The Covid-19 pandemic is the first major global health crisis we’ve had in over 100 years and saying businesses were unprepared would be an understatement. Almost every single industry has faced major losses and lost months and even years of growth– but not all. While industries like tourism and aviation were hit particularly hard, some have thrived due to lockdowns and quarantine measures– eCommerce is one such industry. Our ecommerce marketing experts in India studied the consumer patterns and here’s what we have found about trends in ecommerce business post covid.
Ecommerce Trends To Follow Post Covid
- Rapid ecommerce growth will slowly deaccelerate
With brick-and-mortar stores all shuttered, consumers had no choice but to order online– and they did, in quite large numbers. Now, the brick and mortar businesses are starting servicing customers again, accelerating the rapid growth but not significantly. The convenience of online shopping isn’t going to change and an increasing number of people will continue shopping online, albeit not at the same levels as in 2020.
- Grocery Shopping will rise
When it came to understanding the key categories which were a boon to ecommerce, Grocery came out as a clear winner as per the various survey results. Availability of items on grocery apps and websites is a major driver for a consumer to be loyal to that platform. Continuous non-availability can drive consumers to reconsider loyalty. Also, consumers have a strong affinity towards buying from local stores, familiar shops and brands they know about. The experience on the User Interface makes a lot of difference to a customer’s preference. There are instances where consumers expressed that they distinguish Zomato and Swiggy based on their user interfaces. A simple, self-guiding and clutter-free UI can change the game.
- Investment into supply chain visibility
The shift towards newer technologies such as predictive analysis and big data analytics is expected to improve visibility. For eCommerce businesses, this means that they too would have to start working towards modernizing inventory and order management systems to improve integration with supply chain partners and in order to cope with market shocks and uncertainty.
- A shift towards Digital payments
As per a recent KPMG report, In October 2020, digital transactions jumped to 23.7 million amounting to around 4000 crores. There has been a phenomenal shift in consumer preferences. It is very evident that the consumers of today are experimenting and trying newer platforms for financial transactions. The brands in this sphere need to be very proactive in forming strategic partnerships with fintech platforms.
- Mobile shopping will continue to rise
25% of consumers still use mobile web for online shopping so it needs attention as well. Secondly, businesses need to ensure that their mobile user experience is fast, clean, and reliable. A slow mobile application is a guaranteed way to lose sales. And finally, smartphone applications are a great way of maintaining a constant and direct line of communication with your customers. Furthermore, messaging platforms including Facebook Messenger and even SMS are now viable sales platforms as both support business messaging and sales features that allow customers to browse through products and services and even place orders directly from their messaging app of choice.
- The shattering of brand loyalty
The pandemic ushered in an unprecedented level of channel switching and brand loyalty disruption. A whopping 75 per cent of consumers tried new shopping behaviours, with many of them citing convenience and value. Fully 39 per cent of them, mainly Gen Z and millennials, deserted trusted brands for new ones. That restlessness is reflected in the fact that many younger consumers say that they are still searching for brands that reflect their values.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we ‘d like to say that today’s ecommerce brands can not be complacent anymore. Consumers today are well-informed and smart and have very high expectations of brands. An E-commerce brand of today has many more touchpoints, many more potential consumers and a complicated consumer journey to look after. Get in touch with us for the best ecommerce marketing services in India today. Let us get on with it and adapt better!
