The coronavirus outbreak is bringing a change in the lifestyle of people living all over the world. People have restrictions on their mobility, social distancing, and health concerns. Due to this reason, consumers change their behaviour of buying necessary and unnecessary items. E-commerce sites grow rapidly as people search for a safe and convenient way of shopping.
Customers avoid crowded shopping malls. They prefer online sites to buy groceries, medicines, electronics, and home products. Online sites provide easy access to different products. They also offer home delivery services that minimize physical contact.
Growth of Online Marketplaces During the Pandemic
Increase in demand, large online marketplaces are expanding their operations by improving logistics, adding more warehouse space, and hiring more delivery staff to accommodate the opportunities presented by the increased volume of orders received.
Small and medium sized enterprises are signing up to sell through online marketplaces to assist them in overcoming economic challenges. The majority of local small businesses are building their own online shops to generate purchases from customers who are at home.
During this time, consumers are developing new purchasing behaviours. There is greater usage of the internet for longer periods of time, and people are searching out digitised channels to provide for their daily needs. The importance of online reviews has increased significantly in the way consumers decide where to buy products.
Most online retailers have been providing delivery of essential goods to consumers in their community. Pharmacy retailers partner with online retail businesses to provide customers with prescriptions. Grocery retailers use e-commerce to help manage stock levels of items and schedule deliveries to customers.
There are many challenges facing online retail. Companies have had issues managing supply chain disruptions due to factory closures and delays in transportation. Most delivery services feel the strain on their operations during periods of high volume. Some consumers have reported longer than normal delivery times and limited inventory levels.
Online retail faces many challenges. One of the issues for many retailers is how to manage their supply chain during times when factories close, or disruptions occur in freight transportation. Most delivery companies are seeing significant impacts to operations during periods of high demand.
In an effort to support economic recovery, many Governments are encouraging the use of digital commerce. As part of this effort, policymakers are looking to expand the use of digital payment systems and improve access to the Internet. This is giving many people, particularly residents of rural communities.
Pandemic is also creating innovation in online marketplaces. As retailers seek to improve their product catalogue, many are now applying artificial intelligence to improve their product recommendations and manage their inventories. Additionally.
