E-commerce Growth

With Christmas 2020 fast approaching many E-commerce shop owners are gearing up their actions to take advantage of the increased online shopping activity. This year more then ever the boost the festive period brings in terms of spend is welcome. To try repair some of the damage the pandemic has done this year.

Online retail in the UK is expected to reach just below 100 billion pounds in 2020. Last year online retail sales accounted for 19% of all retail sales. This is expected to grow in 2020 and indeed keep growing year on year. So the question is will E-commerce continue to grow or has it reached its peak? Below we try answer this question by going through some industries and reasons for thinking the boom is not over yet.

Clothing and household goods were the most popular items purchased online in 2019. Holiday accommodation, tickets and travel arrangements were also highly popular categories too.

Covid-19
It goes without saying that the pandemic of 2020 meant many of us had to turn to online buying to manage. From groceries to exercise equipment we had to buy online as the retail outlets were closed and supermarkets became busy and long drawn out affairs due to social distancing and having to queue for hours on end. People also purchased exercise equipment due to gyms and clubs being closed and walks limited. Infact 2nd hand exercise equipment at one point became more expensive then brand new due to the demand outstripping supply. We turned to online buying to manage and to try keep ourselves and little ones entertained, board games and gift arts and craft boxes became popular. The pandemic caused a surge in online sales, not least in online TV streaming services too such as Netflix.

High Street Rates
More and more high street shop owners are struggling with the rising costs in renting or owning brocks and mortar retail premises. This doubled with rising rates means it’s fast becoming hard to sustain a normal walk in retail unit. More and more retail units are empty in the town centre, with parking and congestion putting potential shoppers off. Shop owners are under pressure in normal circumstances so add the pandemic to this and you can see why it’s sometimes near impossible to have a successful bricks and mortar retailer unit. This means more and more shops are closing down, with many choosing to go it online owner so they have less overheads and expenses.

Drones
Yes this will become a reality, maybe not in the near future but at some point. Drones will deliver goods direct to our door. Trials have already been started and successful but the logistics is some years off yet for this to become common place. What goods will be delivered by drones remains to be seen, we can’t image white goods like washers or fridges will be delivered but its an interesting one to keep our eye on.

Prices
How many of us have wondered into a local store to look at an item only to Google it and see it cheaper online? Most of us at some point we suspect. This usually applies to large items such as TV’s, fridge freezers and ovens etc. Fact is companies with retail stores will struggle to compete with online only retailers when it comes to prices. Fact is there are Apps that let you scan a barcode and it tells you where it’s cheaper elsewhere. There is a good chance the item you want will be cheaper to buy online, less overheads, no store rentals, less staff, all adds up to being able to pas son the savings to the customer direct.

Choice
We’ve all done it, visited a retail store to be met with only a few choices of the item we want. People like choice, especially shoppers and a bare shelf so to speak quickly puts people off. We like to compare and this is easy to do online. Many websites have this function built into the website so the shopper browsing can easily compare items. Many websites nowadays also use a drop-shipping method so don.t even have to hold stock, meaning they can order in the goods to be delivered direct to the customer. Again this means less expense which is passed onto the customer.

Convenience
Let’s face it, on a rainy Sunday none of want to be going out to visit multiple retail outlets when we need a new dishwasher or microwave. We all much prefer the comfort and warmth of our home on such days. Online shopping gives us the convenience to buy what we want without leaving the home. With companies offering next day delivery this suits most of us, infact same day delivery is becoming more and more commonplace and as companies compete with each other same day delivery could be the difference between a shoppers choice when it comes to buying online.

Overall the feeling is the growth of E-commerce is still an upward trend. As companies adapt and technology becomes more advanced more and more people will simply choose to buy online. This combined with the growth of social media which is already being used by retail outlets means E-commerce will continue to grow just as fast as it has in the past.