RESEARCH SHOWS SOME CRITICAL DATA:
2021 could be the year when global online commerce finally breaks the 50% barrier: of the total retail purchases, most of them will be made online through websites and store apps; the average growth in sales above double digits should remain for the next years, with no sign of cooling in this expansion; over a quarter of the global population will shop online in 2021; in the next five years, e-commerce sales are expected to double. The present online shopping trends point at that.
These are impressive numbers and demonstrate new opportunities and challenges in the sector. At the same time that there is room for businesses to be created, reinvent themselves, and consolidate, the competition will be increasing.
But competition generates movement and those who know how to take advantage of this growth before other companies have everything to stand out and become a reference. The outlook for today and the future is very positive. Just knowing is essential to point out how to take advantage of it. With the growth in the use of internet new doors are opening now.
Therefore the present question remains not when but how to open the e-commerce Store and what kind of gain in business you can expect from your endeavor. Latest have a talk regarding that and understand the potentiality of the platform in the current situation.
Faced with an unexpected global scenario, almost everything (not to say everything) will undergo changes and be impacted somehow, for better or for worse. Therefore, I venture to say that no forecast should be used before the pandemic. Everything will need to be revised, redesigned, and restructured. We will be in the midst of an ocean of uncertainty. There lies the future of ecommerce with great options.
However, despite the short time for analysis, some sectors appear to be more promising than others in this moment of crisis, and again, electronic commerce is one of them.
Several studies are being done in electronic commerce during the pandemic. They highlight the impacts already suffered and try to ‘predict’ what will happen in the coming months.
Many companies that were still considering betting on e-commerce for a long time are now accelerating their entry processes. They saw this as one of the best ways to continue operating. The reason is evident: with the impossibility of free movement of people, delivery becomes a real alternative even for those who do not like the idea of buying over the internet. The e-commerce 2021 plan included them and their future as well.
With the increase of the mobile users more and more orders are coming online for different products and services. As the variety of the services is increasing day by day, the orders are also increasing in the ecommerce platforms. Under the circumstances, setting an e-commerce start up is important. You will actually discover a great opportunity to reach a larger mass of customers right there.
OF THE E-COMMERCE SECTORS WITH EVIDENT ECOMMERCE GROWTH, EVEN IN THE FACE OF THE PANDEMIC, ARE THOSE CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL:
• Food
• Supermarkets
• Pets (rations, for example)
• Hygiene, pharmacies, and drugstores
Hospital products go beyond simple masks and alcohol gel, such as respirators, ventilators, and other highly complex equipment.
People who have never marketed on the internet can have their first experience now – and maybe they like it so much that it makes it a new habit. Online shopping of toilet paper, gel alcohol, and other items skyrocketed like never before. Those who are curious about the phenomenon of toilet paper sales search for maladaptive behaviors linked to the notion of disgust (application of the Yerkes-Dodson law).
So, if you have a market, it’s a great time to explore e-commerce and provide consumers with the online ordering (including contacts via social networks and Whatsapp) and delivery. For those who have a restaurant, needless to say, it is something increasingly growing, and at the moment, perhaps the only (and best) solution to continue marketing. This is the part of the e-commerce 2021 strategies.
In this sense, transport and delivery companies also tend to grow, associated with new entrants that may arise, even though other companies may not survive. Loggi, Rappi as well as Ifood will never be used more; however, they will become main alternatives as per isolation and quarantine measures. For example, Rappi recorded an increase of 10% in the volume of orders in the pharmacies’ verticals. See the graph below extracted from Google Trends. The peak in demand by the companies Rappi and Ifood is clear.
And it is not by chance that these startups are taking some measures to support those who are taking risks on the front line to assist us by delivering. For example, Uber announced that any worker or driver diagnosed with Covid-19 would receive financial assistance for up to 14 days. Rappi was not left behind and reported similar measures. IFood will allocate R $ 1 million to a solidarity fund for couriers who have to quarantine or contract the virus.
Another e-commerce sector that can remain relatively stable, or experience lower losses than others with more mobile users, is the premium market. Given the current context, people considered class A or A +. However, they may even suffer financial impacts from the crisis and have sufficient stability to face the pandemic without significant consumer behavior changes. So, whether your market is premium or luxury, there are ways and good prospects for you to be able to adapt and maintain yourself.
The figure is taken from Google Trends, showing a growth trend for searches by Rappi and Ifood.
HOME OFFICE: GOING BEYOND E-COMMERCE
In addition to e-commerce, a business model that even before the pandemic suffered from a lot of resistance and distrust from employers has been one of the best solutions for businesses to continue.
In this way, companies that did not even consider home office work, even for which it would be feasible, have to adapt quickly to this work format.
Also, companies that already acted like this, often in a shy way, in test format or a hybrid system, for example, are expanding this method to all departments capable of working from home. Therefore, one of the effects of the new coronavirus will be to break some paradigms and thus, the online shopping trends too.
A study by FGV estimates that about 30% of businesses that adopt the home office format during the pandemic will continue to act in the same way with the end of the crisis. This represents almost a third of the planet, which will be composed of people who work from home, a clear demonstration of this model’s consolidation. This is further proof that the world will no longer be the same when we get to the end of it all.
For this type of movement to happen, many people and companies are getting ready, converting a home environment into an office type. Thus, other sectors of B2C e-commerce that may have even more demand in pandemic times are those related to office supplies. For example:
• Tables and chairs
• Computers (faster and more powerful)
• Cables and adapters
• Printers and scanners
• Ergonomic mice and keyboards
• Headphones
• Extra monitors
• Broadband Internet.
The figure is taken from Google Trends, showing a growth trend for Keyboard and Mouse searches.
With the move from the workplace to the home office, technology tools become the best route for many of the previously done activities in person. Meetings, now converted to videoconferences or calls, will become much more frequent. And for that to happen, the use of online services and tools are crucial.
LAST WORDS
Understanding the current trends and then taking the proper measures to settle with the online e-commerce startup is an important decision and in this case, having a proper idea of the future steps and the progress of the brand is necessary.
The ecommerce trends 2021, as we have seen, are linked to 3 pillars: user experience, customer focus, and the creation of a unique brand identity. They are all achievable as the use of internet is increasing. With planning, investment in new technologies, and market vision, you can get ahead of the competition and start the year thinking about the future!