By the second quarter of 2020, our lives as we knew them had changed significantly and masses around the world are still witnessing changes due to lock-downs and social distancing.
The lock-downs that were so rampant last year have lifted, and restaurants, movie theaters and gyms have largely reopened. But many of those in-person businesses are facing staffing shortages while children are still out of school (whether by parent preference or school mandate).
Meanwhile, as you’ve probably seen in hundreds of posts on LinkedIn, many office workers are facing the challenges of going back to work while the virus (to varying degrees across the country and the world) is still a factor — or choosing to leave their jobs for a more remote-friendly company.
Despite those who call this the “post-COVID” era, the situation is still rapidly changing. But retail and e-commerce businesses have begun to see new behavioral shifts in shopping habits, as well as, which changes over the past year show signs of sticking.
The digital economy boomed during the COVID-19 crisis. As people embraced social distancing, they turned to online shopping more than ever before. 67 percent of consumers report they shop differently now due to COVID-19.
Retailers stepped up to the challenge, not just by supporting more online sales, but by embracing emerging technologies that created connections with shoppers or made their customer experience more convenient. It is estimated that 30 to 40 percent of businesses moved online during the pandemic's peak. With the broad expansion of product categories, shoppers are likely to order from online retailers, Walmart grew its digital grocery business in 2021, and E-commerce analysts say that they’ll outsell Amazon in that category this year.
Third World countries is South Asia like India, Pakistan & Bangladesh affected by the coronavirus started doing businesses online during, and after the pandemic. People have started buying and selling online products.
If we specifically talk about Pakistan, The e-commerce net sales of the top 100 Pakistani online stores accounted for about US$628 million in 2020. Gulahmedshop.com heads the list of the online stores by net sales in Pakistan in 2020. Other large and prominent players on the Pakistani market are e.g. khaadi.com, limelight.pk, alkaramstudio.com and junaidjamshed.com. The top 5 online stores in Pakistan accounted for 35% of the net sales of the top 100 online stores in 2020. Furthermore, As Pakistan is a Third World country and most of the people live below the poverty line earn two dollars a day, the home-based industry in Pakistan saw a boom during lock down. The most encouraging thing is that the women who prepare articles for local community started selling their products online with the help of their spouses. As a result, women and men learn new ways of earning and, they are receiving good return in exchange for their articles as now their audience enhanced significantly by using e-commerce tools.
During the pandemic, for a wide variety of reasons, consumer loyalty to their typical brands has fallen. E marketer reports that in mid-2021, more than 80% of consumers reported buying a different brand than usual and, that’s a trend that started early on in the pandemic. Today’s reasons are typically around lower prices (65%) and out-of-stock products (51%)
The major shift in e-commerce in 2020 is crystal clear, and it will continue in the future. E-Marketer predicts retail ecommerce sales will continue to grow by double digits through 2023 worldwide.
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