eCommerce – The Future of Retail?

eCommerce has hit an all-time high due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to lockdowns, travel bans and shop closures. Where physical shops have been hit financially, their online presence has boomed. The younger generation has been a driving force for online shopping. It holds many benefits; no waiting in queues at the checkout, shopping without leaving the house and having their purchases delivered to their door. But it’s not just the younger generation now using online shopping; Covid-19 has brought the older generation up to speed with technology, shopping online via their computers, tablets, or phones.

Having an online presence is a modern-day must for any company. An eCommerce platform has always been a great way to sell products and reach a large audience. Unlike a physical shop restricted to a particular area, small target audience, bills and costs associated with a brick-and-mortar premises. eCommerce can target a large audience nationally and internationally, all from the comfort of your own home; the running cost of an eCommerce platform is also significantly less.

With more people using phones and tablets to shop online, it is easier for your target audience to find and locate not only your store but the products they are after. Due to this accessibility and the help of integrated SEO, you may find you produce more leads and sales.

Another great benefit to having eCommerce on your site is that you can sell products online 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You also don’t have to worry about the scale of your shop; you can sell as little or as many products as you like.

The Silent hero for retail?

During Covid-19, eCommerce has been a definite saving grace for some companies which have depended on foot traffic to their shops. However, it has fuelled online competition and has resulted in finding and acquiring sales from your target audience more costly in online advertising.

Some retail brands like The Gap have decided to close their physical stores and have an online shop. Is this the right move? With many people now adjusting to a ‘new normal’, eCommerce will remain at the forefront of retail. However, even with many companies adapting and excelling online, lockdowns are beginning to lift and people are venturing back out onto their high streets and retail parks after being cooped up in their homes for over a year, so the physical retail stores will now start to see a boom in shop sales as well as online.