Impact of COVID 19 on the Global eCommerce Industry

Photo by Arturo Rey on Unsplash

COVID 19 has brought about many things that the world may never recover from and will always remember. It has had an impact on billions of people and businesses in every part of the world. Major sectors all around the world have had to restructure their whole arrangements because of the ongoing pandemic; Coronavirus.

Manufacturers have felt the effect of this in terms of their supply chain to their customers.  The E-commerce industry is one of the sectors that, in a way, will forever be grateful for COVID-19. Retailing in the world of E-commerce is what keeps an online business going. The exchange of goods and services between online retailers and end-users, the consumers, is what E-commerce is about. 

This industry involves buying and selling of various materials, services, or products using the internet from the sellers to the buyers. This industry thrives on the consistent and substantial influx of buyers and sellers. Covid-19 has given more than enough room for E-commerce worldwide. Though the impact of Covid-19 on Ecommerce globally has had its merits and demerits. 

The global E-commerce industry has experienced massive traffic between January and March 2020. Website visits for online retailers increased from 12.81 billion to over 14 billion in March. Crazy Pineapple, for instance, has also benefited from this increase, as new users keep flocking to the site because of the stay at home policy. 

Various products and services that can be offered and rendered physically are always searched for online.  This is because everyone's movement has been restricted, and everybody has to stay indoors to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus. Staying at home and social distancing is now the order of the day. It is predicted that when all these chaos blows over, 3 out of 5 people will stick to purchasing products and services online rather than going to physical shops.

At the beginning of this, companies, retailers withheld launching their products with the mindset that normalcy would be returned eventually. But as time went on, they realized that business had to go on, so also the launching of new products and services. Some of the new things sold out well, while some others did not because of the lack of physical presence. 

For instance, Luxury brands are said to lose about $90 to $120 billion in their 2020 sales. The luxury and fashion sector is predicted to lose up to $600 in the year 2020.  

Amidst the increase in sales in the E-commerce industry globally, a significant issue is the proper monitoring of products that are ordered for and sold. Many employees are home, so keeping an accurate inventory of the products sold online can be a hassle. Also, the supplier shipments of some companies would take a longer time to arrive because of the state of the whole world. This, then, in turn, increases the time of delivery to direct customers and buyers because of the situation at hand, anything can pose as a threat.

 Manufacturers and retailers are advised to inform their customers ahead of the possibility of late delivery due to the uncertainty of this time. When the customers are well informed, there will be less panic and a lousy business relationship between buyers and sellers. E-commerce platforms must offer shipping providers that are pre-set-up, drop-shipping, built-in shipping options, and printable shipping labels. These are some others are incentives to keep customers assured of the safe delivery of their products. They also help to reduce the delays that occur during shipping. 

As much as Covid-19 has erupted lots of problems, losses, delays, compromises to numerous sectors, and works of life, it has also helped grow to boost several industries. The E-commerce industry is one of the sectors that has and is flourishing from the pandemic.