E-Commerce Is Here To Stay With COVID-19

At IntegralPay we put some effort into thinking what’s next when it comes to buying behavior in a world dealing with a pandemic.

In what capacity will our shopping habits change in the short and long term? When we consider online business, in what manner will these new habits change global retail? Furthermore, what will our primary shopping methods resemble in a couple of months from now?

Maintaining any business, especially a retail business, is turning out to be very difficult for some. In the midst of the pandemic, many retail businesses were even compelled to close operations.

Online business owners must be innovative to make sure about the fate of their business, serve their clients, and maintain supply chains. Buyers have totally changed their purchase habits in a really short time.

A study from Stackline broke down and looked at U.S. online business sales in March 2020 compared to March 2019. The outcome: luggage and cameras have been the quickest declining item classes. A wide range of apparel and outside items dropped altogether too.

However, disposable gloves, bread machines, and cough medication were top sellers. What’s more, a wide range of food and hygiene items as well as power generators made it into the top 20.

What hasn’t changed is that the best businesses separate themselves from their rivals with a better customer experience and options.

Five Years of Digital Transformation in Five Months?

Earlier digitalization efforts are paying off right now – particularly if companies gave themselves a head start on their digital transformation, making their offers and services emphasize on the online customer experience, and online business being a central component to keeping the business growing.

Concentrating on online business was going to pay off more and more over the coming years, as more consumers adopt mobile shopping and use chatbots, voice assistants, smart devices and social media. With the COVID-19 lockdown affecting the world, this payoff came much sooner, in a matter of months instead of years.

Consumers are moving to buying online at a faster pace than ever. One US consumer study conducted by Civis Analytics and L.E.K. Consulting shows a growth of up to 30% in online spending since the pandemic started.

Companies with a solid online presence are uniquely poised to weather the financial downturn and take advantage of new opportunities in a post-COVID world.

Online Is Now The Focus of Retail

We don’t know what physical shopping is going to look like down the road, but we can be sure that online sales will play the dominant role for all businesses selling to consumers.

Buying habits after COVID-19 will be focused on online rather than physical buying. Businesses will want to position themselves closer to their customers online, and make their online presence the primary focus of the customer experience moving forward.

A business’s e-commerce infrastructure will enable them to create crisis-proof online sales channels – online, mobile, or any other digital channel your industry uses.

For more information on getting a merchant account for your online business, please contact us today, or get started and apply for a merchant account using our pre-qualification form.