There is very little to say about Covid-19 that people do not know already, but as far as the economic impacts of the disease are concerned, that is not yet something which any of us can even guess with any certainty. Nevertheless, the global economy is not just changing, it has changed already. Based on what we have seen so far, online retailers across multiple segments have become bigger with each passing day, and it’s a trend which is not going to change for a long time. Let’s attempt to answer the how, why and what of it all next.
Why is the Online Retail Business Growing So Fast?
In the absence of competition from their offline counterparts, the online segment now has more business than they can possibly handle. It’s true that finding supplies at this point of time is also challenging, but to run out of stock because of an unprecedented demand is never a cause for worry, that is from the perspective of the concerned business.
Nevertheless, online retailers, such as Blue Dog Supplies, that have managed to keep supplying their customers even amidst the global crisis, have seen superb sales numbers and spikes in demand across all categories of the products they sell. Similar stats from multiple other sectors also confirm that, right now, the global economy has already shifted to eCommerce.
What Does It Mean for Retail?
The shift to eCommerce had already begun to happen before the lockdowns made life harder for offline only businesses, but the competition was certainly active and present back then. Right now, though, there is no real competition from offline retail, since even brick and mortar shops are trying to build an online presence to retain customers, as well as to prevent crowding.
There is no possible way to predict when the lockdowns will end, and when traditional retail will gain back some business from online retailers once again. In spite of this, as things begin to settle down, we expect the eCommerce scene to heat up even further, since some of the previously primarily offline giants will now begin to enter the online market in full force.
How Will this Affect the Public?
It’s not convenient right now, as supplies are short in many parts of the country and there is no predicting when we can expect the demand vs supply gap to close again. However, the growth of online retailers is good news for the public on most accounts.
- The less people have to go out for their needs, the less likely they are likely to be infected with Covid-19
- If the competition surges further, the public will have more options to choose from, the supply vs demand gap will close, and the competition will push prices down
Setting aside future predictions for now, and only looking at the facts as they stand right now, it can be said that the economy is shifting online with greater speed every day if it hasn’t completely already.