With the unfortunate events of the pandemic that began in 2020, many businesses have been affected. Some have even gone bankrupt or shut down.
However, despite the tragic impact of COVID-19, eCommerce businesses have thrived. Because of various lockdowns, strict travel restrictions, health precautions, and, of course, to avoid the virus, the pandemic drove people to shop online. Given how the pandemic affected practically everything, eCommerce was able to help people get things they needed in the safest and most convenient way possible.
During the peak of the pandemic, almost all activities were transitioned online, from online schooling to meeting, to shopping, and more. Everyone adapted and changed their behaviour.
According to Statista, a significant percentage of consumers in the United Kingdom reported changes in their online shopping behaviour over the past year. In particular, in March 2020, over 40% of UK consumers reported doing more online purchasing than before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Furthermore, by February 2021, this percentage had risen to almost 75%.
Now that we’ve reached 2022, we can see that the world is slowly recovering from the pandemic. Many people now have access to vaccines and booster shots, travel restrictions have been loosened, lockdowns have been lifted. Recreational activities are now available, restaurants are now open for dine-in, and many shops and retail stores are open. With the world slowly moving towards the new normal, many people can go out and shop for groceries, clothes, and other necessities instead of relying upon online shopping.
As the world recovers from the pandemic, what will happen to eCommerce businesses in 2022?
eCommerce Share Price Trends
As people adjust to the waning pandemic, many are shopping in stores, returning to work onsite, and holding meetings and appointments in person rather than online. This shift in consumer behaviour has a significant impact on the pricing share of the eCommerce market. It has a drastic effect even when a business is not centred on online purchasing. Many well-known eCommerce organisations, such as Zoom, PayPal, and Netflix, have dropped their pandemic gains in 2022.
- Zoom Share Price Trend: February 2021, £327 ($444) – February 2022, £104 ($141)
- PayPal Share Price Trend: February 2021, £224 ($304) – February 2022, £89 ($121)
- Netflix Share Price Trend: February 2021, £415 ($563) – February 2022, £296 ($402)
If eCommerce companies that are not focused on online merchandise are impacted by customer behaviour in 2022, imagine how much more eCommerce businesses that are focused on online products and merchandise are now affected.
Is eCommerce in decline?
Not quite. In fact, it is far from it. While many individuals are returning to physical shopping, there are still many consumers wanting quick, easy purchases who will continue to rely on eCommerce in the coming years, and more people will join them.
It is anticipated that retail eCommerce sales in the United Kingdom will make up around 36% of all sales in 2022.
Business-to-business eCommerce refers to online order transactions between companies. Because orders are completed digitally, wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors, and other types of B2B sellers benefit from increased purchasing efficiency.
During the peak of the pandemic, it appeared that every part of business, especially B2B communications, was shifted or accelerated toward a digital framework. B2B eCommerce enables businesses to reduce marketing costs, better manage suppliers and consumers, and increase sales interaction.
The Year 2022 Will Not Be Easy for eCommerce
eCommerce will continue to prosper, but it will be more difficult than it was during the two pandemic years when people were heavily reliant on online activities. Even though people’s behaviour has changed and affected eCommerce businesses in 2022, eCommerce continues to play a significant role.
Invest More On Your Website & User Journey
We recently did a study showing how CPCs (cost per click) have risen by 50% over the past few years. This means it no costs you more money to get people through your (online) door than ever on search engines. As a result , if you don’t improve your conversion rate, you will pay more for each customer.
Investing in CRO (conversion rate optimisation), testing your checkout process, continually improving the user experience will be absolutely essential to keeping your ROI in check. Small changes and making information more clear and simply can be game changing to your performance this year and if more cost effective than you think.
Increase your product ranges
With rising costs and more competition than ever, it’s extremely hard to keep scaling the same set of products across Google, Facebook and more. Continually adding more products helps you expand your reach without trying to push through points of diminishing return. Anything ‘New’ tends to have a level of ‘low hanging fruit’ before you push scaling too much making it inefficient. Keep adding new products to keep your business relevant, evolving and added targeting options without exhausting your existing audiences
Focus on retaining customers like never before
It’s 5-25 times more expensive to sell to a new customer than to an existing. With rising costs across most platforms 2022 is a key time to review how you generate repeat purchases, subscriptions and keep your customer base engaged with you business. Brand loyalty is at an all time low however using email, offers, customer videos, competitors and more can be effective strategies to ensure you are monetising your current data.
25-30% of your revenue should come through email for commerce retailers. Are you funnels up to scratch?
Conclusion
eCommerce businesses cannot expect the same level of success as in 2020 and 2021 because it is clear that the world is adjusting to the pandemic and that many people’s behaviours are changing. People are adjusting to the new normal by engaging in more physical activities outside their homes rather than relying on the internet.
It will not be easy for eCommerce in 2022, but with effective eCommerce platforms, action plans, and business strategies, eCommerce can still flourish and be successful because the benefits of shopping online and the advantages that an eCommerce business offers will not be eliminated.
