#Postcovid Regaining Customers
Where are my customers?
They haven't disappeared; they haven't stopped spending, but they've changed the way they do it!
Consumers are becoming increasingly digital. Businesses, not so much, yet.
A Nielsen study highlights the impact of the pandemic on digital phenomena: the ongoing transformation makes it necessary for businesses to be present in an evolved and authoritative manner on the Internet and social media.
Covid-19 has accelerated certain changes that we had all postponed until now. It’s not a revolution, as these phenomena already existed, but compared to other markets, they were still behind and underdeveloped in our country.
From the Nielsen study, the effect of Covid has seen an additional 900,000 people connecting to the Internet across the country. Online traffic is concentrated around most product categories: from electronics (dominated by giants like Amazon and major players like Euronics & Co); finance, streaming, gaming, and food; as well as health and wellness, publishing, events, and media.
There are very few categories that have not benefited from the growth of digital traffic, primarily due to purely conjunctural reasons. Unfortunately, sectors such as real estate, tourism, and transportation must be mentioned, for obvious reasons related to the pandemic.
And the situation therefore appears paradoxical:
- On one hand today, more than ever, businesses would have access to a vast and constantly growing audience;
- On the other hand, they still do not invest adequately to reach it or to adjust instrumentally to this new digital upheaval.
And the data from IBM's "Retail Index" report clearly testify to this. While sales in physical stores fell by 75% in the second quarter, e-commerce surged by +26% in the same period.
An acceleration that is equivalent to the growth of five years. All at once, in just one quarter.
Let’s remember that during those days of forced lockdown, many operators (it seems paradoxical) were so overwhelmed with orders that they had to come up with virtual queues for the online store.
“The wind of change”
It won't be a fleeting phenomenon, because there's no going back. The vast majority of consumers who venture into e-commerce and experience its convenience and practicality won't give it up anymore.
The reasons why shoppers enjoy online shopping so much are varied: the transparency and ability to compare products and prices instantly; the time savings; the convenience (not always, but it encompasses various aspects, including the fact that you don't have to go out).
How much is the e-commerce market worth today? Almost 23 billion euros!
Investing in times of crisis is a challenging path, but full of opportunities.
And alongside the uphill path is the growth of online sales, which will continue to increase relentlessly.
We just need to mention the numbers once again to realize it instantly. In our beautiful country, **only 12% of companies operate in e-commerce**, while **the online penetration** among the population has reached 70%, with an **average of 41.5 million unique users in 2019.**
In essence, that turnover worth about 23 billion euros in 2020 is generated by just 12% of those bold companies that have equipped themselves with digital stores.
What to say to that 88% of companies that are still lagging behind? Better late than never.
Conventional e-commerce is booming, but it's starting to feel restrictive for consumers.
There are also new phenomena emerging, such as Social commerce, the 2.0 evolution of online shopping that is rapidly growing at double-digit rates.
So now you know where your customers are. They are just a click away from your products.
How to reach them? Simply by equipping yourself with a “CTA” and letting them know that you are online.
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