Today, we are living in an unpredictable situation, and we can not forecast the future because even the WHO(World Health Organization) has stated that coronavirus may never go away. It means we can not estimate the time until when we have to bear this situation and live under constant threat. The global economy is crashing as people are saving money and only buying essential things.
Due to the social distancing and lockdown restrictions, the retail shops are asked to shut down, and IT companies have urged employees to work from home. These are several negative effects that we have been facing from the last three months. But if we look at the other side, eCommerce sector benefits due to the corona pandemic as now people prefer online shopping and avoiding malls due to the crowd.
Forbes has reported that the craze for online shopping has increased exponentially, but fulfilling all orders has become a tough task as the supply chains are disrupted. Hence, we can say that eCommerce and digital payments are among the biggest gainers during the pandemic.
Impact Of Covid-19 On The Various eCommerce Sectors
One of the major changes that we are witnessing during a pandemic is consumer buying behavior changes. Due to fear of infection, people have shifted their focus towards online shopping.
# Grocery eCommerce
Even consumers buying groceries online and online supermarkets such as Grofers and Big Basket sales have been rising. The recent report from Statista shows that in the month of February 2020, the total retail revenue in the United States has increased by around 3.2%. According to TABS, online shoppers jumped from 38% to 57% in 2020; among them, 36% of consumers have started ordering groceries online.
It means if you are running an online store and you should take advantage of this situation. Offer attractive deals to the customers; it will kick-start your business and give you expected results.
# Digital Streaming eCommerce
There is a constant rise in online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Everyone is self quarantined these days; subscriptions are increasing as the quick shutdown of the entertainment industry made the crowd shift their focus towards the OTT platforms. It is experiencing huge growth.
# Opportunities For eCommerce Sector
Keeping in mind the social distancing norms, people now avoid shopping in the malls and are inclined towards online stores. Giant eCommerce sectors like – Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart are providing home deliveries with safety precautions such as contactless delivery, and people also prefer to pay online for their order instead of paying in cash.
The online food delivery companies such as Zomato and Swiggy, JustEat, will go on a surge, as most of the population opts for online food delivery. Thus, if you are one of those entrepreneurs who want to start their business digitally, this is the high time to maximize returns with minimum efforts.
Hence, in a nutshell, all we can say is we don’t know how much time it will take to get normal again, but the eCommerce sector will continue to flourish.
Impact Of COVID-19 On Digital Payment
The baking sector plays an important role in economic growth. We are heading towards digitization, and there is a constant increase in technologies that empower banks to transform from conventional banks to e-banks.
The rising number of banking and financial institutions is moving towards digital transitions to deliver seamless services to the customers because of the extensive usage of the internet and smartphone penetration across the globe.
To prevent the spread of the virus through currency notes, even local shop markets are now accepting digital payments.
Earlier, the employees were being paid by cash, but now with the help of advanced employees attendance management solution factohr.com, employers are paying salaries online; however, it prevents fraud. Moreover, digital payments are safe and secure as banks are continually updating their sites.
A Strong Push Towards The Cashless Economy
Early in April, the WHO warned that currency notes may spread coronavirus. Hence, people have started to pay digitally to local shoppers using digital payment partners like Google Pay, Paytm, Apple Pay, etc. COVID-19 compels people to pay online for their goods.
In addition to that, an increase in the usage of online banking by users has compelled banks to redefine their strategy. According to recent research, there is a 45% increase in online banking since the Corona Pandemic. At the same time, 30% of consumers have installed online banking applications. In this way, we can say that digital baking and the cashless economy will continue flourishing during the pandemic.
There has been an explosion in the use of online grocery shopping and delivery systems. Major players like PayPal, Amazon have seen a huge rise in demand. It means if you are running an online store and don’t provide a digital checkout option, the clock is ticking, and you need to improve your business systems.
Hence, we can say that the payment industry will have a key role to play in transforming the economy. It will include:
- The decreasing trend of cash on delivery with digital payment system
- Digital payments prevent fraud and offer a seamless experience to the customers.
- Opting digital currencies into universal payment solutions
This is probably why the pandemic is driving the adoption of cashless payments in a major way. So usage of cash will decrease, but it may be enough to push many people towards a new digital payment paradigm.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, to deal with such a situation, online businesses are improving their operations with the help of advanced technology. With offices closing and work from home being enforced, companies now have adopted a completely digital model as they communicate with each other using online tools.
eCommerce stores offer home deliveries and following safety measures. The usage of online payment applications is also growing because it prevents virus spread and saves time. Hence we can say that the Corona outbreak is undoubtedly adding some pressure to digitize at least some things that had not been digitized yet.