Can Small Businesses Survive & Thrive During COVID-19

How Can Small Businesses Be Helped Through Online Shopping In The COVID-19 Pandemic?

Reading a newspaper article posted by Business Standards, I happened to learn that E-commerce has seen a major boost in their business activities since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, as they prefer more, to order from home.

Firms like Flipkart, Amazon, and Bigbasket witness a 30% hike in orders as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads.

These companies witnessed an increase in demand for products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, flour, rice, lentils, and personal hygiene products.

IS YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS DOING WELL? WITH A RISE IN ONLINE SHOPPERS?

The comforts and advantages provided by online shopping sites are proving to be affecting adversely on retail stores and other local businesses.

Inevitable impacts on online marketing on local businesses

There have been several obvious impacts on retail marketers due to e-commerce. Our older generations were content with shopping from the same reliable store and their trusted brand. But with e-commerce providing larger options in one place. Customers tend to be disloyal to brands. In a way, customers now trust reviews, ratings, and pictures than personally checking out content.
Online reviews affect the sales of a retailer’s merchandise. Customers in retail shops tend to compare the prices available offline and online.
Impacts of smartphones, some customers roam around inside stores comparing product prices within the store and on their phones. This makes them more prone to online purchases.
Too many online advertisements. Almost every individual comes across hundreds of online advertisements in a single day. These ads offer attractive discounts and coupons, etc., compared to offline retail stores.

ONLINE SHOPPING AND THE WORLD ECONOMY

The fastest change that technology has brought into human lives is their shopping habits. Consumers all over the world are buying more and more things online. It is believed to be an effective way of boosting the economy, increasing consumption, and promoting employment. Online shopping is also flourishing with an increase in better security systems for online transactions.

Research has reported that China’s online retail market grew to 345 billion in 2014. Following so many western countries saw a sudden upsurge in e-commerce. With reports of the United Kingdom’s online sales reaching 15% in 2017-2018.
In 2019, e-retail products and services surpassed the 3.5 trillion US Dollar mark globally.
In 2019, an estimated 1.29 people chose to purchase services and products online.
Amazon, the Seattle-based e-retailer that offers various products and services online, reported an increase of 2.9 billion new customers in June 2020.

Now, the coronavirus has a considerable impact on the growth of online shoppers. As more and more consumers wish to stay home due to covid-19 pandemic.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF ONLINE SHOPPING

Ever ever-growing popularity of online shopping has impacted society too. The statistics below represent how much it has impacted our society in the past prime years.

Paul Demery (2006) said, according to a new report from Forrester Research, 75% of the 80 million U.S. online households have purchased products over the Internet, with more than two-thirds having made an online purchase within the past three months. 8 million web shoppers, 19% households spent $500 during the past three months, 16% spent between $250 and $499, and 26% spent between $100 and $249, and 39% spent between $1 and $99. (Source: ukessays.com)

As the internet becomes a larger part of day-to-day life, we find wider uses of the internet.

HOW ONLINE SHOPPING IS HELPING NIGERIAN LOCAL BUSINESSES GROW

As a small business entrepreneur, your top reason to turn to online marketing should be exposure. A recognition of your business. Helping more and more people become aware of your business. Also, exposure online helps in getting a smaller profit but in abundance.

Several websites work towards helping small businesses grow. Websites like Jumia, a Nigerian-based company, are a sort of duplicate of Amazon. Companies like komback, Konga, and Jiji provide a platform for small businesses to buy and sell through their forums. They take it on themselves partly to give your business the first head start it needs.

There are varied websites focusing on varied industries. So you can choose your industry domain and move further into it. Such as Ajebomarket, which happens to have the best men’s fashion products. If you want your clothing brand to go viral, here is your chance.

NIGERIAN LOCAL BUSINESS: WHY YOU SHOULD TURN TO ONLINE SHOPPING?

With the internet advancing into Nigeria almost a decade ago, entrepreneurs turned to e-commerce since its popularity and rising demand.

ECOMMERCE PREDICTED TO GROW LARGER BY 2023

This is because many Nigerians still believe that internet shopping is a luxury. The credibility and authenticity of your product increase. Believed that the ever-growing African population, which has been predicted to become the world’s third most populated by 2050 (information source: businesswire), Nigeria’s retail e-commerce business harbours a growing potential.

In conclusion, since an online investment is not a high-risk investment, it is a viable option to turn to. You have nothing to lose that can highly affect your profit margin, but your gains can impact your business differently. There are millions of users surfing the internet every day. Thus, a small step towards your business could be a life-changing changing for it.

By kingkentus