You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. So that’s what this article is about. We’re going to dissect our ‘pandemic’s effects on ecommerce’ survey and do a video teardown of our winner’s online store.
If you thought we were going to give away our secret omelet recipe so easily, you’re crazy, man.
In 1979, Michael Aldrich introduced online B2B and B2C transaction processing, an industry we now call ecommerce. We haven’t seen a pandemic of this nature and magnitude since before then.
So, it’s safe to say, we went into our current pandemic with absolutely no idea as to how it would affect our industry…
There was no crystal ball!
As we draw close to the end of the pandemic’s second year, the data is flooding in. However, we wanted to hear it from the merchants’ mouths. So we created our own ‘Pandemic’s effects on ecommerce’ survey…
As an incentive for taking the survey, we offered the chance to win an online store video teardown with ShopCreatify’s CEO, Ross Allchorn. We have included the video teardown at the end of this article, so be sure to read to the end.
The winner also received $300 in task credit, with TaskHusky, to help them implement some optimizations. It will be interesting to revisit the winner’s online store once this is done!
So, what are online merchants thinking? How has the Pandemic affected their online stores for the last two years and how will a third year of the pandemic affect ecommerce?
We would like to see more data before making any outright claims. However, below is our take on the results of our survey.
Insight 1: Small business owners seem to feel that while the pandemic has accelerated the move to online shopping, they also feel it has either stagnated or hindered growth for their smaller online stores.
ShopCreatify’s take on why this could be: This could be due to bigger online stores having the budget to reach and service the influx of online shoppers.
Insight 2: The same smaller businesses, for the most part, said they made little to no changes to their online stores to combat the negative effects of the pandemic, or leverage off it.
ShopCreatify’s take on why this could be: Well… money. In a competitive world, it takes budget to make money. It’s hard to stand out against competitors who own the space above the fold in search with paid ads, or through a big team working on their SEO and UX. Fear through unpredictability might be at play too - keeping the pennies “safe” rather than investing in uncertainty.
Insight 3: Larger online stores felt the pandemic accelerated the move to online shopping and they were able to capitalize on it. They don’t seem to think year three will have as great an effect on sales.
ShopCreatify’s take on why this could be: It stands to reason that if there was an influx of online shoppers and one had the budget and strength to target those users, and then retain them with an ultimate user experience, that they would be able to capitalize on sales.
As people are now getting used to the new normal, and/or are less fearful of heading out to physical stores, sales could balance out a little in year three. Shoppers are also feeling the financial strain of the pandemic now, so it doesn’t matter where they WISH to shop if they don’t have the money with which to do it.
The online merchants’ take on what will be important in 2022:
According to the US international trade administration’s website:
“The data tells us that COVID pandemic-related business restrictions have forced a global business paradigm shift towards the digital economy, which has negatively impacted traditional business models while also creating opportunity through sales diversification online.”
The above seems to strengthen the view that the pandemic has accelerated the consumers’ move to online shopping. The key will be to ensure your website stands out in the clutter, in any way you can, in order to leverage off this.
They’re on a mission: “Every child deserves a music education, and the better our site is, the more children we can help begin and advance in instrumental school music.”
Well Kincaid’s Music, not only does your mission sound worthy, but it sounds like this was the perfect time to have your name pulled out of the hat. Between your video teardown and $300 task credit, we hope you will be able leverage off the paradigm shift towards the digital economy, and accomplish your mission.
Kincaid’s Music Video Teardown
By Ross Allchorn, CEO and founder of ShopCreatify.
If you’d like to know how we can help you optimize your online store, improve your user experience, and help you stand out in the clutter, contact us.
Masthead egg pic by Fernando Andrade.
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