How E-Commerce is Going to Take Shape Post COVID19?

After 5 months since the breakout of COVID19, when the world still is trying to come to  terms with this virus pandemic, we can only know that this world is going to change in more than one way. The older practices that were commonly used – from technical to e-commerce – are going to change shape and consumers are going to behave differently in the reality post COVID19.

In the world that could be known as “After COVID 2019”, we will see a lot of things change, even the shopping patterns of the consumers. During this pandemic, B2B e-commerce tends to play a vital role, as when demand is strong, customers count on B2B e-commerce platforms to endure the high load and fulfill increased demands. Even when COVID19 was declared a pandemic, the B2B sector experienced a huge upsurge in orders for personal hygiene & medical supplies, PPE being on the top.

E-commerce During COVID19:

In recent times, Personal Protective Equipment or PPE, has emerged as a strong tool in the fight against Coronavirus. B2B companies are working hard to provide PPE and other medical supplies to hospitals, medical staff, police personnel, and more while keeping pace with this increased demand. Medical supplies and hygiene essentials will be one of the top-selling categories in the coming days too, this rampant demand will bring a new opportunity for the B2B sector, which will only be leveraged with robust fulfillment system to handle the increased demand and a contingency plan for supply chain management to fulfill surplus orders.

Current E-commerce Trends in the Market:

COVID19 has shifted the evolution of procurement into overdrive, and rightly so. The traditional ways of procurement are eclipsed by the pandemic’s life & death demands, thereby, making B2B businesses realize that the different ways of working are also possible. 

Experts and observers in the e-commerce sector believe that those companies will enjoy steady growth in the business who will be able to provide fast and efficient deliveries to their customers. Hence, in the coming years, intelligent procurement, transparency in supply chain, intelligent automation & supplier risk management will play a crucial role in the B2B e-commerce sector. Cashless transactions & digital payments are becoming the common norm, which is going to last for a long time.

What Can We Expect Post-COVID19?

It is evident that life in the post coronavirus world will not be the same. As people will choose to stay at home and practice social distancing, e-commerce pandits are expecting a boom in hyperlocal e-commerce. Even when the pandemic abates, the retail landscape will not be the same. People will shift their focus to online shopping. Ranging from daily essentials to electronics, luxury items to power tools, everything will be bought online, giving a new perspective to the shopping trends. Most consumers will try to look for ways to connect digitally with their local kirana stores, electronics stores and repair shops as markets and malls are expected to remain closed for a longer period of time.

As far as we can see in the future, companies with unorganized logistics systems and dated supply chain practices will face a hard time matching up the competition and increasing demands of the customers. To conclude, it can be said that post corona, the future of an e-commerce business will majorly depend on their efficiency of adapting to the change and aligning to the digital ways of procurement and supply chain.