How has COVID-19 Pushed the Button on E-Commerce and Digital Turning Points?

(Here’s how Covid-19 has changed the digital and e-commerce sectors even as cases surge worldwide)

The e-commerce and digital sectors have witnessed unprecedented growth because of the Pandemic. Several digital transformations have come to the front in 2020 and beyond with businesses going online, e-commerce activities surging like never before, and consumers using the web to get what they want.

Online purchases are at their peak. The same can be said for online services. This has led to a whopping rise in the share of e-commerce in terms of global retail trade. In 2020, the e-commerce component shot up to 17%, a rise of 3% from where it was in 2019.

These promising figures have come forth in the COVID-19 and E-Commerce: A Global Review, a new report developed by UNCTAD and eTrade. The report analyzes and talks about the industry transformations that have taken place across regional and international boundaries in 2020.

According to Volkan Bozkir, President, UN General Assembly, the bend towards e-commerce is here to stay and is expected to continue even as we recover from the current Covid-19 situation.

Isabelle Durant, the Acting Secretary-General of UNCTAD said that the impact of the economic downturn was diluted to a large extent by end-users and businesses that managed to go the digital way. He added that the speed of digital transitions was mind-blowing and impacted the daily lives of people in a large way. The impact of Covod-19 on e-commerce and digital sectors created major shifts in the purchase behavior of emerging economies and their consumers.

The need of the hour is to understand the new and continuous e-commerce opportunities in the face of the Covid-19crisis. Businesses have to identify new ways to overcome these challenges.

Countries like China and Thailand have seen a surge in their online retail sales. Countries that were successful in getting on to the bandwagon have benefited in the global market. In a nutshell, most leading digital platforms, worldwide, have certainly benefitted from the Pandemic. The way ahead lies in charting the right e-commerce channels and platforms for future growth.