The “Golden Age” of E-Commerce

The unprecedented health situation in the world has immensely shaped the habits of consumers, companies, and governments. Due to quarantine, almost all sales have been conducted via the Internet which enabled a predictable “Golden Age” of E-Commerce.Businesses that used to face their customers live had to quickly adapt to social distancing rules and be present online. At the very beginning of the world-wide lockdowns the surge in e-commerce sites has been unparalleled, so were the sales via online commerce.The biggest gainers are “essential” products and services, sellers, with a strong presence online way before the lockdown. Their sales online have roughly increased by 60–70% on average, with some reporting 100–200% increase in sales.Retailers that did not have a strong presence online, or had none at all, had to rethink, regroup, and create a channel for the move of their goods with brick and mortar out of option.Data snapshot September 14th from https://ccinsight.org/ — Emarsys created CCInsights.org to help businesses by drawing from the eCommerce and retail data of more than one billion consumers and 2,500 brands worldwide to provide an up-to-date view and trends of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online retailers.Predicted Spikes in online sales have been particularly favorable in B2C (Business-to-Consumers) of medical supplies, household essentials, and food products. But it’s not the only B2C that had a major boost to the Pandemic realities. B2B (Business-to-Business) services have also grown exponentially. In fact, over 75% of all post-March sales of goods and services online are accounted for in the B2B sector. The share volume of data exchanged every second and telecommunication services have had a rise in demand.Naturally, not all businesses could escape the pitfall of decreased demand; namely travel and accommodation markets. It is estimated, that it will take up to 7 years for these industries to go back to a pre-COVID19 level.With increased unemployment, keeping family or small businesses afloat is essential. And with the Pandemic not certainly over, e-commerce is the way. It not only reaches global markets, allows consumers and businesses to use with a press of a button, but also encourages the strengthening of international cooperation and the further development of policies for online purchases and supply, online security, and safety.Still unsure if you need an E-commerce website? Here are a few reasons to consider:1. Lowering client acquisition costs. Advertising online can be free if you do so yourself via social media or blogs. And even cheaper with an agency taking over e-marketing tasks than advertising your Brick and mortar location through street banners, radio, TV, prints, etc.2. Salespoint costs. Surely, you’ve heard a saying “Location, Location, Location”. And that means the best parts of cities, which in return means the highest rental prices. For an online business, you may invest as little as 30 EUR/month to have a website up running on a variety of “locations” around the world at once.3. 24/7. This is a very important part of online business — virtually, you are always open and easy to reach for the client. Convenience at its finest.4. Security. With a physical shop, you have to consider theft, threats (fallen ceilings, broken pipes), loss of inventory due to customers (broken vases, make-up stains on clothing, etc.). That all sums up to the loss of revenue, which is almost eliminated through online transactions and the exchange of goods.5. Smaller workforce. Direct profit margin increases when you don’t have to hire many people to accommodate all processes in the physical shopping experience.6. Personalized shopping experience. Nowadays customers choose online shopping to get something that they actually need or want. This enables you to make that happen with personalized information, offers, with no annoying person walking after them, personalized tracking, etc.7. Easy scaling and growth. You may track your sales, e-marketing influence in sales, outbound campaigns, and adjust your stock accordingly.8. Unique ways to acquire customers. A channel of customer acquisition available online-only is allowing customers to share their purchases on social media which is free advertising of trusted buyers (aka, friends, family, colleagues).9. Modern, easy POS systems for online businesses. Running a business is hard, keeping with stock, documentation, transactions just adds additional stress. Nowadays, advanced POS systems, integrations with CRMs would make a difference in smooth customer care.10. Continuous purchases. Customers, that are far away from physical locations of their favorite products and services would eventually switch to a substitute, but much close to home. Your online shop would allow them to keep on buying from you with the convenience of their own home.If you are not online, you should be.If you are, let’s see how we can improve your presence there.