COVID-19 and the Move to E-commerce

Amid the Coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the world, shopping at retail stores has become an even further thing of the past.

Over the past few years, there has been a substantial shift to people shopping online, but since COVID-19 began the demand has seen an even greater increase and online shopping and E-commerce.

With many people still living with lockdown orders and others who are fearful to go out to actual stores, the next best option is to purchase items online. By shopping over the Internet, you can either have your items shipped directly to your home or you may even have the opportunity to do drive up pick up at your local store.

On-line shopping allows people to buy all of the necessities they need for their daily lives without having to come into contact with many other shoppers and workers at retail stores. As recommended, it is best to limit contact with as many people as possible, so there is no better way to do that thank you only go to retail store locations if absolutely necessary.

Therefore, COVID-19 has made e-commerce boom more than we have ever seen it before. A bulk of consumer shopping prior to that pandemic came from E Commerce, but there has been steady growth over the past two months.

The issues with consumers relying mostly on e-commerce

While this is the perfect solution for consumers who wish to remain home most of the time, some retail stores have been better suited to adapt to this new reality than others.

While some retail stores and online stores are booming with business, others are struggling to keep up with demand and figure out how to transition into the E-Commerce world. For stores that have traditionally depended upon in person shopping to fuel their business, many of those businesses are not equipped to fully move to E-Commerce based business practices.

This is particularly common with small businesses and family owned small businesses who make most of their money through local sales by people coming in and out of their stores on a daily basis. Without the proper equipment, training, and people to help get an online shopping platform off the ground, these small businesses are struggling to keep business afloat.

A properly set up and well-functioning online store for customers to purchase online takes substantial time and effort. Since the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world so quickly and furiously, it left little to no time for business owners to adjust to the new way of shopping – E-Commerce.

So many people switching to purchasing online has not just affected small businesses and local businesses. It has also affected some of the largest corporations in the world as well such as target, Amazon, Walmart, and many more.

While the stores are much larger and are well seasoned with the E-commerce world and knowing how to handle things properly, many have not been prepared for such a huge influx of online ordering.

These large companies are struggling to keep up with filling orders for their customers and providing quick shipping. Many orders are taking days, if not weeks, longer to ship out than they normally should leaving consumers frustrated and lacking many everyday necessities.

There are many benefits for E-commerce

Despite some of the struggles and hardships that both large and small companies are facing due to the great influx in online shopping, there are still major benefits for both companies and consumers alike.

As we mentioned before, the ability to shop online and limit the amount of time spent in retail stores is helping to stop the spread of coronavirus and keep people healthier and safer. It gives customers the Peace of Mind knowing they can get the items they need for their homes while not relying on having to run to the store on a daily or weekly basis.

The shift to E-Commerce for large and small companies also have benefits. There are many companies who have been fully E-commerce based who are seeing a huge increase in sales for their businesses, and this includes small businesses as well.

Many small and local businesses have also been able to leverage the situation properly and find quick and creative ways to move much of their business to an online an E-Commerce based setting. This is not only helping these businesses stay afloat and helping them make money, but it's forcing many businesses to grow and expand their business So they can keep up with the ever growing shift until the E-commerce world.