be able to have the products on hand necessary for the care of your health.

The next months will be crutial for ecommerces everywhere because of this new demand. Many people will change habits not only for the COVID-19, but forever, because they will grow accostumed to buy products online. There are many opportunities to make your business thrive and help the population get products with much better convenience, creating client engagement, customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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