The COVID 19 Impact on E-commerce, Social Media, Digital Marketing, and Online Shopping
When the COVID 19 first became a reality in our lives, we assumed that the human race was strong enough and advanced enough to not just withstand its effects, but also to neutralize it and continue living a fast-paced, competitive and regular lifestyle that we are accustomed to. Little did we know, just how much of a destabilizing effect it would have on human life, small businesses, E-commerce, etc.
The COVID 19 brought everything to an immediate standstill. Never before in our generation have we had to deal with a global lockdown on all sorts of economic policies or on social interaction itself. The speed and strength of the COVID 19 ensured that human beings for once had to physically stay away from each other and isolate to prevent its already rapid spread across countries and continents. Unfortunately, the human mind is anything but flexible.
The spirit of industry has allowed businesses, especially in the E-commerce spectrum to possibly garner a higher market share in 2020 compared to 2019 because of the ability to not have a physical interaction in the online transaction. The world had to adapt to an online presence that has already been ever-growing but even more now than ever in order to not get left behind. The focus immediately moved from offline physical stores and purchases to the world of online buying with minimal contact, efficient doorstep deliveries, and a relatively safer and more controlled environment.
From offline to online
According to research, 45% of small and medium businesses don’t have a website, over 70% of businesses are transitioning to E-commerce, and 71% of businesses are trying to catch up with the rising demands of customers. On the bright side, 41% of businesses are making the most out of the pandemic by maintaining and increasing their presence online across all channels.
The fear of physical proximity and the ever-possible fear of getting infected has seen consumers move to clicking online to purchase not just frivolous and luxurious items but also necessities. This has opened up a window for offline retailers to enter the online spectrum and businesses are slowly but surely moving towards making announcements, promotions, and eventually sales online. They hope to do all this and more by forging virtual relationships with their customers.
Studies show that 63% of customers use their mobile phones for research and purchases, 56% of customers want a shared cart across all channels, and 79% of customers want personalized service from brands. Businesses no longer depend on just one channel, as they have diverse channels to reduce risks. A planned omnichannel strategy seems to be the necessity of the hour and the reward at the other end of executing it correctly of course is customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty.
E-commerce in general allows the end consumer the liberty to be able to shop for whatever they need and want, anywhere and at any time, conveniently, comfortably, and most importantly, safely from the comfort of their homes at the touch of a few buttons. This is unilaterally the biggest change both in terms of mindsets and business models that offline brands have to adapt to if they are to successfully enter and sustain in the online space.
E-solutions to further the E-commerce cause
Brands and companies across the world have felt a sudden but immediate need to adapt and transform themselves in an effort to be able to interact with their customers digitally. With E-commerce proving itself to be no longer a luxury and the on-going of the impact of COVID 19, it validates the necessity of an online presence for businesses to sustain and even flourish hopefully in the near future. In order to execute this transformation with any measure of success there is an impending need to be able to implement certain digital strategies that will help companies take the quantum leap from offline to the online side of things. We’ve listed a few below.
Strategize to evaluate the cost to conversions with respect to customer conversions
Face the pandemic and its ill effects head-on by establishing communication that supports the community while facilitating growth for the company.
Activate and enable digital channels to reach customers through tools like mobile apps, or voice interactions on voice platforms.
Socially distancing is the “new normal” however, interacting and forming relationships with your customers over social media channels remains as relevant as ever. Inform them periodically on what you are doing for the community at large.
Do not stop reaching out to customers digitally through campaigns, and promotions across electronic channels like emails, Google Ads, SEO, and more.
Prepare sales inducing collateral like catalogues, brochures, and other marketing materials for a spike in sales through bundling promotions, cross-selling mediums, and discounted rates.
Think digital wherever you can in the interaction, purchase, and even delivery process. Try to cut out the human touch wherever and whenever you can.
Make your communication, community centric as well as showing a sense of empathy towards people and how we are affected by COVID 19. Articles, blogs, and such papers are good tools to propagate this.
Optimize search engines through well-researched SEO to reach attract people to your E-commerce business even in challenging times. Inform your customer base about the measures that you have taken to disrupt COVID 19.
Compare and benchmark your online businesses' digital performance with industry frontrunners to evaluate how well you are doing and what more you need to be doing.
Going digital is of course the most vaunted step in your transformation towards an online business. However, it is also important to identify and know your customer as well. COVID 19 has made both immediate and gradual changes towards the customer mindset in general and spending on how much the virus has impacted the customer, the transformations, and disruptions in their lives can be gauged anywhere between precautionary to seismic. In our next section, this is what we will aim to illustrate.
Fundamental changes in consumer behavior
The most fundamental change that COVID 19 has brought to the lives of the discerning customer is the radical transformation in their hierarchy of needs and wants, as suggested in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. While before the pandemic hit the world the general human behavior and the tendency were of self-actualization where there was a desire to become the most that one could be, during the pandemic that focus has shifted significantly lower in the needs hierarchy to safety and psychological needs.
Respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, and an idealistic idea of freedom has been trumped by personal security, employment, resource management, health, and happiness. Psychological needs, which often tend to take for granted such as, clean air, potable water, wholesome nourishing food, a strong shelter, sufficient sleep, and appropriate to season and situation clothing have all become bigger priorities than frivolities which had become the flavor of the season.
There is also an immediate and tactile shift towards the preservation of all things that are important and yet not tangible. Friendships, family, intimacy, and a sense of belonging have all emerged as important purchase driving factors after a stage of loss both personal and societal.
This forced upon a shift in consumer behavior and customer mindset has led to marketing and creative departments having to suddenly change from a feeling of aspiration towards a feeling of bonhomie. The messaging has to be subtle yet with a focus on apathy towards the impact on society due to COVID 19. This messaging then changed to a more positive tenor encouraging people to abide by the “new normal” and set about their lives in as close a fashion as they could emulate when the lockdowns first struck mankind.
While many businesses may consider this almost immediate shift to be due to the ever-changing mindset and perceptions of the customer, most business strategies have always been decided by the way their customers think and react to their immediate societal environment. This is why it becomes imperative even for businesses moving from offline to online selling mediums to not underestimate the value and utility of this particular facet of consumer interaction. If you can speak to your consumers and help them identify with an image that resonates with them, you are doing something very right in terms of the communication that you are sending out to your potential end-user.
Statistics on businesses online
Numbers are often the most definitive quantifiers and help settle most debates in terms of victory versus losses. More often than not correctly interpreted data does not lie and helps to project an accurate representation of what the actual picture is. While the shift from the offline side of things towards the online business really does not require statistical support or confirmation, the numbers for the E-commerce industry speak volumes for themselves.
1.79 billion shopped online in 2020 so far across the world. Millennials now make 60% of purchases online with 64% of Americans preferring to buy online after the pandemic first hit. Global E-commerce sales are expected to reach $4.8 trillion by 2021 with Amazon sales itself accounting for 40% of US E-commerce business in 2020.
The numbers do not just end there. COVID 19 and its effects have driven 64% of small businesses to invest in an E-commerce website. These businesses have also realized that a staggering $260 billion could be recovered through checkout experience optimizations.
Like making an offline purchase, even in the online spectrum, there are a few parameters that encourage sales over others. The top five things that influence buying decisions are lower prices, enhanced delivery options, an easy return policy, payment options, the ability to see inventory availability, and information about the product or the service.
It goes without saying that COVID 19 severely crippled economies and businesses across the world. However, in true Darwinian fashion, the survival of the fittest depended solely not only on their skills and capabilities but how able and agreeable the business was towards transformation and adaptation of the online platforms. Companies that have managed to survive the effects of COVID 19 on their bottom line are also those companies who were quick to make this necessary transformation with bot speed and effectiveness almost immediately once their consumer insight was better known to them.
While a lot of companies across the USA and in fact the world stumbled upon best online practices, app and website design and development, and social media norms, there were a few who were prudent enough to outsource these best practices to agencies and companies that are experts in the field. This helped them to focus on the key aspect and facets of their businesses which required immediate and specific attention and it also allowed them to get an unbiased and objective overview, brand strategy, and execution blueprint of what their ideal marketing strategy should actually be. This in itself is almost a necessity because not all small business owners and entrepreneurs have a handle on the marketing side of their products and services. They are usually visionaries with a tendency towards the technical side who often tend to struggle with marketing fundamentals and creative business decisions.
AmareSol Global is a digital business consultancy creating innovative change through a team of talented designers, developers, and strategists creating digital experiences for brands and companies around the world. We are continuously fueling growth across constantly changing and advancing digital landscapes, by seeking and formulating newer and better ways to service clientele on a global scale across industries. Look up more about us at www.amaresolglobal.com.