COVID-19 EFFECTS- ONLINE SHOPPING

 

According to a survey of 3,700 consumers from nine emerging and developed countries, the COVID 19 pandemic has changed online shopping behavior.

The persistent cross-border differences in the COVID / 19 crisis have strengthened the dynamics of the e-commerce landscape in some countries and extended the scope of e-commerce to new businesses and consumer segments. The COVID crisis has accelerated the expansion of the industry with new companies, customers, and product types.

 

The survey of around 3,700 consumers in nine developing and emerging countries examined how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way consumers use e-commerce and digital solutions.

The survey included Brazil, China, Germany, Italy Russia, Russia, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey.

In the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, more than half of respondents who shop online rely on the internet to receive more news, health information, and digital entertainment.

 

The retail category with the highest online penetration before COVID-19 experienced a dramatic increase in spending in April due to shelter-in-place rules, from 37 percent penetration before the pandemic to 80 percent highest.

This penetration decreased in the second half of 2020 but remained at high levels during pandemics, with online penetration reaching 48 percent in January 2021.

Another retail category that saw an increase in online penetration was retail credit card and debit card spending as a percentage of total spending, which jumped from 35 percent in January 2020 to January 2021.

 

 

 

Retailers have felt the effects of the coronavirus crisis, with quarantines, branch closures, and social exclusion rules ending.

Data analytics firm Quantum Metrics showed that online clothing sales at US online retailers fell 43% in the first week of January while the average purchase price rose 26% over the same period.

Grocery delivery platform Instacart saw a dramatic rise in sales as customers tried out grocery shopping online for the first time.

 

The coronavirus crisis is likely to lead to a permanent change in consumer behavior, and retailers must start preparing now, experts said. This letter describes how COVID-19 could accelerate the expansion of e-commerce for new companies

and customers, what types of products are affected, and how e-commerce transactions could shift from luxury goods and services to everyday needs in the long term.

According to a new study by Adobe Analytics, retailers are already struggling with a surge in online orders as consumers start to see more information online in the age of the virus.

As we go through this phase, the items that people buy and the product categories that thrive will continue to change.

 

Discretionary spending accelerated in the summer of 2020 due to COVID-19, particularly in key categories such as home furnishings.

Credit card spending also reflects this element of growth: more than half of US consumers expect to spend more on treats at the beginning and after COVID.

In addition to domestic activities, spending on vaccinated people has accelerated.

 

Worried about exposing themselves to COVID-19 by going to the store, many choose to buy groceries online, use more online delivery and collection services or try them for the first time.

The sudden flood of consumers ordering from online food delivery and pick-up services has caused retailers and e-food service providers problems.

New customers shopping online for the first time are more likely to switch to it. Note that monthly users of e-grocery stores for Brick-Meets-Click doubled in the August 2019 survey. 13% of households (16.1 million) said they shop this way.

 

E-commerce peaked at 21% of US retail sales in April 2020 but dropped to 17.5% in June. By February 2021, e-commerce will account for 15% of retail sales – 25% more than before the pandemic, said Katherine Cullen, senior director for industry and consumer insight at the National Retail Federation. In addition, 79% of US consumers reported missing social interactions in physical stores during closing hours, according to a report by market research firm Globaldata.

 

The financial woes of the United States Postal Services show another problem for those who want to shop online: Most consumers never choose where to send their parcels. Outside of Amazon’s delivery network, there aren’t many options left for Americans with basic needs.

 

Shoppers struggle to balance the convenience and perceived safety of online shopping with the responsibility and risk of supporting neighborhood stores during a crisis that exacerbates the economic woes of local markets and mom-and-pop stores. Cheap online deliveries have a negative local impact if they are the only lifeline for many people with disabilities who cannot drive or whose households are located in remote areas.

 

The COVID 19 crisis has resulted in people in many OECD countries restricting physical interaction. Self-imposed social dissociation to avoid contagion and strict containment measures implemented in these countries have put a large part of traditional brick-and-mortar retail on hold.

As a result, many local institutions, from bookstores to record stores, have turned to purely online sales, leading to long-term changes in how transactions are made at the neighborhood level.