The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has impacted every part of our lives, bringing about huge changes many of which will continue after we all get back to normal.
Yesterday, Monday 15th June lockdown measures were relaxed across England, as many high street shops reopened with safety measures in place, including plastic screens at the tills and floor markings for social distancing. Yet don’t let this initial excitement fool you, one long lasting result of Covid-19 and lockdown will be the move away from High Street shopping towards digital retailing even after lockdown ends completely.
Even as economies reopen, social distancing will become a way of life until there is a vaccine for COVID-19. New consumer behaviours formed during the pandemic will become habits the longer these measures last. One of the most profound behavioural changes unfolding in retail during this Coronavirus crises is the shift to digital purchasing.
Naturally, online shopping has seen massive growth thanks to the various legal actions taken to keep everyone out of physical stores as much as possible during lockdown. Infact It has become clear that online shopping is vital to keeping a business afloat.
Online retail sales in the UK jumped by 32.7% year-on-year in May, the highest increase since March 2008, data from IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index reveals.
This is just evidence that eCommerce has been steadily gaining momentum. Prior to lockdown attitudes towards shopping online had broadly clear distinctions between those for whom it was a matter of convenience whether it be groceries and staples or recreational items; and those for whom it was imperative to shop from physical markets and brick and mortar stores because they are a more active process.
The pandemic has created a shift and more and more people have gone online to buy a wide range of things and many businesses have moved towards ecommerce that would never have considered it before. Look at the take-away industry. Many restaurant have only managed to survive by turning to eCommerce and offering take-away. One thing is certain, online shopping will continue to boom even after the Coronavirus pandemic comes to an end.
Retail on the so-called high street is going to have an uphill struggle!
Shoppers will be more conscious of retailers’ sanitation, health and safety practices, social distancing and many other ‘fear’ factors. A report claims that in the post-COVID world, only 46% of people will be looking to shop at physical stores as compared to 56% before the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Their analysis shows that the appetite for online shopping is set to increase by nearly 20% in the next six to nine months while there will be a marked decline in physical shopping.
Before lockdown a majority of people wouldn’t have considered buying their grocery online. Yet today’s homebound consumers are dependent on obtaining their groceries without stepping foot into a physical store. While some demand will drop after lockdown is lifted, many consumers will permanently shift to eCommerce for groceries and much more.
Part of the reason for this is High street shopping will be greatly affected by the fact that people fear using cash and ATMs which have been flagged for being potential ways to contract the coronavirus, which is why going cashless has become more important than ever before. Check out my blog on Cash is Dead. Given safety concerns, consumers are already opting for contactless card and mobile payments over handling cash or touching POS terminal keypads. Together with how safe it is to shop online, can there be any doubt that we will see a decline in shopping at physical stores.
We will see even more business turning to online sales. Restaurants, fast-food outlets, cafés, bakeries, butchers, grocers, liquor stores or any other retail outlet will look at having an ecommerce store supporting their existing offline business.Have no doubts the growth of online sales will continue to grow across almost all business sectors.
Are you a business looking to have your own eCommerce platform? If you want to easily and safely manage orders from customers without getting stung with huge fees, then contact us here at Smeehee. We provide a simple and easy to use eCommerce store available to anyone selling goods. In both the retail and hospitality industry. Simply contact us on 01325 345824 or 07454 978255 and lets chat. Offering a digital ordering service designed to help you reduce queues and deal with post covid-19.
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