E-commerce during pandemic

As we look ahead to uncertain times, we’re committed to creating real and pragmatic solutions for the challenges that lie ahead – strategies that will also bring you closer to your customers. As consumers adjust to leaner budgets and new shopping habits (more e-commerce and fewer trips to brick-and-mortar stores) brands should respond accordingly. The pandemic has opened our eyes to the importance of home as both a shared experience (with everyone confined there) and an individual one. Consumers have realised that a lot of the things they previously did outside the home could now be done inside, from baking bread and exercising, to meeting with work colleagues or dancing with friends on Zoom. Home has become a place of both sustenance and entertainment, and the ultimate safe space. Once the initial shock of quarantine wore off, many people focused on creating a cocoon where they could live as comfortably as possible while riding out the pandemic’s waves. They planted tomatoes and painted walls; they organized closets and deep-cleaned bathrooms; they binge-watched TV and ate meals together, every day. As concerns deepen over health, the economy, the environment and politics, a desire for comfort and reassurance will drive in purchasing decisions for anxious consumers, both in terms of functionality and style. As more cities are going under lockdowns, nonessential businesses are being ordered to close, and customers are generally avoiding public places. Limiting shopping for all but necessary essentials is becoming a new normal. Brands are having to adapt and be flexible to meet changing needs. With more people using the internet to do their shopping online, it’s important to still give your customers a reason to physically come into the store. For many, shopping can be dull and more like a chore than a fun, personal experience. Virtual concepts are a the key to explore how to engage all their senses, adding another dimension to ordinary scenarios such as transportation or video calls and shopping. VR can change this point of view. It lets your customers engage with your brand and products in a whole new way. Using VR to propose what is coming in the future is a useful tactic to appeal to potential clients, business partners, and even employees. By displaying features such as new shopping centres and products, people get more of a feel for what your business is about and its personality. Using latest VR devices, shoppers could even handle products and try them on. It could mean the end of traditional shop displays, as all products would be in a virtual environment. It has the potential to change how shops work altogether and could be the shake-up needed to save the high street.