The Future of E-Commerce in the New Normal

E-commerce: It is said that on an average, it takes more than two months to form a new habit; 66 days to be exact. For India, it has been more than 140 days since the country first went under lockdown. During this period, societal trends relating to how we learn, work, shop, and use technology changed rapidly.

The prolonged nature of the global health pandemic has brought along innumerable alterations, especially in buying patterns of consumers, which moved from in-store purchasing to online shopping. Being homebound forced consumers to look for shopping options online. And before we knew it, a new trend for habitually buying from online stores, took shape!

The crisis has been paving a new path for the e-commerce sector, auguring well for those already present online and forcing those not online, to get there quicker!

Lockdown tales

In the face of adversity, such as the COVID-19, consumer needs for products acquired a sense of heightened urgency. Online purchases become the most obvious form of shopping for people confined to their homes. Essential commodities such as hand sanitizers, groceries, and medical goods, etc. were top-of-mind requirements, leading to top purchases when the lockdown period had started. As restrictions in the logistics sector relaxed, and people began to get used to prolonged periods of working from home, basic needs moved to wants and resulted in purchases for laptops, Wi-Fi routers, comfortable apparel, work stations, etc.

E-commerce players buckled up and embraced this new-found surge in demand, with open arms. They became the much-needed saviours, providing contact-less delivery of products at the doorstep of customers, across multiple pin codes of the country.

What changed?

A recent report by Capgemini Research Institute states that the consumers’ appetite for online shopping and convenience will continue to grow once lockdowns are further relaxed. According to the report, 59% of consumers worldwide had high levels of interaction with physical stores before COVID-19, but now only 24% expect to return to that level. In times to come, consumers are less likely to go to crowded places for shopping. In earlier times (before March 2020), shoppers would not hesitate to walk into stores and try out clothes, worn and tried out by others, perhaps several times over. Today, you won't find them doing the same thing in a hurry or even at all!

While everyone admittedly loves shopping in-store, what will evolve tomorrow, is the digital buying space!

As more and more businesses move their physical stores to online platforms, people will integrate online shopping into their new routines and sellers will look for ways to mirror the offline experience online, as much as possible.

Going by the surge in shopper traffic across web stores and other e-commerce platforms, it is slated that the number of online customers is expected to grow in leaps and bounds, even post CoVid ( whenever that is!). The almost shelter-in-place environment that we are living in, will serve as a key driving to further push online adoption by lackadaisical sellers.

E-commerce in the new normal

We are stepping into a new journey of online shopping. Here AI, Big Data and IoT will play a major role in the lives of consumers and businesses. E-commerce enablers and platforms will need to deepen their offerings to offer easier, quicker and better experiences for both sellers and buyers alike! An easy way to engage consumers would be by replicating the in-store visits as much as possible, in the online world.

There will be many firsts for buyers and sellers alike. New shoppers experiencing digital retail for the first time will get the chance to be serenaded by new sellers going online. New sellers to the online world in parallel, will get the chance to build and deepen their relationships, with their loyal base of customers. No doubt, the competition will intensify and so will the dependence on seriously understanding and leveraging the digital space.

In the pre-Covid era, it was almost unnecessary to have Kirana walas online. But today, with increased demands for basics and essentials, even traditional shopkeepers are taking their stores online; be they Kirana dukaandars or shopkeepers from erstwhile crowded shopping streets of the country.

The trend of online shopping has taken interesting turns in the last few months. Consumer behavioural changes are already in motion to completely change the retail landscape. We are certainly not returning to a familiar world of physical shopping. Experiences that delighted customers earlier will now be addressed digitally.

No doubt, platforms and businesses that make investments in technology today to reimagine the customer experience online will find themselves better placed in the new normal era.

About the Author

Mr Anurag Avula, Co-founder & CEO, Shopmatic