Since the start of the pandemic, retail has come under unprecedented pressure. Consumers are staying at home and buying online en masse – Adobe Digital Economy Index data shows e-commerce grew by 25% during March alone.
Online retail is surging – but brands and retailers are strained
25%
Since the start of the pandemic, retail has come under unprecedented pressure. Consumers are staying at home and buying online en masse – Adobe Digital Economy Index data shows e-commerce grew by 25% during March alone.
Yet, for many brands, supply chains are overstretched, and rising e-commerce and e-retail purchases aren’t matching the reduction in sales from the shutdown of non-essential bricks-and-mortar operations. Adobe Digital Economy statistics show growth is focused on a few key product categories such as pharmaceuticals and FMCGs, Amazon sellers are seeing sales of nonessential goods drop by 40-60% and 65% of European e-commerce associations expect a decrease due to the pandemic. What steps can be urgently taken to ensure business continuity, then take advantage of new opportunities, attract new groups of consumers online and ensure their loyalty?
Brands late to digital commerce are in a perilous position. It’s crucial you leverage e-commerce to rapidly adapt to the crisis, but in a matter of weeks, how can you forge the partnerships, online presence and customer experience required to flourish? How do you take the offerings and experiences of products best suited to bricks and mortar, replicate them online then sustain momentum?
Replacing or improving the product experience for goods suited to bricks-and-mortar sales is imperative to facilitating, sustaining and growing direct and indirect online consumer interest.
To guarantee continuing quality of service, you must pay close attention to your supply chains and customer experience.
While the crisis is constantly developing, a ‘wait and see’ approach will only harm your prospects of business continuity and resilience. By acting rapidly, now, you can implement agile solutions that sustain business and prime you for future success.