3 January 2022
By Roger Kennedy
roger@TheCork.ie
As the ongoing pandemic continues to create disruptions around the world, there’s one industry that seems unaffected by everything that’s going on. Yes, eCommerce businesses are thriving, and they have been ever since the start of 2020. Millions of people were forced indoors with traditional brick-and-mortar stores closing. This created the perfect conditions for eCommerce companies to stand up and become successful. One of the only ways to buy things was by going online and having them ordered to your home.
As a result, lots of new startups were born as individuals took advantage of these market conditions to try and make money. It proved a very useful way for a lot of families to get by thanks to the pandemic. Many people lost their jobs because of the deadly virus, so being able to start a small business from home saved them.
Fast forward to now and things aren’t as dreadful as they were in 2020. We have vaccines and healthcare institutions aren’t as overburdened as they were. In fact, we even had a few months where things felt like they were back to normal before winter made the virus more of a worry once again. However, amongst all of this, eCommerce businesses continue to thrive. Even as the world slowly gets back to a state of normality, the stats suggest that the global online retail industry will grow to $5.4 trillion in 2022.
Why is this the case – why are eCommerce businesses continuing to grow? When you look at the industry, it’s easy to identify some of the main reasons for this:
Convenience
The very nature of online retail makes it convenient for customers. People don’t have to move from their beds and they can place orders. They don’t need to go outside and deal with crowds of people – it’s a simple case of clicking and having something delivered in a day or two. Well, actually, we’re seeing more and more ways to get things delivered within an hour or less! In the next couple of years, you should be able to order more than food and groceries for same-day delivery.
A simple business model
Not only is eCommerce convenient for the customer, but it is also convenient for the business owner. A very simple business model is involved: you create a website, sell a product, and ship it to customers. There’s nothing challenging about this – and it has low overheads costs, making it accessible to many people. The average eCommerce business owner will only need to pay for a website, marketing, eCommerce accounting software, and shipping contracts. Many will run things alone with no employees, further amplifying how easy it is for anyone to start a business in this domain. As a result, more businesses create more competition, meaning the industry thrives.
Online businesses also give people a chance to sell things around the world, which further opens the door for money to be made. However, perhaps the biggest argument of all is that the pandemic has changed people’s approach to shopping. We’ve realised that buying things online is actually the easiest and safest way of doing things. It’s less hassle, often cheaper, and you don’t have to deal with loads of other people in crowded shops. As long as this attitude remains the same, the eCommerce world will continue to grow.
