onlinefreedom September 17, 2020Covid-19 pretty much altered the E-commerce market. With the majority of the society in quarantine and social distancing measures being the norm, consumer behavior in the online market place has also changed significantly.
The sale on the E-commerce platform has boosted in general, but that is not true for all products. COVID 19 has chosen its winners and losers. With products like disposable gloves, bread machines seeing an unprecedented rise on the online platforms whilst other products specific to outdoor activities and traveling seeing a steep decline.
Simply put, the priorities of our society have changed whilst living in a pandemic and the sales trend on E-commerce reflects that.
Now with more than six months into the pandemic, most countries have successfully dealt with the First wave and decided to resume their normal operation. Normal day to day activities like going outdoors, exercising in the gym, and attending social events are coming back. This brings up the possibility of products that were severely neglected during the pandemic as they might fall back on the consumers’ demand list. However, unfortunately, the situation around COVID is not that simple.
There is still a strong possibility of a second wave of coronavirus which might force many countries to go back into lock-down and restrict the mobility of their citizens. I will not sugar coat here, the future around COVID is still very uncertain, and if you are planning to launch an e-commerce business during this time, you have an added responsibility to make yourself informed about how COVID might affect your business prospects. I have developed a planning strategy that may allow you to make the smartest decision.
Educate yourself on your local pandemic response:
Response to COVID-19 has been different in various places in the world, for example, whilst the United States is still in the middle of the pandemic, many other countries in Europe and Asia have successfully combatted the challenge. This means that in the near future countries in western Europe like Germany, France, and England might become open to business and implement lesser restrictions on their citizens than others. So if you are associated with an eCommerce platform which operates in these regions, selling outdoor and traveling related goods might not be a bad option.
Before you make that call, you still have to account for the second wave of COVID that is supposed to hit in the winter of 2020, even if your region seems to be doing well, there is no guarantee that they will successfully be able to deal with the second wave as well.
To analyze whether your region is likely to do bad or good in its response to the second wave, look up the trends in the region.
Are the people still following social distancing guidelines and wearing masks?
Has the government built comprehensive and robust mechanisms to deal with the outbreak?
How likely is it that your region will go back into an extended lockdown?
Unfortunately, these questions are not easy to answer and you will have to do that research yourself and make that judgement call.
If you are operating in regions that are already badly affected by COVID-19, then maybe look for signs if the situation is getting better or worse, is there an increase in panic and anxiety in the public or is their reaction entirely different? Are people likely to resort to panic buying and hoarding? After doing your research make a reasonable guess about the outlook of COVID and probably pick products that are likely to be successful in that reality.
The key thing to remember is that there isn’t going to be a universal trend because of COVID on e-Commerce this time, each country and region will experience a different trend depending on how they deal with the epidemic. So instead of looking for a universal trend, think local and regional this time.
Some overarching trends that might be universal.
Though most trends in e-commerce will vary region and region, there are some realities that are universal about this pandemic.
- The world is in an economic regression: With negative growth in global GDP, most of the world will probably stay in economic regression, which means that consumers are unlikely to splurge money on luxury goods and will spend on vital goods like grocery and food items more in comparison. Most universities are already seeing the lowest enrollment numbers for the academic year 2020-2021, so if your product’s consumer base is primarily university going students then you might want to diversify.
- Social distancing and working remotely are here to stay: Even post COVID, regardless weather regions have successfully dealt with the epidemic or not. Social distancing measures, like buying hand sanitizers and masks are here to stay. Also, with a lot of working population shifted to working remotely its likely that a significant portion would continue to work in the same manner. Implying an increase in demand for home accessories is likely to stay as well.
When the coronavirus outbreak happened, its impacts on the world of e-Commerce were very clear and predictable, that unfortunately will not be the case for the future.
There is no one fits all trend in e-Commerce anymore. Every region and locality will see its own trend and if you want to be a successful entrepreneur in these uncertain times, you will have to expend far more effort to understand and address the trends than before.
Though this may all seem too difficult, remember “bigger obstacles hide greater opportunities”.
