The “new normal” and the impact of Covid-19 has been felt in every corner of the globe, disrupting our way of life. From the way healthcare is managed and delivered to the very backbone of the economy, COVID-19 has brought numerous issues to the forefront. In fact, if you own a business of any kind, there is a good chance that you have already adapted your digital presence in the last 18 months. What can you expect going forward? Is it possible to “pandemic-proof” your operations? What will online shopping look like in the years to come? Millions of businesses are asking themselves these very questions.
Changes in Online Shopping Behaviors – The New Normal
Until mid-2020, when consumers wanted to purchase something online – everything from their groceries to a box of nails – they turned to the big-name retailers like Amazon to get the job done. Mom-and-pop stores survived thanks to in-person shoppers who preferred to see what they were buying before making their purchases as well as those who consciously shopped small business as a means of support.
When COVID entered the picture, the ecommerce giants like Amazon absolutely thrived. Small businesses were being forced to close their doors in order to promote safety and social distancing after the CDC, WHO, and other organizations promoted its importance. One major difference was that consumers who once utilized online shopping for luxury items – in other words, items that were not considered necessary for day-to-day living – now found themselves shopping for essentials on the internet. However, the biggest difference was that consumers who shopped online only very rarely were buying more online than ever before.
The Numbers & What They Mean for Business
The Salesforce Global Shopping Index showed 16% increases in digital traffic for retailers between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021; this includes a 25% increase in mobile ecommerce. The same survey showed a 51% increase in the number of home goods consumers purchased online, including everything from toys to clothing, which grew 34% and 31% from the previous year (respectively). The real winner of this race, though, is essential goods. Digital purchases of food and personal care items increased by an astonishing 200%.
Small businesses represented a small portion of the companies processing those extra online orders, however. As more and more local businesses closed their doors, consumers found themselves forced to turn to the internet for their necessities – but because small mom-and-pop retailers did not have any real sort of online presence, consumers turned to the bigger retailers for those purchases, instead.
Fortunately, many small businesses bounced back (at least somewhat) from the forced closures and/or reductions in business. Some channeled their efforts into their websites, but they were met with resistance from the outset since postal services around the globe were already backed up. Aside from traditional online shopping, many small businesses offered other options that included things like curbside pickup and even local delivery.
What the Future Holds
With vaccines rolling out to people on a global scale, the small businesses that survived (or even thrived thanks to their pre-pandemic digital presence) are starting to reopen their doors with hopes of getting back to some semblance of normal, but the trouble is that no one is sure what “normal” means in the post-pandemic world. There is no doubt that everything is much different than it was, with the CDC still requiring social distancing and the use of PPE to be enforced. Furthermore, there are plenty of people who simply are not ready to return to the pre-mask-wearing, pre-social-distancing way of things, and now that they have discovered the convenience of online shopping, they are likely to continue.
Of course, it is not only the risk of illness that will continue to drive ecommerce forward. All the same perks that existed before the pandemic continue to exist during and after; online shopping is incredibly convenient, and in many places, it’s possible to expect goods to arrive within hours. Ecommerce also provides consumers with the ability to compare prices, reviews, shipping times and rates, and much more, which means they have many more choices (which is especially true for consumers living in smaller towns or rural areas).
The only thing that can be said for certain is that digital shopping is not going anywhere, and businesses without a solid online presence are those least likely to thrive. In fact, many will not even survive.
Trends and Predictions for Post-Covid Ecommerce
Until recently, many companies believed that the major shift from retail to digital was still a few years away. However, according to IBM’s US Retail Index, that is not the case; in fact, the report says the pandemic pushed that shift forward by five years. If digital transformation has been on your organization’s back burner, now is the time to move it forward and home in on what your company should look like in the post-pandemic world.
When it comes to building your online presence, there are several tried-and-true ways in which you can leverage the right technologies to not only survive, but thrive:
- Be visible to your customers. Even the most well-known brands and companies have found that failing to advertise to their customers during times of crisis can lead to significant revenue decreases. Nike is just one example of this; the company made their Nike Training Club app, which was a premium application requiring a monthly subscription, free to the masses. The app links directly to Nike’s ecommerce store, and in China alone, Nike sales rose 30% following their bold move. It is things like this that will help companies survive crises for years to come.
- Let your customers serve themselves wherever possible. Whether due to the guidelines put in place by world health officials or for their own sense of personal safety, people are limiting the amount of time they spend in public places or around others. As such, utilizing technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), infrared, and others is essential for creating better experiences for those customers. The introduction of various self-service tools and more innovative product searches on your website brings a new sense of intuitiveness to the process of online shopping.
- Find new and innovative ways to fulfill orders. Of course, there is no one way for every single business to do this and it will all depend on your unique organization, but things like contactless home delivery and curbside pickup give consumers even more “safe” choices that are convenient for their individual needs. The more of these you can feasibly offer, the better.
- Improve product visibility and shopping transparency. In today’s world, people are far more deliberate about their online shopping activities. Rather than simply logging in and ordering their produce for the week, for example, they are spending a good amount of time actually planning their meals, comparing prices among retailers, and even reading reviews. Product availability is a huge concern in today’s ecommerce-based economy, so the more transparent you can be with your customers, the better. Show them the product availability in various locations so that they can make the best choices for their individual preferences and needs.
Although all of these are important to consider when it comes to building your new digital framework, you should be working toward one common goal with all your efforts: omnichannel retail. This is essentially transacting across multiple channels such as bricks-and-mortar stores, social networks, online marketplaces, websites, and anywhere else your brand can enjoy a presence. This is where digital transformation is so essential – it allows you to build a true omnichannel experience.
Moving toward Omnichannel Retail
The overarching theme when it comes to omnichannel retail is consistency. Your goal is to provide a consistent and positive experience no matter where your customers might interact with your brand, and to do this, your digital transformation should emphasize the diversification of your business’s channels and the integration of all your data and systems. This may seem like a gargantuan task, but the truth is that with today’s excellent tools – and with the help of experts who can ensure you have access to those tools and the experts who can help you use them – it is absolutely possible to take your business from retail to ecommerce in a smooth transition for your customers, your employees, your shareholders – everyone.
Moving to omnichannel commerce comes with a solid four-pillar approach.
- Sales channels. You can sell your product or service virtually anywhere, but realistically speaking, your company cannot be everywhere. Therefore, it is important to evaluate who your customers are and where they spend their time, then invest your time and money into those channels. Do not put all of your eggs in one basket, either; overinvesting in one channel only to have that channel fail can cause issues, as many of the businesses currently being impacted by COVID-19 can attest.
- Marketing. With so much competition in the world today, nobody is going to simply stumble across your business, and you cannot rely on going viral to help you survive. Instead, you will need to market the right message to the right people, and you will need to do so in the right places at the right times. Some of the absolute best marketing channels include Google ads, Marketplace ads, social media, SMS, and believe it or not, email advertising.
- Operations. Whether it is your back office or inventory management staff, it is critical to streamline your operations in such a way that you are providing a cohesive and consistent experience across all channels. The scale and overall sophistication of your company will ultimately determine which technologies you should utilize. One main area of focus should be inventory visibility, however. Selling from numerous channels can quickly cause inventory issues, and these can backfire on your company’s reputation very quickly.
- Shipping and fulfillment services. The final pillar of an omnichannel approach is determining how you will get the products and services to the consumers who order them. You might use your own shipping software or choose a third-party logistics company to handle this on your behalf. The truth is that one of these is not inherently “better” than the other and it all depends on factors like your location, the locations of your customers, the size and frequency of your shipments, and much more.
Everyone can agree that the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the world, and that is especially true when it comes to online shopping and the reliance on digital tools. Though some say the pandemic “killed” bricks-and-mortar retail stores, others would argue that many of these businesses were already on their way out. However, regardless of the cause, we are living in a new world – one in which the dependence on ecommerce, technology, and the internet in general continues to grow. The companies that can keep up with the newest digital revolution and ensure that they are meeting their customers’ needs are those that will not only survive, but thrive and grow.
