How COVID-19 is Helping Ecommerce Businesses

Unless you have been living under a rock (or the Big Brother house in Germany), you will likely know exactly what COVID-19 is. A pandemic, it has affected countries across the globe. Social distancing, quarantine and trying to stop the spread of this virus is incredibly important right now. But it does mean that shops and places selling products physically have suffered. And, frankly, will continue to do so.

E-commerce and online shopping, in general, are hugely important right now during this period of intense social distancing. The High Street is no longer just in decline, it needs to be avoided for the health of an entire nation. For that reason, there have already been significant and noticeable benefits from an online shopping perspective.

Whether this continues is questionable, but people need to take advantage of it now more than ever. Especially as times become more uncertain. Understanding and adapting to this growing demand, then, should be the priority of many businesses in these uncertain times.

Increased Demand

People aren’t necessarily tied to their beds at the moment. But, limiting themselves to one household for the most part and only the bare essential shopping trips can feel restrictive. And there is the fact that there is a notable increased demand for certain essentials during this period. With people ‘panic buying’ these essentials in physical shops, others are turning to the internet to meet their needs.

The scarcer the resources you have available - from toilet roll to hand sanitizer - the better you will likely fare during this period.

Health Shopping

People are currently stocking up on anything that can boost or support their health during this time. Which is why, from a health e-commerce perspective these are strange times; revenue is up massively. From bare essentials like ibuprofen and hand sanitizer, all the way to immunity-boosting supplements. If you have a product that relates to health in some way, then likely you will have seen this spike as well.

How long this will last, however, is unknown. Supplies are not infinite and if borders are closed and trade grinds to a halt, stocks could quickly dwindle. Even if products are produced in the UK, the ingredients needed may become scarcer. So, it may be the case that we see some drops for this sector as the situation develops. But, for now, it seems to be booming.

Food Shopping

Supermarkets look like a disaster zone right about now. Empty shelves, lots of products that simply can’t be found anywhere. It’s no wonder that so many people have been looking at online shopping to plug the gap. This means wait times are increasing and supermarkets are having to hire immediately in order to bridge the gap.

In a way, we are all incredibly lucky that this has occurred at a time when online shopping for food is so prevalent. No one will go hungry during this period. As, at the very least, we are still able to shop online and acquire the basics needed for us to carry on as successfully as possible. No doubt new innovations and UX will be developed post-coronavirus to ensure online food shopping is easier and more timely than ever before. As it is clearly a necessity during such times.

Final Thoughts

Even in troubling times, people find a way to persist. This virus may have knocked us back, but it certainly won’t keep us down. So, we can no longer go into physical stores. The online community and e-commerce shopping will step in until the time comes that this pandemic is handled or completely under control (thanks to a vaccine).

Author bio:

Paul Matthews is a Manchester-based business and tech writer who writes in order to better inform business owners on how to run a successful business. With years of experience in real estate processes i.e. compulsory purchase order, he’s been the leading real estate writer in Manchester and in the North West of England. You can usually find him at the local library or browsing Forbes' latest pieces.