{"id":373928,"date":"2023-12-28T10:45:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T10:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webinterpret.com\/blog\/coronavirus-ecommerce-important-ever"},"modified":"2026-03-16T11:03:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T11:03:59","slug":"coronavirus-ecommerce-important-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webinterpret.com\/en\/blog\/coronavirus-ecommerce-important-ever","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus: why ecommerce is more important than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

More people are shopping online<\/h2>\n

The current situation has driven people to shop online more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In February 2020, before the world went into lockdown, a little under 20% of total retail<\/strong> sales were online.<\/p>\n

Now, after three weeks of coronavirus enforced restrictions and shop closures, online sales have \u2018risen dramatically\u2019 by over 70% in March year-on-year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Online traffic rocketed by 10-15% per day compared to February and some companies in the food sector experienced up to ten times more traffic. All this makes it clear that ecommerce will command a greater share of total retail sales when new figures are available.<\/p>\n

Normally, well over half of our shopping journeys<\/strong> begin online (according to Google) even if the final transaction takes place in a shop. Now, even more, journeys are starting online and more are resulting in conversions.<\/p>\n

\"Coronavirus<\/p>\n

What impact has COVID-19 had on e-commerce?<\/h2>\n

Coronavirus has had an unprecedented impact on ecommerce and created macro environments across online sectors. As we can no longer buy many products in shops, ecommerce sites are our only option.<\/p>\n

Understandably, as we acclimatized to quarantine and social distancing demand in certain sectors rocketed. Online sales in food and drink have surged, while demand for subscriptions, DIY, gardening, gaming, and fitness equipment boomed.<\/p>\n

In some instances, opportunities to maximize sales growth were missed. This is highlighted by online supermarkets\u2019 sales only increasing by 0.8%<\/strong> in March when demand was far higher.<\/p>\n

Our urgency to buy online is also reflected in conversion rates. In March, conversion rates were up nearly a fifth last year<\/strong> across all sectors according to figures from IRP.<\/p>\n

Additionally, increased time at home has resulted in email open rates steadily rising<\/strong>, supporting a slight increase in conversions and revenue from email content.<\/p>\n

What ecommerce opportunities has COVID-19 created?<\/h2>\n

The clear opportunity coronavirus has created for ecommerce is simply that shops are closed, and people are staying at home. Ecommerce has a \u2018captive audience\u2019 at the moment so the majority of \u2018shopping occasions\u2019<\/strong> can be captured online.<\/p>\n

Probably the most important opportunity for ecommerce is the drastic rise in first-time online shoppers. Their first shop may have been in one of the recent boom sectors, but chances are if they had a good experience they will do more shopping online in the future.<\/p>\n

Smaller companies are seizing opportunities to boost their online sales as larger companies can\u2019t fulfill demand.<\/p>\n

Supermarkets hitting delivery capacity, restaurant, and pub closures, and extra web browsing have given online food and drink specialists and subscriptions the chance to thrive.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the impact of coronavirus has presented B2B companies with huge short-term problems but could change future sales. B2B companies are developing B2C ecommerce sites<\/strong> to keep the cash flow going, which in the future may be a new profitable side to their business.<\/p>\n

How can online sellers make the most of the coronavirus ecommerce boom?<\/h2>\n

There are things online sellers need to get right to attract and retain consumers<\/a> in the current climate.<\/p>\n