The Surge Of Ecommerce Platforms During Coronavirus

The health concerns that everyone in the world has as a result of COVID-19 prevalence have caused significant changes in consumer behavior. Many stores have been forced by authorities to close down, with governments insisting that only essential services should remain active until the coronavirus is contained. On the other hand, statistics show that over half of global consumers are not leaving their houses at all and about 32% of those who are not under total lockdown/self-isolation are not leaving their houses as often as they ordinarily do. These new developments have had a huge impact on e-commerce as a whole; the number of online shoppers is rising every day. Items that have never been sold online, e.g. groceries and household essentials, are now topping the charts for most online sales.

The Increased Need For to Translate Ecommerce Content

Ecommerce platforms from around the world have a wider online market to sell to, and that necessitates efficient and continuous translation of their content. They are now faced with a new challenge of making their e-commerce content available in multiple languages, across all devices and channels. Outdated translation methods, which are complicated and ineffective, simply cannot work. These include asking a multilingual in-house employee to translate content in the languages he/she speaks.

Machine translation, on the other hand, is not flexible enough to meet the unique needs that new online shoppers have brought. These translation tools are fast and highly affordable, but they fall short when it comes to linguistic quality and market compliance. That is why global e-commerce needs Chinese translation services now more than ever before. The fast and unique e-commerce language translations and localization services that professional translators offer will help e-commerce platforms to increase their efficiency and ROI during these unprecedented times.

The Rise of Grocery E-commerce

Grocery e-commerce has grown consistently from early February, especially in the UK, China, and the US.  Ecommerce platforms have been swamped with internet orders for groceries. In fact, as China has been the epicenter of this virus, most of the companies have been obliged to switch their selling operations via online stores. IF you have an idea about such a platform and selling products, now would be e great momentum to set up a company in China and start selling there. Multiple studies have shown that internet retailing for groceries in these three countries has increased by at least 30% in March compared with February. Websites are now establishing “virtual queues” for their online visitors. And because there are literally thousands of customers on the virtual queue at any given time, sometimes websites are being forced to deny new users access. Supermarkets and grocery stores will have to improve their websites to accommodate the surge in online grocery shopping.

Online Dining

In-person diners and fast food joints are closing in large numbers as customers continue to social isolate. Direct-to-home delivery service of chef-quality prepared meals is the new trend, with customers placing their orders for delivery via Deliveroo and Uber Eats, among other shared platforms. Foodservice providers must now invest in e-commerce platforms and leverage social media in order to reach their customers.

The World Is Preparing For Possible Total Lockdown

Over half of the global workforce is in work-from-home mode. E-learning has replaced physical classrooms. More parents are browsing through sites that specialize in books and toys. Tech retail sites are receiving more online traffic than ever before. People are updating software in their browsing devices in large numbers. All these trends point to one thing: People are ready for homeschooling, indoor play, and remote working. Simply put, everyone seems ready for a total global lockdown. Physical stores that are yet to go online are staring at a possible extinction.

Possible Upsurge during the Holiday Season

Online retailers are looking at a possible windfall during the holiday season if the coronavirus numbers remain high in the fall. Customers who flock the malls during the holiday season will most likely choose to buy their gifts online. The same goes for groceries, beer, wine and liquor.

Final thoughts

Online stores are likely to phase out supermarkets and physical stores in the coming weeks, but they still have one challenge to contend with: Supplies of most products, groceries included, might be hard to sustain in the long run. Producers and retailers are working hard to keep supply chains alive and well, but for how long? It will be a challenge to maintain a regular supply for fresh and preserved food, disinfectants, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and other basic items. Another challenge e-retailers have to contend with is the stiff and unregulated competition that Amazon has fronted. Being the most dominant online market company, Amazon stands a better chance to leverage the surge of e-commerce compared to upcoming e-commerce platforms. It will be interesting to see how different service providers will cope with these unprecedented trends.