The COVID-19 situation is one of the biggest defining events of 2020 and the impact will most likely be felt well into the new decade. The online shopping market has been the most impacted – in a positive way, a way that no one ever imagined. The social distancing and stay at home orders have pushed more and more customers to shop online. Other factors that have contributed to the growth of the e-commerce market include:
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The steady growth of internet users
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Rising awareness related to online shopping
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Increasing launches of products online
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Low prices offered on bulk purchases
What are some of the effects of the growth of the e-commerce market?
Demand has steadily grown and surpassed the supply of some of the essential commodities. As a result, there has been an increase in unauthorized merchants selling counterfeit goods online. The problem with counterfeits has been here for a while but now it’s gotten worse. The good news is that measures are being put in place for counterfeit protection. These measures will go a long way in seeing that legitimate sellers don’t incur losses while their competitors make profits illegally.
Big giants like Walmart report a drop in casual shopping as well as a supply chain disruption.
Panic buying with the onset of Coronavirus
As the novel Coronavirus spread to different parts of the world and it was declared a pandemic, people started stocking up on various items such as toilet paper, medical supplies, masks, and other household essentials. It got to a point where real-life stores, as well as online stores, couldn’t keep up with the demand. As a result, the price for most of these items went up.
From then on, the purchases have shown an upward curve with no signs of slowing down, just like the rate of infections has been increasing.
What does the future hold?
People respond to a crisis in different ways. When human beings are faced with uncertainty or risk, they will try as much as possible and do anything within their means to feel like they’re in control. This explains the impulse shopping behavior whey they try to stock up as much as possible.
We should expect that as long as the pandemic goes on, people will continue to shop in bulk in the hope of stocking up, as they wait for the best.
Is it safe to order online?
By now everyone clearly understands how infectious the Coronavirus is. There are fears that the virus may survive on the purchased good for a couple of days and eventually, when the customer gets it there’s a risk of infection.
Researchers say that it’s highly unlikely that the recipient would get exposed to the virus in this way. This means that it’s safe for people to order online and have their goods delivered to them especially if the package will be in shipment for a couple of days. However, they still need to take the necessary sanitization measures to further protect themselves.
Conclusion
The global Coronavirus pandemic has been accompanied by a lot of uncertainty. In such situations, our instincts push us to get ready for anything. In this case, people believe that stocking up gets them prepared for anything. The panic buying may also be linked to peer pressure or what in this case, is better known as “crowd mentality.”
These rapidly changing customer behaviors have rapidly affected customer behaviors across the world. Customers too are trying hard to adapt during these tough times.
