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NET GAINS During lockdown, shoppers shifted online even faster In a post-Covid-19 world, the migration of shoppers to online is only set to continue, so resellers need to be ready to embrace digital and multichannel retail more than ever The Covid-19 crisis has changed so many aspects of daily life – from how we work and learn, to how we shop and find leisure activities. Welcome to the new normal.
Recent research from Rakuten Advertising found that while 65% of UK shoppers said they had made more online purchases than usual during the Covid-19 outbreak, nearly three quarters planned to shop primarily online during the festive period, suggesting we could see a larger shift to ecommerce in Q4 than the market has seen in past years.
When the UK government ordered all nonessential shops – which included everything from consumer electronics stores and clothing retailers to coffee shops – to close on March 23 of this year an already beleaguered high street found itself under even more pressure. Many retailers found themselves in the position of having to adapt the way their business operated overnight in order to survive the uncertainty.
After a harrowing year, with a large part of it spent isolated from family and friends, people will be looking to make the most of this Christmas. Research shows that 27% of UK consumers are planning to spend more on gifts for their immediate family this year.
The consumer is changing how they shop and retailers need to make sure not to be left behind in the shift online When shops can’t open their doors, online retail comes into its own. Those companies that had a strong internet-based business model, or a multichannel strategy, won out over those that didn’t. Primark, which does not have an ecommerce platform, watched its sales plummet from £650m a month to nothing as the coronavirus forced its shops in Europe and the US to close.
55% of all UK consumer online transactions were made via a mobile device, while 38% of consumers in the UK expect to increase the amount of shopping that they complete online, due to the effects of Covid-19. The report also showed that 67% of global shoppers have used a mobile retail app in the month in question.
With high street stores shut, more and more consumers turned to online to fulfil their need for retail therapy, and it looks like these newly formed digital habits are here to stay, despite the easing of restrictions.
Similarly, figures issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted that almost a third (31.1%) of all UK retail sales in June 2020 were made online. This is close to double the same period last year – up from 18.3% in 2019.
MOBILE According to research completed by global digital marketing agency We Are Social, in the month leading to early July of this year,
Although we are living in uncertain times and the UK is officially in recession, this doesn’t seem to actually be suppressing the consumer’s appetite for online shopping.
IN-STORE Sixty per cent of the 1,050 UK shoppers who were surveyed for a recent study by ChannelAdvisor and Dynata claimed that they had not yet visited a shop one week after they reopened on June 15. Of those that had, 40% said the in-store experience was “less enjoyable” than it had been prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been reported that of all UK online purchases made during lockdown, 35% were on Amazon. However, 21% of the 2,000 UK consumers surveyed were concerned about the growing power of the online retail giant. This could mean new opportunities for smaller retailers. Make sure your website is optimised to deal with a potential increase in traffic, as with opportunities like Black Friday coming in the months ahead, whether you are a small or large retailer, you can’t afford to miss out on sales because of a poor online presence. The consumer is changing how they shop: retailers need to make sure you don’t get left behind as your customers shift online.
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