The coronavirus pandemic has seen many things change over this past year, and one of those is how consumers shop.
What is e-commerce?
E-commerce, or electronic commerce, is quite straightforward and refers to the act of selling or buying goods on the internet. See https://ecommerceguide.com/guides/what-is-ecommerce/ for more information.
What changes did businesses put in place to accommodate a rise in e-commerce?
With many stores forced to close their doors as a result of tight restrictions, businesses have had to rely on their online sales to get by. However, that would not have been possible without tweaking the way they and their teams work.
According to a poll, 15% of businesses created brand new roles just to cater to the increase in digital sales and to make the online shopping experience more positive for their customers. Many believe that the crisis has created a technological revolution thanks to people being ordered to stay home wherever possible and to avoid shopping unless for essential items.
Which businesses benefited the most from Covid-19?
Naturally, giants like Amazon’s business soared during the first lockdown, mainly down to the fact that you can buy almost anything from the website and have it delivered the very next day with a Prime account.
That said, home improvement stores received a boost in sales with more people than ever choosing to decorate or do DIY projects while furloughed or out of work. What’s more, food shops also saw an increase in certain products, and meal-kit vendors saw their numbers rise also.
Why should businesses move to an online presence?
It was always coming, but now the technological revolution, as it has been named, has well and truly come. With behaviors looking unlikely to change for some time, due to the fact that the future is still very unknown, shifting to digital is a good gamble for most businesses.
With many customers reporting delays during the pandemic, it’s really important to tighten up your processes and ensure that you have an up-to-date website for starters (go to names.co.uk to buy domain names for your business) and that you follow-up sales with great communication, delivery times and unbeatable customer service in the event something should go wrong.
We hope this short guide on e-commerce has been useful and we wish you every success with your online venture!