How Pandemic Stimulated The Growth of eCommerce and Digital World?
- May 5, 2021
- By Rajeev Nar
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes, 0 seconds
Modifying the words of Alfred Tennyson a bit, “Covid may come and covid may go, but the digital business will go on forever,” for sure it will. The pandemic has transformed the way things used to be! In this blog, we are going to talk about the impact of the pandemic on the eCommerce and digital world!
The Only Good In The Pandemic Was The Internet, Right?
In the coming years, we’ll look back at 2020 and remember how everything was ruined just because of a small strain of a virus, how the businesses faced losses and people lost their jobs, how we all spent hundreds of days inside our houses and how every other news was negative and disturbing. We’ll remember, amidst it all, there was one thing that was rising despite all the fall and that’s the digital world! There was one thing that was keeping us alive and happy and that was the internet. If there’s one sector that has not faced any kind of difficulties in this era of the pandemic, that is the digital and eCommerce sector. So now, you must be clear about how much importance the internet and digital world holds, it won’t stop even at the worst times. This is how powerful it is!
Most importantly, do you know that since the pandemic a lot of people have been going digital? That’s the reason behind the rise in eCommerce global growth rate from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020.
Also, by now you must have understood how the pandemic worked as a boon to the eCommerce and digital sector. We are going to discuss this in-depth, further in this blog.
The Impact Of Pandemic On The Digital And eCommerce World
The attack of Covid-19 suddenly on our lives was shocking to everyone. But it worked as a reality check for all the businesses that were unwilling to accept the digital transformation. While the people who embraced the digital world much before the pandemic haven’t faced any problem but the businesses that didn’t enter into the e-world are now unprepared.
With all this stress in every sector and a drop in economic demand and growth, all the businesses are now shifting towards creating a virtual business environment. Besides, some businesses are not able to adapt to the change positively, everything is now happening in a hurry as there’s no scope of offline/traditional business in this era of the pandemic. But hurry spoils the curry, right? It leads to a lot of mistakes.
On the contrary, the businesses that were already in the digital world and who were following all the digital strategies are now at a place where they can go ahead of their less agile competitors.
That isn’t to de-emphasise the challenges related to the pandemic which they face now, regardless of their current level of digital understanding. Besides, going only digital isn’t an elixir to all that troubles the businesses in the present economic environment. However, they do have more tools on their sides not only to fight with the storms but also to come out of it even stronger.
However, do not write off the virtual sluggards just yet. The crisis gives birth to creativity, and when the good ideas are put together in practice then it can pitch any business in the right direction.
Furthermore, the businesses that rely on their pre-build digital strategies can be overshadowed by those who invest more in their digital marketing techniques.
The Advantages Of Going Digital In This Time Of Pandemic
The businesses that adapt and embrace the digital way of performing business get so many advantages in this age of competition and pandemic. Some of which we have mentioned below:
- Efficiency Benefit:
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They make use of various effective digital technologies to make the operations smooth and to automate the manual processes. This results in greater and higher speed, more focus and less waste on the revenue-producing activities.
- Productivity Benefit:
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Their employees were already built up to work remotely, so their main focus is on holding collaboration tools and technology to bump up the workforce productivity and to sustain the culture of the company.
- Security Benefit:
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They are prepared better for all the challenges. Also, they are more strong to the mushrooming of cyber threats in the present environment.
- Customer Benefit:
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They excavate customer data to check for the shifts in demand and to uncover the evolving needs of customers.
- Agility Benefit:
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They leverage the data-driven insight to make the decisions and act on them much faster. Also, they have built-in societal flexibility to change or adapt the course at any point in time.
Dependence on Digital Solutions At The Time Of Pandemic
Under pandemic, the world, by certainty, went into a state of isolation. Social distancing is presently the most constructive way to reduce the spread of coronavirus until the vaccination proves to be effective. As a consequence, anything that depends on human contact, that is, almost all the aspects of our lives should be modified to account for the perils of the deadly virus.
Virtualisation has entered in to fill the gap made by the social distancing and lockdowns. Without the use of digital technologies and tools, people wouldn’t be left with any mode of working, shopping, schooling and many more.
Let’s take a deeper look at how virtualisation is keeping the business and society alive even during the pandemic:
- Remote Work:
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Before the arrival of the pandemic, only a few percentages of people worked on a remote basis. But now, because of the lockdown and social distancing, people have been shifting to remote work, after all, they are left with no other option.
No doubt, this huge shift from offline work to remote work has been very shocking to the system. But there’s always a silver lining and it is that, as more and more people are shifting to the digital world, it is developing and new strategies are evolving.
- Omnichannel Commerce:
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As so many physical businesses are closed now, a lot of consumers (even all those who were not in favour of online shopping) are shifting to the online mode of shopping to fulfil their requirements.
To be specific, various grocery shops are high in demand. The customers can choose their groceries and pay the amount online. Moreover, the businesses are trying their best to offer their customers safe delivery of their order. Furthermore, digital-physical integration is much more significant than ever.
- Digital Content Consumption:
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Humans are a social animal, they cannot just live alone without socialising. That’s the reason, to fulfil their entertainment needs, consumers are consuming a lot of digital content. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar have become so popular in these days of lockdown. You know what? Almost 51% of internet users across the world are watching more movies and shows because they can’t go out.
Moreover, Netflix alone witnessed 16 million new subscribers in the beginning months of 2020. Meanwhile, so many film studios have been releasing new shows to capture the audience.
- Platformification:
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Organisations and institutions of all types are trying to enter the digital world to stay still during these tough times of pandemic. The fitness industry has also shifted to the virtual world by streaming live classes and offering the pre-recorded classes as well.
Moreover, every educational institution from elementary schools to postgraduate colleges shifted online. Also, large scale events and conferences are being held virtually.
Conclusion
So, finally, we are at the bottom of this blog and we are pretty sure you loved reading about the impact of the pandemic on the digital world.
As we all know, the pandemic had transformed the lives of everyone including the corporates. Now, everything is digital from education, business, meetings to everything else and don’t you think this will keep on going? Don’t you think of shifting your business online? If you haven’t done it yet then it’s high time! In case you’re doubtful about anything or have some questions, then feel free to connect with us, we are right here at your service!
