How to Succeed at eCommerce During the Pandemic

How do you succeed at eCommerce during the pandemic?

 

This article will demonstrate how your eCommerce business can succeed despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

 

Covid-19 changed almost all spheres of our lives. We also know that the pandemic has not been friendly to on-site businesses. Worldwide restrictions that limited people from engaging in economic activities such as visiting shopping malls, tourism, and others, completely evolved the business space. As expected, social distancing and movement restrictions resulted in the need for a different and comfortable mode of human interaction.

 

The world was already geared toward shifting activities online, but the pandemic sped up the transition. We saw that businesses with the potential to go digital before the pandemic easily found their way into the eCommerce space when the virus hit.

 

The shift of attention to the internet is the major reason why the eCommerce industry performed fairly well during the lock-down. This can be noticed in the recent economic trends as outlined below:

 

• Online shopping has become more comfortable for Americans as a means of getting their groceries and store products because 58% of buyers are now familiar with digital tools, according to data provided by Acosta.

 

• Coresight Research claims that fewer on-site stores were opened in 2020 compared to the data from three years before.

 

• The eMarketer research also outlines a possible increase of eCommerce sales from 3.4% – 4.3% in social commerce this 2021.

 

Latest eCommerce Market Trends

 

The Shift of Purchases to the Interent

There has been an increase in the number of purchases via online platforms due to constraints. According to DigitalCommerce360, data shows that this increase is greater than that of the past two decades. There has also been an equivalent rate of eCommerce adoption by Americans in 90 days, something that  wasn’t achievable in 10 years.

Change in Customer Behavior

Before eCommerce because a more popular shopping avenue for buyers, customers had to take long trips to get luxury goods. Buyers also went to physical stores to shop for groceries. However, the change in market trends has shifted customers’ attention to online shopping and they now demand faster and more comfortable platforms for online shopping.

Increase in Need for Satisfaction

The ease of using the internet for business is why many people now desire more satisfaction from eCommerce. There are now more expectations for online customer support, shipping, and delivery services even.

Expansion of Interconnected Online Spaces

A rise in the number of online platforms is why omnichannel has surfaced for businesses. You can now connect more than one platform to a single network.

The Prospect of Covid-19 to Online Startups

As ugly as the effects of the pandemic might seem, it does have a silver lining. There has been a significant increase in the number of online start-ups during and after the pandemic outbreak. Several employees who lost their jobs shifted towards online businesses as a means of sustenance. Perhaps they find online start-ups easy to establish and operate.

 

The Consensus Bureau data also suggest that the rate of online start-ups has increased at an alarming rate. The rate of increase during the third quarter in 2020 was around 86% when compared to the one in the year before.

 

eCommerce Opportunities During the Pandemic

 

Flexible Fitness

Since gyms were closed during the pandemic, people started doing their fitness practices indoors and individually. This opened a profitable market for online fitness coaches and allowed individuals to remain in form while remaining indoors and at their comfort.

Online Employments

Since there was a reduction in the number of full-time on-site employees at work, businesses started looking online to find talents who can work remotely. This led to an increased employment rate for “work from home” and freelance professionals. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, if you’re an individual with professional skills, you can easily get employment via online platforms from a remote location.

Box Subscriptions

As customers hardly showed interest in physical interactions during the lockdown impositions, subscriptions became the new best thing. Customers would rather buy a subscription box so that they never run out of their favorite products. This reduced the number of retail purchases at physical stores. On the other hand, the subscription box business model experienced a huge boost, increased market opportunity, and increased profitability.

 

Strategies for a Successful eCommerce Business During the Pandemic

 

Social Media Marketing

With plenty of time on the hands of the average phone owner, the lockdown and isolation exposed people to more social media platforms. Users spend more time on social media than ever before. Before the pandemic, many vendors already saw social platforms as a good gatepost to sell to buyers. Now, these platforms have more active users which makes social media a good market opportunity for any business to sell their products and services online.

Email Marketing

Email as a means of marketing became even more effective during the pandemic. So many on-site stores that hardly used email marketing before the pandemic now communicate with their customers via emails and sales letters. They’ve seen the light because they now know that email is an important marketing channel. According to Omnisend, there has been a 32% increase in the rates at which emails are opened.

SEO

As more entrepreneurs launch their e-commerce business and as more on-site businesses go digital, the e-commerce space will become more crowded and competitive. As a result, the battle for search engine ranking will keep getting more difficult for the average Joe. Using the right keywords and formats helps businesses to boost their online presence and drive more traffic to their products and services.

Content Marketing

We have millions of websites on the internet, and possibly millions or thousands, depending on your niche, competing for the attention of the same buyers. One sure way to stand out is by creating superb content that speaks to your target audience and gives them good value for their attention and time. Content marketing, therefore, gives details as well as sells your products or services to the customer.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

PPC is like the TV advertisement of the eCommerce space, although the dynamics are slightly different. Whether you run an SME or a startup, you can use PPC marketing campaigns that redirect to your landing page to create awareness for your brand fast.

 

Although the pandemic caused global distress, we cannot overlook its influence on the growth of eCommerce since 2020. It has created numerous online market opportunities. So, if you have an innovative business idea and the right marketing strategies in place, you will find that e-commerce is the new gold mine for your business.