COVID-19 and the effects on E-Commerce
^05/05/2020

Here at Thomas Cole Digital, we can already see COVID-19 will have a dramatic long-term impact on consumer shopping habits, speeding up the shift to online retail for those not already active in the marketplace. The share of people who undertake 50% or more of their total purchases online has already grown by between 25-80% since the virus has developed, a survey has suggest at this stage at least six in 10 consumers intend to continue buying as much online once the pandemic has passed.

The survey of consumers in Europe’s three largest online retail markets: the UK, France, and Germany, indicates that retailers have an opportunity to bounce back from the crisis by moving to a more E-Commerce-focused model once COVID-19 has ended if they are not already. Whilst spending has mainly been limited to essential items such as food during the crisis, the study also found that 80% of consumers intend to carry on shopping online for non-essential products later in the year.

According to the study non-essential retail categories which should see the biggest bounce back in 2020 are home electronics and clothing, with 50-60% of respondents stating they plan online purchases in these areas later in the year. If this is your area of business you need to act now to be ready for the surge in demand.

The survey above, which included a total of 3,162 people aged between 16-64, took place during the period 26-30 March 2020.

Thomas Cole Digital can help you with all things E-Commerce, or with upgrading your old systems to become more streamlined. If you are currently receiving a high number of orders which need processing, get in touch for how we can help cut down your admin and link your internal systems together.