A few years ago, Statista predicted that global e-commerce sales would rise from 1.3 trillion sales in 2014 to an impressive 4.5 trillion in 2021.
This was before the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns and social distancing measures changed how we work, interact and shop. Today, many of the self-isolation and social distancing restrictions that have kept us indoors for several weeks are being lifted, but this doesn’t mean that the world will simply go back to normal. It’s safe to say that this global event will have implications that last well into the decade, changing consumer behaviour and shining a spotlight on the value of e-commerce in the process.
For example, in April, Jean-Michael Lemieux, the CTO at Shopify, tweeted that the company was currently handling as much traffic as it typically experiences on Black Friday, which is known to be the busiest e-commerce day of the year.
“What we’re seeing is a tsunami of consumers ready to jump into online shopping, simply because it’s a necessity to stay home and, for many, work from home. The courier industry has become an enabler to achieve that, we bring the goods to you, and we’ll do it safely through our new contactless delivery process,” explains Hilton Eachus, chief customer officer at DPD Laser, which operates under the Dawn Wing brand.
“We are expecting massive volumes from the major retailers that we service, but also the smaller shops who have been working hard to bring their business online,” he adds.
Embrace the change
In response to these changes in consumer behaviour, brands need to adapt. As the need for contactless fulfilment continues, many retailers are pursuing new pickup/delivery options like increased pick-up points and curbside deliveries. There has even been a rise in downloads of apps like Instacart and Shipt that allow people to hire personal shoppers to prepare and, in some cases, actually deliver their grocery orders.
But none of this would be possible without cloud. Cloud-based e-commerce platforms can respond to market opportunities and challenges because of the ease of scalability and the flexibility that goes hand-in-hand with cloud-based solutions. The cost of running cloud-based e-commerce applications is also far lower and deployments are faster because IT teams and business leaders can tap into new opportunities without large upfront investments.
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