Small Retailers Turn To The Online Marketplace To Survive

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

As a vast number of brick and mortar retailers were forced to close shop, many have sought refuge in online marketplace platforms to weather the difficult storms of lower than average “footfall”. Just in the last four months, it was reported that over 85,000 businesses were obligated to open an online shop.  

Luckily, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping was already enjoying a surge in popularity. In fact, according to the Global e-Commerce Market Ranking 2019, in terms of revenue, the UK reigns fourth as one of the largest e-commerce markets in the world.  It also has the third highest percentage at 80% of online shoppers. However, it does not end there. Analysts at Retail Economics discovered that 53% of retail sales were anticipated to be online by the year 2028. Even after the lockdown, this trend is likely to continue to speed up. 

The Way Customers Shop is Changing

Since people don’t want to venture out to shop, except for essential goods, they would much rather shop entirely online. It is considered a convenient and a safer alternative. All the more important for more retailers to seriously consider transitioning to online shops. 

According to website builder, GoDaddy, twenty percent of micro businesses have revealed that they had moved online for the very first time during the lockdown. And almost fifty percent of their use of digital and social media tools have increased.

Marcel Hollerbach, chief marketing officer at optimisation platform Productsup added: 

“While physical retail remains important, consumer appetite for ecommerce is accelerating and the focus for all retailers needs to be on how they can make these channels work together.”

Is Selling Online The “New Normal”?

What brick and mortar retailers are finding out is that selling online is considerably cheaper than selling in the store.  Brick and mortar stores have to worry about paying to hold inventory, pay rates, taxes, and utilities.

The pandemic has surely ushered in an accelerated “ecommerce trend” that is likely to remain for years to come. 

Christopher Clowes, commercial director of digital marketing agency HC Media Group, said:

“We were already down this path, and all statistics point to a growth in the ecommerce market year on year, 2020 has just turned up the volume to make this happen quickly.”

Retailers don’t have to create their own retail website from scratch which can be costly and time consuming. They can easily turn to Amazon, Facebook, and eBay to sell their products, usually at a cost. This facilitates the transition as all these recognizable platforms have a significant, established audience. 

Even if foot traffic were to increase with the lifting of the lockdown, this is no longer the only viable means of earning revenue. 

Many companies like Shopify are making it easier for small business owners to set up shop easily and affordably. Shopify has just announced that they offer warehousing and fulfillment services. This will enable growth for the retailer by reaching a new customer base, creating new revenue streams, and maintaining connection with their existing customer base. 

Retailers Must Evolve

In order for brick and mortar businesses to survive, they need to offer a point of differentiation and develop a strong online presence.  Pop up shops, for example, will be another way that retailers provide an alternative shopping experience for customers wanting to shop in-store.