Eleanor Milner
Digital and eCommerce Assistant
September 7, 2021
Everyone has that one item they swear lockdown made them buy. Perhaps some handy noise-cancelling headphones or a reclining desk chair. Whatever necessity working remotely required, online shopping came to our rescue for safe, online, and fast purchasing. Despite becoming a new necessity rather than simply a preference, it is no surprise the world of e-commerce exploded in 2020. Channel Advisor reveal 51% of consumers say they were doing more online shopping as a direct result of quarantine. However, as we begin to enter the ‘new normal’ what are the key takeaways from the last year and what does this mean for a post pandemic e-commerce?
THE IMPACT
As stores closed their doors in March last year, the spotlight turned to online shopping to fulfil retail needs, undeniably having a huge impact overnight. Many were forced to kickstart their digital transformation early to meet customer expectations. Consequently, the world of e-commerce became far more saturated with competition and consumer choice.
Furthermore, the pandemic inevitably had a great impact on online demand. Statista report that during March 2020 (during the first UK lockdown) 41% were buying more than before, meanwhile in February 2021 (during the UK’s 3rd lockdown) this rose to 71%. Not to forget the impact spending the holiday seasons inside had on online purchasing. Google uncovered that over 70% of UK shoppers who had previously planned to shop over the holidays would now do so online due to the pandemic.
Overall, while the pandemic may have heightened the pressure around organisations e-commerce strategies, it did lead to an influx of online purchasing which certainly helped many businesses generate profit and satisfy customers from the safety of their homes.
LESSONS LEARNT
As with all experiences, it’s important to reflect on the key takeaways businesses and organisations can utilise from this challenging period. If your interested in exploring the customer benefits of online shopping check out our article here.
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Eliminating friction to the online experience is crucial for customer retention
Just as no one likes to waste time waiting in the lengthily shopping queues, no one wants to spend their time watching the loading screen tick by. Indeed, many of us are perhaps less patient than we might think. It is reported that in the UK, 67% of consumers blame slow loading times for the main reason for site abandonment with 47% expecting a web page to load in two or less seconds. The newly competitive e-commerce environment has amplified the importance of providing a frictionless user experience in maintaining customers.
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Having a device flexible e-commerce
An online store that can be accessed from various devices is key. Becoming increasingly important as employees continue hybrid work practices since individuals switch between devices more often than usual. Technology is mirroring this changing workflow too, take for example the HP Elite Folio, a 2-in-1 notebook that changes seamlessly between laptop to tablet ideal for both working and leisure deeming it the hybrid worker’s dream. Therefore, having an online store that also adapts to the new working practices of employees could be essential in retaining, gaining, and pleasing customers.
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Providing a personalised experience
Despite not being face-to-face with customers, it is still important to maintain the personal touch to show buyers they matter. Subsequently, one benefit of online shopping is its ability to deliver a personalised experience without the annoying or intrusive sales pitch. Equally, online stores can take advantage of analytics, insights, and data to take actionable steps in creating a tailored customer experience, which could help improve conversion by almost 8% according to Shopify. For illustration, the DTP Tech Store offers customers the opportunity to register for a bespoke portal, for unique pricing, products and branding.
The future
If the past year has taught us anything, it is that no one can predict the future. In April stores reopened their doors while government guidelines continued to ease, so what does this mean for the world of e-commerce?
Likely, online stores will have to continue adapting around individuals ever-changing consumption habits post-pandemic. While many may relish an eager return to the shopping centres, understandably some may still feel safer and more comfortable continuing shopping from their homes. As suspected, when stores reopened in April online sales did take a dip, but remained at a level still higher than before the pandemic, indicating how individuals are not suddenly neglecting the online shopping experience.
Meeting customer expectations is not a new challenge to e-commerce but one that has become more prominent as COVID-19 shifted the limelight to online stores within the last year. Thus, being able to successfully satisfy customers is likely a challenge that will follow e-commerce into the near future. For instance, post-pandemic e-commerce will have to deal with the rising expectations of delivery, shipping and return policies that increased over lockdown if sites wish to keep customers in their good books.
Like many of us, e-commerce has had quite an unprecedented year. The pandemic put online shopping to the test through rigorous demand and increase traffic. Nevertheless, lessons have risen from such a hectic period which can be harnessed by organisations who wish to improve their online shop. Even if the future of e-commerce remains uncertain, it is certain that the past year has created a newfound appreciation for e-commerce which will be carried into future years.
During the pandemic, we have created the DTP Tech Store to help eliminate your IT procurement challenges and provide you with a frictionless experience.
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