The Coronavirus pandemic has had a very strong impact on the commercial industry. The lockdown measures after the pandemic were rampant and put curtains down to the physical operations of almost every business.
Now, quite naturally, switching to the online mode of operation was not possible for every business, especially on quick notice. This made many businesses falter, especially new retail lines, banking and finance, insurance, education, etc. Moreover, a few industries went completely shut, like travel and tourism, hospitality, transport, etc.
However, things were a little on the different side for the e-commerce sector. The kind of challenges that the sector started facing was completely different and somewhat like a sweet dilemma. Let’s describe the condition of the e-commerce sector post the pandemic restrictions’ imposition and the importance of callcenters for e-commerce industry
What the E-commerce Sector Faced During the Strict Pandemic Restrictions
The retail sector had to go completely online with the pandemic restrictions, which brought much such business to a halt. However, the demand for the necessary products was still the same while the leisure items saw a slight dip.
The entire pressure to handle this demand fell on the e-commerce sector, which called for a quick ramp-up in the product offering. Plus, the businesses also had to meet the restriction norms, which made it even more difficult for them to manage the excess demand.
So, the gist of the matter is that while most of the other sectors faced losses, the e-commerce growth was secure at a rapid increase, though there were hiccups in managing the demand.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a digital boom, especially with the physical distancing norms. Around 67% of all customers reported that they had changed the way their shop regularly due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
So, keeping the pandemic in mind and the change in customer behavior, here are the new trends that emerged in the sector.
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New Product Categories
Since everything shifted to the online arena, every product category that was reserved for the physical retail sector had to be taken up by e-commerce. So naturally, the most popular product category that had to be taken up was grocery.
Now, while streamlining the grocery process, another aspect had to be taken into consideration. Grocery orders and deliveries need to be quick, mostly within a day. This called for a better delivery network, even though the resources did not permit the same.
The expansion of the grocery segment was quite evident, and the online penetration of this new category was 9-12% of the total sector until the end of 2020. Moreover, the expansion even saw this category spawn into a new market altogether where new businesses that dealt with grocery only emerged.
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Contactless Payment
Even though online payment has been very convenient and has gained safety accolades for most established brands, its penetration is still low. As a result, many e-commerce sales are still on “cash on delivery”.
However, due to the pandemic restrictions, the cash-on-delivery payment mode was out of the question. This brought the need for contactless modes of payment. Consequentially, mobile payment also increased by 22.2% globally in 2020, according to an eMarketer report.
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Shopping over Social Media
With the entire world getting to remote working, digital platforms have been the most populated virtual locations. Social media, for example, has experienced heavy footfall and high screen time during the entire pandemic restrictions and work-from-home phase.
Due to this, several social media platforms have taken advantage of the high online retail demand, triggering marketplaces for sellers to list, promote, and sell their products. This has been extremely successful since social media had been an effective promoter for brands much before the pandemic hit.
To put things in perspective, 3.4% of the total e-commerce sales in 2020 had come from social commerce (social media platform). This also holds a significant chunk of retail call center services outsourcing globally.
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COVID-19 friendly Fulfillment
While some customers opted for online shopping, others took advantage of new or extended pick-up or delivery options at their local stores. Third-party delivery providers joined with grocery stores to expedite delivery services. In contrast, food delivery companies began to include grocery delivery as well, thanks in part to grocery stores allowing online sales. Coronavirus Pandemic changes our lifestyle and also we need to understand this situation carefully.
Curbside pickup from restaurants and brick-and-mortar retailers have gained traction as a contact-free alternative for customers to pick up purchases on their own time.
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Lower Brand Loyalty
During off of these changes, one thing turned out to be unfavorable. Due to various reasons, the customer loyalty side of e-commerce has taken a hit. According to a report by eMarketer, by the mid-2021, 80% of all customers said that they now buy a different brand than the usual.
This trend started off during the pandemic, and the biggest reason behind this was 65% lower prices, while 51% of products were out-of-stock.
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Birth of Imperative E-commerce Call Center Sector
The BPO sector has already existed for a long time. However, it was only after the demand spike due to the pandemic and shortage of resources. Businesses started depending on a call center for e-commerce industry to fulfill several roles.
Customer services for e-commerce businesses had become important to take care of brand loyalty and satisfaction during the raging rush period. Hence, the call center sector’s most important services are customer satisfaction, return and refund, feedback generation, survey, marketing, and sales.
Finishing Up
The COVID-19 wave did bring a huge wave of changes in the e-commerce sector. And among these changes was the growth and popularity of industry for call centers for e-commerce industry, which fit the shoes pretty well.
There was the addition of technology and various tools to boost these call centers’ strategy implementation and final output. The technology also helped the BPO companies streamline the high call volume, thanks to multi-channel platforms, KPI monitoring, training modules.
So, to ensure that your e-commerce company is booming during the pandemic phase, consider hiring a BPO company.
