The year 2020 is almost coming to an end. It is time to make an exhaustive assessment. From the outset, we can say that this is a fairly gloomy annual exercise for the majority of companies. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic has put a brake on global economic growth. According to World Bank estimates, this is the worst crisis after the Second World War. Many sectors, such as tourism, air transport, or even catering are greatly impacted. But what about e-commerce? Are online sales increasing during the health crisis? We offer you the answers in this article.
According to Médiamétrie, France is one of the countries where the internet is the most affordable in the world. Thus, there are approximately 52 million Internet users in France alone. These figures are experiencing a significant increase every quarter, which reflects the popularization of the Internet in homes.
This phenomenon is the source of enormous growth in e-commerce figures. According to estimates, this sector generates more than 100 billion in turnover.
For this year, the French are impatiently awaiting the end-of-year celebrations, in particular Black Friday, to buy goods on the Web. Due to confinement, more and more of them are using online stores.
Another explanation that comes to comfort the progress of e-commerce concerns the quality of services. Here we are talking about the delivery time. Indeed, large groups such as Amazon or E-Bay have been able to optimize their services so that the package reaches the buyer very quickly. It has become very rare to wait more than a week to receive an item purchased via online stores. In addition, delivery costs are experiencing a significant drop this year, which is driving sales up massively. This is important since 90% of consumers cancel their orders if the cost of delivery is too high.
This aspect of e-commerce has a positive impact on Internet users. The latter therefore tend to make purchases online, because the delivery is much faster than before.
For information, here are the platforms most used by the French:
Our consumption patterns are changing. As proof, we are no longer used to using cash. Instead, bank cards are used, which are much more convenient and secure. In addition, they can also be used for online payments. This versatility has allowed the rise of large MarkePlaces. Indeed, to pay online, it is possible to use your usual credit card.
According to estimates, e-commerce figures will see an increase driven by the release of new video game consoles. Note that Microsoft and Sony will launch a new generation of consoles at the end of 2020. This is a significant event as this iteration took over 7 years.
These launches will no doubt have a significant impact on the video game and e-commerce economy. Indeed, according to estimates, pre-orders for new consoles have exploded. In other words, they are already out of stock.
Due to the health crisis, most households will not be able to afford gifts during the holiday season. Faced with this problem, there is an effective and easy solution, namely fast credit. Indeed, Internet users can apply to request credit without proof from banking establishments in order to finance their purchases.
Since the beginning of the year, the world has been facing a major epidemic that is the coronavirus. The latter is easily transmitted from man to man through microdroplets of saliva. To stem the spread of this disease, the majority of governments around the world have imposed strict confinement, as in France, Israel, the United Kingdom or Italy. In other words, they prohibit the population from free movement.
Millions of people have therefore found themselves locked in their homes. They are no longer allowed to go out. To get supplies, they use online stores. This therefore results in a significant increase in traffic on major MarketPlaces such as Amazon. This impact has also raised the values of these 2.0 companies on the stock market.
In general, therefore, the global health crisis has greatly changed consumer habits. The latter are now familiar with Web habits. They are used to buying online, which promises good times for e-commerce in the future.
Even if the figures for e-commerce in general have seen some increases. It should also be noted that certain sectors have been shunned by Internet users. We can take fashion as an example.
Indeed, online stores that sell fashion products such as clothing, shoes, pants, handbags show a decline in their turnover. This is quite logical since most Internet users rushed to basic necessities during confinement.
At the time of confinement, people abandoned certain products such as perfumery and hygiene. Indeed, these industries are reporting a net decline in their production.
However, this drop is only temporary, because according to analysts, the recovery would be scheduled from the beginning of 2021.
Despite the health crisis affecting the whole world and an unprecedented economic recession. The field of e-commerce is experiencing an increase, even sluggish. This is explained by the massive use of online services by Internet users due to confinement.
According to projections, this increase will be much greater for the coming year.