It’s easy to assume that the coronavirus pandemic caused a wholesale shift of consumer activity online. But the truth is a little more complex, particularly as social distancing restrictions were relaxed and hybrid models thrived.
One thing’s for sure: ecommerce experienced colossal growth in 2020. Research from eMarketer reveals a 25.7% surge in global sales last year, to $4,213 trillion, reinforced with a projected 16.8% jump in 2021 to $4,921 trillion.
However, by delving deeper into the numbers, buyer behaviour and habits on and offline varies according to several different factors, including age, risk aversion and whether people are office-based or working from home.
PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey concludes that the pandemic accelerated the steady evolution of existing shopping habits in ecommerce and on the high street, and that these changes bedded in as the recovery got underway.
The research, conducted in June 2021 and involving 8,600 consumers in 22 territories, found consumers more price-conscious, health-orientated, data-mindful and ‘local-focused’. And while digital channels gained in popularity, 46% of respondents said they had purchased in-store ‘weekly’ in the previous 12 months.
PwC also found higher levels of brand loyalty among older people (60% of Millennials were prepared to shop at a variety of retailers compared with only 38% of baby boomers), while only 45% of homeworkers said they did the same amount of in-store shopping in the past six months as they did previously.
For online transactions and ecommerce, convenience is king. The latest research by Kantar shows two-thirds of shoppers now make decisions based on convenience, compared with only 47% who said the same about price or value for money.
To remain competitive, retailers must focus on two seemly contradictory things: staying agile and responsive in a volatile world, while focusing on the rigid and unchanging rules of eCommerce: ease of discovery, clear navigation, effortless purchases and top-notch customer service. Savant eCommerce produced a comprehensive whitepaper ‘Powering up: seizing the post-Covid online-retail opportunity’ tackling this challenge.
Read it to learn how to power up your eCommerce offering to meet new customer expectations and seize opportunities for growth, including:
- How to reimagine the omnichannel experience
- How to build a strong quick-commerce capability
- What latest eCommerce technologies to implement
- How important is going green for your profits
- What steps to take to adapt effortlessly and keep agile
View the whitepaper here https://bit.ly/3DYIdBw.
