A Kaleidoscopic View Into The First Half of 2020 – The eCommerce Trend

Remember Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge – the forever ‘best friend and worst enemies’ in the Archies comic series? Remember their unending shopping sessions with Archies being dragged behind them?

Well, let’s say, had they been here in 2020, Archie wouldn’t be dragging their shopping bags around. One-click and Betty and Veronica would do all the shopping of their heart’s content – after all, it’s the epoch for e-Commerce sites!

And in this Pandemic stricken first half of 2020 (who knows what awaits us in the 2nd half), with social distancing being the quo, what else can we do?

It is these Veronica and Betty who brought about the idea for online shopping, now with COVID-19 on the roll, this is no longer a luxury, but a mandate. While all businesses are striving to capture the online platform, are you still fidgeting about why and how to?

Well, then this is the perfect read for you!

Post the read, you will hold a better vision towards your brand’s online-future. Let’s delve in, shall we?

1. Numbers Speaking Volumes About E-Commerce Trend 2020

Kick-starting this read with a few statistics about the prospect that e-commerce holds in 2020 and beyond.

Source: statista.com

Some of these numbers are predictions for the year 2020 and will possibly supersede the expectations, many thanks to COVID-19, and its brought about a storm of e-commerce.

1. An approximated 95% of all purchases will be made via e-commerce platform by 2040.
2. 58% of online brands are of the faith that COVID-19 will affect buyer confidence. 22% of them believe that this effect will be significant.
3. Owing to the pandemic outbursts, the online sectors of Home Entertainment, Health and Wellness, Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods, Telecommunication, and Technology will undergo major boost over the next 6 months.
4. As per the research conducted, an estimated 80% of respondents in Europe have said that they would be preferring to shop for the non-essential items post the Coronavirus crisis.
5. Here is a look into the commodity online shopping (as of May 31, 2020)

With such promising numbers for the E-commerce sector, this COVID-19, and the ensuing span of uncertainty over health issues even post the breakout, the future of online shops looks promising enough. Taking a cue from this, businesses can be rest assured to step on this boat and progress with their business expansion endeavors. Here come the two of the spearheading questions – how and why. Let’s start on with this section of the topic!

2. Accelerating The Business Growth With E-Commerce During Pandemic Times

The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus hit the world and its economic drop back like never before. As it emerged, the globe wasn’t prepared for this ‘Black Swan’ of a situation. The digital world was a step ahead but, with its slowly escalating progress in the field of online shops. However, with COVID-19, this pace of catching up to the online shopping platforms was boosted considerably.

A. The How

With businesses, prior to the pandemic outburst, had an option – to go online or not, but now with the novel virus on the global roll for an indefinite period, there are no options – they HAVE to go online.

Subsequently, all trades are in the race to set up their branding face over the online platforms. In this rat-race of a situation how to set up your online shop – one that –

• Appeals to clients,
• Lures them from your Top of the Funnel content to the purchasing point, and
• Gains their loyalty?

Here is how –

Keep The Product Content And Information Relevant And Accurate

Clients – a majority of them are new to the online shops, especially for their daily merchandise. The last thing that they need is a dispute between the product description and the original merchandise.

Your online shop thus necessarily needs to comprise relevant links to scientific and medical authorities and rich content, irrespective of the market relevance of the product.

Ensuing this, your products must be discoverable, one that caters to the cross-sell and search.

Categorize the products under the relevant categories so as to ensure that they appear in the perfect searches.

Implement Fair Marketing Price

Running a yield-based pricing system or a marketplace? In both these cases, it is a mandate that you opt for a fair marketing price, one that wouldn’t frustrate your clients and not put you on the wrong side of the online shopping authority-guidelines.

Accurate Delivery Dates Are A Must

Imagine this –

You order a list of commodities whose delivery is dated a week from the date of order. The order arrives a week late. Would you, as a consumer, go back to the brand for another order? You would have, had there been no competitors. However, now you are spoilt for choices. 

As a brand-owner, with a newly launched online shop, remember this instance. One such priority is the maintaining of the delivery date as mentioned in the site. This surely establishes the credibility of your brand and ensures the retaining of loyalty towards your brand.

Out-Of-Stock Items Need To Be Labeled Accurately And Show No Tabs For Order

A nominal and simplistic step at the initial look, but this forms the line between a well-developed e-commerce site and the one that is not. The sold-out commodities appear in your product list sans the warning that they aren’t available and your potential clients are easily misled. The result – a huge adverse impression of your site. Now, that isn’t something that you would want, right?

B. The Why

Businesses are leaving behind a Hansel and Gretel trail of breadcrumbs via their setting up of the online shops. This would be effective in luring prospective clients towards their brand. Subsequently, it would transform these potential clients into its existing counterpart.

However, why this sudden shift to the online platform via the expert assistance of the Top New York eCommerce Development Agencies, especially during the first half of 2020? Needless to say, this has a lot to do with the novel virus on the loose amongst other factors. The latter has been listed below – –

The Obvious: Lockdown And Social Distancing

COVID-19 is being said to have taken the globe a few years back over the chances of a dipping economy. However, the trade-world has found a way out of this over their e-commerce platform.

The only way out during the social distancing and the lockdown is to give power to the convenience factor over launching e-commerce platforms that ensure contact-free delivery of services and products. What better a solution than online shops with orders just a click away and an appropriate site that caters to the latest eCommerce web design trends!

Offline Mode Will Soon Become Archaic

Old customer methodology is set on its way to becoming archaic soon. While the requirements of clients to want to discuss business deals face-to-face remains the same, the feasibility of it becomes narrowed down with social distancing norms.

With efficient tools during the lockdown period, this can actually become a possibility. So, you get a shot at meeting client requirements albeit breaching the COVID-19 distancing norms.

Large Distributors And Aggregators Are Marking Their Territories Globally

Effective digital commerce channels with the pre-programmed business goals are the key to reach out to the clients. This is followed by a proper digital engagement of the customers. This is what the aggregators and large distributors are after.

However, you too have this leverage to buy their marketing engine and your digital power. All that you need is a shot at e-commerce launches and a laid-out strategy to fall in the footsteps of the big-shots in your genre of trade.

Digital Experience = Experimentation Tinged With Innovation

With the travel restrictions and the in-person meetings in control, the edge-case technologies now become largely viable. Apart from the ones already in place, there are multiple technologies that are emerging steadily – including AR, visual search, VR, etc.

These digital advancements bring in the possibility of innovation to leverage the customer experience by large. And are, thus, more than often the preferred tech upgrades preferred by the Top New York Mobile App Development Companies.

3. Covid-19 And Businesses Challenges – Cause And Effect Relationship!

While the prospect for eCommerce looks bright enough, there is something that needs to be taken into consideration – the trading world, as we knew of, till the pandemic breakout, wasn’t prepared to go all out into the online shops. Subsequently, it is obvious that the business realm is facing significant hurdles over going online.

Albeit acknowledgment of the challenges, meeting them with the best possible solution to the same is nearly impossible.

A. The Challenges That Businesses are Facing

Here are the challenges and their solutions to ensure that enterprises can launch in their updated and flawless online shops to engage their potential and existing clients ad enhance their experience.

An overpowering e-Commerce storm

E-commerce came on too fast, too strong for the trading world, it seems; leaving brands with too little a time to catch up with this storm. Then there is the issue with updating the online platform to match up with the trending eCommerce business trends and the digital techniques, website developments, and designs.

Mushrooming competitors

It seems like the entire trade-globe is going all out on investments and adding digital edges to their e-commerce approaches. With growing competitors in the field comes the imminent threat of better offers and discounts, and hence, divided clientele, considerably risking their revenue.

Inadequate ICT infrastructure

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure has been a persistent struggle in the e-commerce sector during these times of pandemic. This often leads to a lack of capacity and awareness and issues with internet access. The issues are common with consumers and MSMEs.

Promoting Usability

Promoting usability is a prime concern for all trades going online. Sans this factor, it is near impossible to reach out and lure in your clients. However, the issue with promoting usability is updating the site consistently to meet the client’s varying changes.

Regulatory and enforcement failures

With pandemic on the loose, there is a failure of the uniform classification across various states in terms of diverse essential items. Despite the government permitting the delivery of essential goods, industry experts are of the opinion that multiple service providers are having hiccups with the procurance of permit passes. This runs valid for staff supply in each of the states.

While this is time-consuming, it has a substantial impact on client usability and experience.

Creating customer appeal

Customer requirements vary over time. Diverse client needs, make it difficult to map the same, and cater to the needs. Since creating customer appeal is largely based on this, it is obvious that the creation of customer appeal is a mammoth task.

Enhancing customer experience

What do you think eCommerce Web Design Services and development trend does to your client experience?

Well, It enhances the experience!

Since they are a constant and consistent update line, businesses would need to dedicate a team for their expertise. This is a new arena for the brands new to the online line of shops and hence the lagging.

Broken supply chains

A blurred distinction between the –

1. Stakeholders with importance to the commerce supply chain, and
2. Stakeholders with no importance to the e-commerce supply chain

-result in a broken supply chain that affects the service providers. The ultimate result? – a jammed demand cycle on account of the ripple effect on the timely delivery of consumer services and goods.

Focus on websites – creation and update

Updates and creation of websites are an absolute mandate for e-commerce sites. This has a lot to do with the existing competition in the market. The online shops need to be regularly updated with the trends in eCommerce industry to ensure that the site catches up to the needs of the Google algorithm and the clients as well.

B. The Solutions

While enterprises lie in the pool of unknown territories in the digital online front, the solutions are being put ahead by the pros in the field. All that they need to do is follow up with the eCommerce business strategy and be rest assured about a result-yielding site.

Reset the branding evaluation with e-commerce sites

When a brand meets its promised delivery date and offers quality merchandise and service, its brand label is re-evaluated and the clients get a new angle on the brand.

This is easily feasible over a well-functioning e-commerce site, one that is updated as per the latest eCommerce business trends and caters to the client requirements.

You can always approach your chosen best web designing eCommerce web design company in New York and let the experts lead you towards the very best.

Eliminating customer-brand friction

Developing a brand-client relationship is one of the utmost important things that enterprises need to concentrate upon. Transparency about the brand – value via a well-developed e-commerce site ensures diminished brand-client friction.

Smoothening payment gateways in websites

Payment in e-commerce sites is a considerable hurdle that brands need to deal with. The first step in this regard is an offering of multiple payment modes accompanied by a completely secured SSL-certified site. This fetches the client’s confidence on your site via a credible brand image. With the spiked cases of cyberthreat over payment gateways, this is a crucial aspect, one that needs immediate addressing.

Enhanced security of websites

An e-commerce website sans the enhanced security aspects is as good as non-existent. What enterprises need to understand is that with online sites, clients are non-reliant on poor security sites since they are soon subjected to pursue the payment procedure.

Convenient navigation across shopping-options

With online shops, one of the primary expectations of clients is a clear interface with a smooth navigation facility. A site that would help them

• With the categorization of merchandise and products and
• Let them smoothly shift from one page to the other.

This means no digital glitches and maybe some animated 404 error pages to improve brand-image even during times of internet issues.

Increase digitization in supply chains

The digitalization of the supply chain is an absolute must to patch up the existing inefficiencies and accelerate the progress in the supply chain. This would upgrade the chain substantially and add to its value.

Additionally, it serves better if you concentrate on –

1. Prioritizing data as an integral differentiator and asset
2. Managing cost to maximize the runway
3. Preparing for any future ‘Black Swan’ situations

4. Another Bumble-Bee In A Post-Pandemic World – Digital Transformation

“Ok, Siri! How to digitally transform your business for 2020 & beyond?”

Here is the question that decides the future of your business! In this pandemic era, one that is run by the e-commerce sector, the digital transformation of businesses is all that you would need to take in while planning an expansion of your trade kingdom.

While a majority of the businesses have already caught up to these digital advancements, others are along similar lines. The prospects that it brings in for the brand in question is immense. In e-commerce lines too, such digital transformation has a crucial role to play. Advancement technologies tipping online platforms make the customer experience an achievable issue.

Enabling Online Mode to Disable COVID-19

The globe is looking at a lockdown phase that can get extended for an indefinite time – as has been well-established by the increasing positive cases of Coronavirus in all the major countries across the world. This was followed by the spiked demand for e-commerce sites for all businesses, irrespective of the genre of their trade. While disabling COVID-19 is right under research as of now, enabling the online mode might be the only way to let your business stay afloat.

With Millenials breathing and sleeping on this online mode, your business boost is guaranteed with a shift in focus to the online shops. Ready yet?! Let not Coronavirus get to your business expansion-plans!