The last two years, as is well known, have turned our lives upside down. Among the most relevant changes regarding consumption, a proper mention must be made of e-commerce
Grew up a lot between 2019 and 2020 – in Italy, according to data from the B2C Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano, we had to deal with a 27% increase in turnover – today as today, with 2022 at the gates , is undergoing a normalization process.
According to ISTAT data, in fact, from October 2020 to the same month of the following year, the value of online sales decreased by 3.7%. Nothing that should cause alarm: as already said, it is a normalization. The descent, in fact, is not in absolute terms but relative and arrives, we repeat, after a superlative 2020 to say the least!
The revolution has already taken place, we are in the middle, and it is necessary to understand well how e-commerce has changed in recent times, in order to better ride the wave.
New users
One phenomenon that has characterized e-commerce in the last two years is the increase of users who, before the beginning of 2020, had never bought online. This puts entrepreneurs in front of clear challenges related to simplicity: to have the certainty of keeping their customers, it is necessary to put a user experience characterized by the highest possible quality in the foreground.
The transversal effects of the health emergency
L’sanitary emergency has given rise to various transversal effects. These include greater awareness of our daily impact on the environment. Consumers, not surprisingly, are increasingly turning to small businesses that produce food and not only with a sustainable approach.
Furthermore, there is an increasing interest in natural remedies aimed above all at controlling stress. Those who sell products online cannot fail to keep this change in mind. The ways to follow to ride it are different. You can start selling marijuana seeds online, allowing your customers to grow weakened cannabis, known for its strong relaxing power, at home, or focus on the sustainable textile fiber supply chain and their impact on the apparel industry. The choices are many and it is only up to the mix between market study and entrepreneur creativity to find the right path.
The value of transparency
Another reason why there is an increasing tendency to turn to small shops is their transparency. If you point to create a successful e-commerce business, this aspect cannot be ignored. This means, for example, focusing in particular on the details of the supply chains of the products that are sold, directly interviewing the producers or creating video material to take the user by the hand and bring him within the various realities.
Quality customer care? Yes please!
As part of the changes that have affected the e-commerce world in the last 24 months or so, there is also the greatest attention to customer care. In a situation of difficulty and uncertainty, the user wants to feel unique as never before and see their needs heard and welcomed in detail.
How have the companies that sell on the web adapted? Pages and pages could be opened in this regard! There are those who have perfected the bot – those who think it is easy to set them should change their mind as, in the happiest cases, at the base there is a profound study on the linguistic register – and those who have integrated them with human operators.
Still in the context of taking care of customer needs, a dutiful mention should be dedicated toestablishment of ad hoc delivery services, disconnected from the great shipping giants. This disintermediation has allowed companies to better control delivery times, guaranteeing customers great satisfaction and ensuring further purchases and a growth in turnover.