How COVID-19 Provoked A Turning Point in Digital and Ecommerce – Punit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Easyecom
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformations across industries. In order to continue various commercial and social operations, digital solutions became increasingly essential in the last couple of years. We have seen a remarkable growth in ecommerce, with long lasting effects, in emerging countries as well.
“as lockdowns became the new normal, businesses and customers were forced to move digital quickly, supplying and obtaining more goods and services online, expanding ecommerce share of global retail commerce from 14% in 2019 to about 17% in 2020 and these numbers are only going up. B2C ecommerce alone is expected to reach $8.65 trillion by 2030”.
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, customer interactions became more digitized, pushing brands to go digital as well and vice versa. Overall, the aftermath of the widespread pandemic brought about a major change in the ways of ecommerce, a transformation of a lifetime. Let’s take a look at how it provoked a turning point in the world of digital commerce.
1. D2C Momentum
the much-needed digitization has made digital commerce a level playing field and has enabled anyone with a vision to start and grow a brand while competing with industry giants. the number of D2C brands continues to grow, and these new-age brands are more customer-centric, which has dramatically altered the way people trade online. this growing number benefits consumers by giving them more options to compare and choose from, as well as giving these brands the prominence they deserve.
In the last few months, retail has undergone a drastic shift. savvy brands, ever mindful of their commercial health, conducted major changes to prevent a financial blow and went straight to the consumer. Pepsico, Nestlé, and Heinz all started direct-to-consumer (D2C) offerings in lockdown, fueled by pictures of bare shelves, an increase in home shopping, and a need to obtain consumer-packaged goods. the coronavirus prompted several brands to reconsider their present distribution channels. as the globe returns to some kind of normalcy, it will be interesting to see what strategies will survive and which ones go by the wayside. this is because the D2C model took advantage of a market failurea shortage of supply or the perception of a lack of supply. D2C ecommerce, on the other hand, is not for the faint of heart. amazon’s smooth, rapid, and cost-effective delivery has made customers expecting and impatient. the use of bricks and mortar makes it easier to get your product to market. there are logistics, technology platforms, and payments to consider with D2C, as well as dealing with the general public’s numerous needs.
2. Traditional brands jumping onto online trade
a lot of brands, big and small alike, had no presence on the digital commerce platforms before the pandemic came down knocking and they were getting by just fine. Online trade was often contributing not more than 10% to business revenues. Ever since the implementation of lockdowns, it became absolutely essential for every one of them to sell from where their customers can buy. the number of traditional brands jumping on the ecommerce bandwagon suddenly spiked and strategies for online had to be implemented at priority. For example, Epigmia started selling online via its website post the onset of the first lockdown. although they were selling on other marketplaces, they didn’t take charge of selling on their own and making an omnichannel presence. Fast forward to today, Epigamia has its own D2C website that gathers millions of monthly online shoppers. there are some other big brand names as well that were completely offline before but had to go digital, owing to the situations.
3. Increasing Online Demands for Essential Products
Products like groceries and pharmaceuticals which were previously considered safe for
personal purchase are now digitally sold and are constantly in demand. the online sales in these products have seen a new high over the past two years and understandably so.
Brands like takeoff technologies have taken digitization in this area to a new level. takeoff technologies offers grocery fulfillment solutions, lowering last mile and assembly costs with their automation technology.
the pandemic has hastened the transition to a more digital environment and prompted changes in online buying habits that are likely to have long-term consequences. according to a survey of 3,700 customers in nine emerging and industrialized economies, the COVID-19 epidemic has permanently altered online shopping habits.
the survey, titled “COVID-19 and E-commerce,” looked at how the pandemic has affected how people shop online and use digital solutions.
Following the pandemic, more than half of those surveyed said they now purchase online more often and rely on the internet for news, health information, and digital entertainment. according to the survey, consumers in emerging economies have made the greatest shift to internet purchasing. the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the transition to a digital society. as the global economy begins to recover, the decisions we make today will have long-term consequences. the acceleration of online buying worldwide emphasizes the need to ensure that all countries take advantage of digital prospects, as the world shifts from the epidemic to recovery response.
4. Rise of B2B ecommerce
When the pandemic struck, massive lockdown and limited personal interaction were mandated, resulting in major commercial issues. While COVID-19 remains a burden, companies have discovered methods to adjust in terms of operations. this applies to the B2B commerce segment in particular. they responded by developing alternative ways to offer customers via ecommerce, new channels and sometimes unexpected approaches. although reactive measures have mostly been taken to remain competitive during the outbreak of the pandemic, enterprises are increasingly using a more strategic approach to address present and future issues.
Emerged as a necessity, the B2B ecommerce has come a long way with a happy realisation that digital platforms work conveniently, in fact, with more feasibility for customers and sellers alike.
“the global pandemic pushed more B2B brands to go digital in 2020, and the value of B2B digital transactions increased from $9.06 trillion in 2019 to $9.92 trillion in 2020, a phenomenal increase of 9.6%”. according to Forrester, B2B ecommerce transactions are expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2023 in the us alone.
5. Fulfillment Providers on the Rise
Before pandemic, order fulfillment to tier 2, 3 cities took a longer time as compared to that in tier 1 and metropolitan cities. this is also one of the biggest reasons that people from these areas didn’t order as much and online sales were considerably low. With the rise of micro warehousing, the fulfillment is faster than ever and the sales from these semi-urban areas have increased remarkably.
Brands like Wareiq, Ohi, are prominent examples of micro fulfillment brands that are providing end-to-end fulfillment to improve delivery time, costs, and overall customer experience.
6. Ecommerce is now omni-channel
Omnichannel ecommerce enables you to acquire and blend customer information from several channels. Combined, these details provide a comprehensive overview of which kinds of clients are interested in your company and its behavior. You can only customize the experience of your clients by understanding the customer journey. You can build a tailored experience with omnichannel ecommerce.
as more and more companies are turning digital, they are realizing that customers aren’t bound to any channels when it comes to online shopping. they are present everywhere and these channels are interconnected in one way or another, making ecommerce omnichannel. so, the brands have to be present on these channels too and serve their customers as per their convenience.
Evidently, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a host of opportunities for the companies in the ecommerce space and the evolution of the digital medium during this time is a fundamental and revolutionary change that will bring structural and strategic changes in business operations.