Future of Ecommerce after Pandemic is Over

Chudovo has researched how people are using e-commerce and other digital tools during the coronavirus crisis. We also tried to predict the most likely future of e-commerce. In this way, our progressive team managed to prepare some valuable advice for designing your online shop.

Our research has shown that more than half of the respondents now shop online more often. One of the four people in Germany claimed that they shop online at least once a week. The number of online shoppers is higher than the number of classic shoppers.

About 2500 people took part in a survey. Over 1000 consumers are going to continue shopping online after the pandemic.
“Even after the end of the severe Corona-related restrictions, the demand for everyday goods in e-commerce remained increased in the second quarter of 2020, that suggests a positive growth forecast for this segment”, said the association.

To sum up, we can say that shopping behavior should change in the future due to positive shopping experiences during the coronavirus
crisis.

What are the most popular e-commerce trends?

Not only everyday items but also household goods, telephone accessories, and sporting goods are mostly in demand. There is even significant growth in fashion retail. More and more people are buying clothes and shoes online.

Clinical thermometers: + 2,970%
Dumbbells: + 2,740%
Telephone headsets: + 910%
Video games: + 370%
Protective clothing: + 350%
Vitamins: + 320%
Analgesics: + 140%
Flu pills: + 130%
Board games: + 108%

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to a digital world. The changes we are making now will have lasting effects when the world economy returns to normal,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi.
The coronavirus epidemic is called “blessing” for the digital transformation. Consumer shopping behavior is slowly but significantly changing.

More and more services are consumed over the Internet. Experts predict that modifications in consumption patterns that have arisen due to the pandemic will remain favorable after the pandemic.

Traders need to be prepared for these changes. E-commerce is becoming an alternative to the stationary trade, and the store operators should go online.

How should e-commerce businesses adapt to the new trends?

Every crisis is severe. The most powerful entities survive, but the small ones disappear from the market or try to find new ways to do business. One of the options for SMEs is trading in marketplaces and classifying ads. Small enterprises don’t have the budget to invest in expensive traffic development or purchases. But such e-commerce businesses as AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Rakuten have it.

In this way, marketplaces are becoming the most forward-looking e-commerce segments these days. For SMEs, working with marketplaces is an opportunity to focus on production or e-commerce web development. It is necessary for the seller to “digitize” the goods and forward them to the warehouse. So what is e-commerce? The e-commerce platform takes care of all logistics, marketing, and financial
calculations. All marketplaces have an API as the foundation for integration. However, you can set up your integration. It is better for large companies willing to invest in e-commerce web development.

How should e-commerce businesses adapt to the new trends?

Eventually, the pandemic will end, and a new era will begin. Your online shop must be ready for this. Now let’s look at some of the ecommerce software configurations that will be required for your work online.

1. THE ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE MUST BE VISUALLY REALISTIC, LIVELY, AND DETAILED
As millions of people worldwide work or study from home, they need to avoid face-to-face contact, and, therefore, they shop online. It is well-known that everyone likes to shop in stores and loves to touch and feel goods. But we have to switch consumers to digital technologies that can become sustained when people integrate online shopping into their new daily routines.

The only experience a consumer can have with your product is the experience you provide on your product detail pages (PDPs). Brands that use realistic details for their PDPs, with videos showing how the shoe bends or how the fabric moves, already have higher engagement, better conversions, and lower returns. This trend with lifestyle and fashion brands started before the pandemic but has not yet affected everyday items, consumer goods, electronics, and groceries. Simple images previously worked for these products because the product was a bit exposed in the store. But in a world where the first (and often only) experience is online, that’s no longer enough. We recommend modernizing your PDPs filled with videos and extensive visuals.

2. YOU MUST BE MORE AGILE IN YOUR CHANNEL
Because of the unstable situation, consumer requirements can change rapidly. While basic needs such as toilet paper, hand disinfectants, and food were initially at the forefront of the current pandemic, the focus finally shifted to sportswear, board games, handicraft projects, and even comfortable loungewear. As many of us are affected by economic uncertainty, demand, supply, and pricing change dynamically. Your channel needs to be agile and ready to market new products, re-evaluate products, change visual messages, and sounds to adapt to consumer sensibilities.

3. BE AUTHENTIC AND GAIN CUSTOMER’S LOYALTY AND CONFIDENCE.
In these “new circumstances, companies must make many changes to ensure an authentic connection with loyal consumers. But how? For example, you can engage customers to upload their pictures and videos of purchased goods to the website. Or you can also gain more trust by enabling to contain user-generated images and videos in the digital settings. It requires some form of authorization to allow the pictures, photos, and video to be automatically cropped and enhanced. However, these technology investments will pay off only in the long term.

4. YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR DISTRIBUTED DIGITAL TEAMS MORE EFFICIENT
We live in today’s world. Marketing, creative, and development teams are no longer in the same place. They all work from home, bring up kids, take care of pets, stay healthy, and work. There will be a time when we all return to offices, but something will have changed forever. Increasingly, companies are concentrating on improving the workflow. Now is the time to invest in cloud-based technologies to centrally manage your digital media resources and create a digital environment that is ideal for asynchronous team collaboration. You, therefore, need better tools to ensure that all digital tasks are automated and working properly.

5. RICH MEDIA MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE INTEGRATED INTO YOUR MAGENTO E-COMMERCE TECH STACK
Integrating a world-class media platform into your Magento e-commerce tech stack pays off as you win the customer experience and create attractive brand images that load quickly on any screen. Our Magento programmers recommend you to integrate a media management platform into your tech stack.

6. PREPARE FOR NEW AUDIENCE.
Many grandparents can also buy gifts online for the first time. Prepare to work with outdated browsers and devices. Is your buying experience simple enough for people who have never shopped online before? Does your online shop support the old dusty browsers and devices that the old generations may use them? Are your messages and content relevant to those who are not digital users? If the answer to any of these questions is no, now is the time to take action. You can start with reading an article on Uberant, where our expert have shared some valuable insights.

Chudovo is a full-service company that has launched to develop your e-commerce platforms on Magento. Our experts have many years of profound experience with shop systems and can ensure that your e-commerce platform works perfectly and is customer-oriented.