Even though the eCommerce operations might not be running as smoothly as they would have if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown has led to brick-and-mortar stores shifting to online retail.
The current crisis has made it difficult for most of the businesses to survive, primarily the offline businesses. Many businesses have been shut permanently while some have been temporarily closed. This was bound to happen as people have been asked to stay indoors.
Ultimately, this global pandemic has accelerated the growth in the eCommerce industry. E-commerce is now taking off rapidly.
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COVID-19 has made a dramatic impact on consumer shopping habits as well and it is going to remain unchanged for a long term.
Studies suggest that ever since the Coronavirus turned into a global pandemic, the online purchase has witnessed an increase of nearly 25-80% among the consumers who purchase 50% or above products shopping online. And even if the pandemic gets over, every 6 in 10 consumers will likely continue buying online.
As the lockdown has eased a bit in many countries, the demand for non-essential items has touched the sky. Let’s take a look at the tweet from the Shopify CTO Jean-Michel Lemieux.
The number of merchants (new domains) Shopify gained on their platform in the first quarter of this year will take you by surprise. Nearly 70k new domains were registered on Shopify in the month of February and March which is more than the whole of 2018.
After a survey was done among consumers of the UK, France and Germany; three largest online retail markets in Europe, it was found that if retailers adopt the eCommerce model, they do have an excellent opportunity to bounce back from the current crisis once people get rid of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey also indicated that around 80% of the consumers will likely return to do online shopping for non-essential commodities in the next half of the year.
Change in eCommerce Traffic
Statista shared a report of the traffic rate in all sectors of eCommerce after the Coronavirus outbreak in France. As of May 2016, the travel and tourism department showed the highest downfall followed by the automobile industry. Online pharmacies witness the highest rise in traffic.
You can also take a look at the transaction rate for the same period here.
SEMrush also released the detailed search traffic volume in which it was found that “Books and Literature” topped the search volume, followed by “Hobbies and Leisure”, “People and Society” and so on.
Among the goods, the search volume for toilet paper was at a peak. In eBay product categories, Gift card coupons had the highest search volume.
Also Read:
COVID-19 and Its Impact on eCommerce Businesses
How COVID-19 has affected Online Shopping Behaviour and eCommerce Sales?
