What is Coming Next for E-Commerce After the Pandemic?
2020’s global pandemic prompted radical change within the e-commerce community. As the virus spread throughout the world, people continued to limit their exposure out of their homes. This meant finding new ways to shop for your family’s groceries and necessities. While people were quarantined to their homes, they looked to the internet to safely purchase whatever they may need, and certain categories of products experienced tremendous surge in demand. Although the e-commerce market grew exponentially throughout the pandemic, what is in store for the e-commerce market while the country continues to fight the virus?
Why the e-commerce market grew so immensely
The COVID-19 virus created a lot of changes to our “normal” world since its emergence in early 2020. One of the most impactful changes it caused was figuring out how to purchase necessities while limiting your exposure to the outside world. This resulted in a drastic increase in online shopping not only for products typically associated with online, but also for products related to personal care, health and wellness, beauty, fitness, home goods, pet care, and others. People were able to grocery shop, decorate their homes, add to their home work-out routines, and bring beauty care and wellness care into the DIY realm, all from the comfort of their own homes. Not only did this benefit the consumer, but the e-commerce market as well.
One trend in shopping that was seen throughout the pandemic was buying in bulk. Although most online delivery services are pretty quick nowadays, purchasing online still comes along with some form of a wait. Possible delays in your deliveries due to weather or just the massive amount of delivery orders makes buying in bulk seem like a reasonable option. Buying in bulk also became necessary as people wanted to limit their exposure outside their house to as little as possible. Having common everyday items on hand greatly limited the possible reasons you might have needed to leave your house. Although some purchased in bulk to just be prepared, some purchased in bulk because of anxiety. This is referred to as the “panic-buying” phenomenon. As most consumers throughout the pandemic acted through their emotions, it ultimately led them to purchase an overwhelming amount of common household items in massive qualities. Even though e-commerce retailers gained from consumers’ anxiety shopping, will this “panic-buying” continue as quarantine restrictions subside?
Why the e-commerce market will continue to grow
While the pandemic is still very much in effect today, restrictions are becoming more relaxed as more and more people receive the vaccine. Even though life may seem like it’s on the path back to normal, anxiety about the health of yourself and your family is still present. In today’s world, it is almost an unspoken rule throughout many homes that you really only leave your house for necessary reasons, such as work and emergencies. Most even choose to continue to work from their own home if their job allows it. Due to high anxieties that are still present surrounding the virus, people will continue to utilize the e-commerce market as their main way of shopping. Not only is online shopping the safer option to keep you and your family healthy, but online shopping is much more convenient. And bottlenecks that appeared across the entire supply chain earlier in the pandemic are starting to open back up.
The e-commerce market will also continue to grow due to updated marketing strategies that accommodate to concerns in today’s world. Subscriptions and loyalty programs allow for retailers to not only keep customers consistently purchasing from their companies but also provide extra convenience for their customers. If you are signed up for a monthly subscription program for one of your favorite products you never need to think twice about remembering to purchase it. Subscriptions and loyalty programs also typically promote incentives that keep customers continually purchasing.
Conclusion
The e-commerce market will continue to grow even after the pandemic subsides and our 3PL and warehousing services are here to help. Through purchasing necessities and personal shopping, consumers will continue to utilize the e-commerce market. Online shopping also comes along with conveniences consumers will continue to employ. Not only is it more practical to shop from the comfort of your own home, but it also is kind of exciting to walk outside and see packages waiting for you. Although panic-buying may fade away as the vaccine becomes more readily available, the e-commerce market will continue to grow due to its appealing qualities, including customers having become even more accustomed to online retailing.