The Coronavirus scare has driven people indoors. With the pandemic, everyone prefers to be online. Either working-from-home or making a purchase, people are glued to digital devices. Commercial data shows that consumers have spent almost $861bn with online retailers in 2020, 44% more than the previous year. The pandemic alone has contributed to this massive growth of eCommerce shopping trends. In this article, let’s find the reasons behind this spike.
Panic Purchasing
As WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic last year, people around the world started stocking up. Every family bought medical supplies like hand sanitizers, masks, and disinfectants. Each individual was focused on bulk buying household necessities and grooming items like toilet papers, groceries, and even a beard kit. Soon physical stores struggled to meet the demands due to shortages aroused by the disrupted supply chain. Thus people turned to online shopping where they can find necessary products without scarcity.
Restrictions On Movement
The advent of the pandemic saw restrictions on outdoor activities. People were confined to their houses due to lockdowns. As everybody is equally vulnerable to the disease, the shutdowns extended for weeks. With such restrictions, there’s no question of going out shopping. Online consumption habits, therefore, increased around the globe. A large proportion of internet users started buying essential goods through online portals to meet their necessities.
Safety Concerns
As people became aware of the fast spread of the COVID-19 infection, there was a lingering fear about safety. Studies say that coronavirus can stay on a surface for days depending on the material. Visiting stores also means coming in contact with multiple such surfaces. Online and physical shoppers both raised a concern about the contamination of the packaged products.
CDC reports, however, mention that there is a time-lapse between packaging and receiving the goods. Challenging shipping conditions and delays in the delivery processes reduce the risk of Coronavirus exposure. These reports help shoppers to rely on eCommerce sites for further purchasing.
Ease Of Shopping
Clear product descriptions, seamless navigation, and discount offers inspire buyers to shop from eCommerce sites. Shoppers can search, sort, filter, and add products to their carts with ease. Besides, they can minimize touching different surfaces that can raise the risk of infection. Online shopping helps shoppers choose products, order them, and pay digitally, from the safety of their homes.
Change In Consumers Habits
Staying indoors and purchasing from a one-stop-shop influenced customers to shift towards online shopping. The instability of jobs, fear of contamination, stress, and uncertain future, all affected their purchasing behavior. People are focusing on value-based purchasing, stocking household essentials. At present, price-sensitivity and availability of goods are vital for consumers. Their inclination towards eCommerce sites is thus increasing as these sites offer both.
Conclusion
The pandemic has changed the commercial world. From consumer behavior to their priorities and purchasing power, COVID-19 has altered the way people shop. As eCommerce offers convenience, safety, and cost-efficiency, it’s the future of shopping during the pandemic and beyond.
