E COMMERCE - REDEFINED

At a time when even the greatest economies are crumbling due to the pandemic, know how e-commerce platforms are making the most of it.

The advent of E-commerce or as we dearly know it, online shopping is the second major step taken by human kind into the future, first being the moon landing, of course. A harbinger of comfort and convenience for the buyers and a blessing for shopaholics amidst the pandemic, e-commerce and online shopping platforms became our refuge from the hustles of wandering and bargaining around markets before we even realised it. Although E-commerce platforms sometimes lure us into guilty pleasures of binge shopping and impulsive buying, yet they continue to be one of the most crucial pillars of trade and commerce in the present times.

There is no denying the fact that the COVID 19 pandemic has opened all of Pandora’s boxes for everyone and surely, many problems must have threatened the way of our favourite online shopping sites too. But the E-commerce chain managed to survive and thrive. Let us know how.

E-commerce platforms before COVID 19

Those were the days when we all used to hover around crowd-packed markets of Sarojini, bargaining in Janpath and cherishing the aura of exquisite brands in Connaught place. Now all of that is left somewhere down the memory lane, and all we are left with are memories. things weren’t that golden for online shopping platforms as they are now. Despite the sudden bloom in online shopping and B2C E-commerce in India, many buyers among the Indian markets continue to cling to the conventional touch and feel style of shopping and bargaining for some extra discounts. This conservative and skeptical attitude accompanied by lack of trust in quality and after purchase service was one of the factors hampering the success of online shopping in India.

Apart from all these issues, E-commerce is looked down upon owing to a large number of factors. Many complain about the technical issues they face while shopping online. Lately, a concern of one’s privacy while shopping online has also developed due to hacking of personal data while making online payments. Irregularities in the delivery periods that result in delayed or missing deliveries, quality concerns and most importantly, the absence of direct contact between the buyer and seller have resulted in creating a risky perception of online shopping in the minds of people.

With the evolving times and shifting priorities, E-commerce platforms related to Fashion managed to penetrate the old school Indian Market of fashion. Amazon, Myntra, Shein, origin and many other online fashion stores have an edge over the limited collections in physical outlets and are quite popular among the present generation. Along with diverse options and low prices, it managed to capture the market through aggressive marketing management in the form of sales promotions and highly luring discounts.

Despite of bringing revolutionary changes in the fashion segment, the E-commerce platforms were not much successful with asserting dominance in other market sectors such as Fast-moving consumer

goods (FMCGs), electronics and pharmaceuticals before the COVID 19 pandemic struck and changed the landscape of Indian E commerce forever.

Threats faced by E-commerce due to COVID 19

It is quite evident that the COVID 19 pandemic has paralyzed even some of the most stable businesses all over the world. The sinking of most profitable sectors like Travel and tourism, Hospitality and Hotels, it was certain that the aftershocks of this economic crash are going to severely affect all the other sectors directly or indirectly. During the Initial days of the pandemic, Disruption of supply chains due to nationwide lockdown and movement restrictions stalled millions of orders leaving sellers in dilemma and buyers in doubt, but it was just the beginning. Many suppliers who were working with these platforms had to stop production due to mass migration by the workforce and shutting down of economic activities to contain the transmission of the virus. This resulted in acute shortage of goods along with losses for both the suppliers and the E-commerce companies.

Although the affluent layers of society were still willing to shop online and managed to keep the businesses afloat, yet it was hampered by the fear of transmission of the corona virus during the doorstep deliveries of the products gripping peoples’ mind. The sales too declined as an exorbitant number of jobs were lost, resulting in an economic chaos in the country and profit was the last thing businesses could expect in this race for survival in the market.

How E-commerce survived, grew and got better

The online shopping platforms decided not to let this menace overpower them and thus decided to adopt some truly pioneering marketing strategies, coming up with solutions and protocols which addressed the concerns of both the buyers and the E-commerce platforms themselves. Easing lockdown restrictions and allowing economic activities again provided them with a new opportunity to ensure their survival. They diversified their network of suppliers, adopted precautions against the virus and focused on marketing along with exclusive sales and offers.

On 25th March, 2020, BigBasket – an online grocery giant in India had the following message “We'll be back soon! We are currently experiencing unprecedented demand. In light of this, we are restricting access to our website to existing customers only. Please try again in a few hours.” It faced such an overwhelming response that resulted in a breakdown. Grofers – a rival, had a similar kind of message which said “Due to the sudden rush, we have stopped servicing many locations, but we are working to increase capacity and will be resuming operations shortly.” Amazon – one of the leading E commerce players in the country, and the world, has announced on its site that the customers are relying on them like never before in their social distancing and self-quarantine efforts. Hence Amazon is temporarily prioritizing its available fulfillment and logistics capacity to serve essentials such as household staples, packaged food, health care, hygiene, personal safety and other high priority products. It is temporarily going to stop taking orders for lower-priority products. Globally too, Amazon has seen a surge in orders and is raising overtime pay for associates working in its warehouses, during the coronavirus outbreak.

With their aggressive and ground-breaking strategies, various E commerce platforms not only managed to survive amidst the pandemic but have also been successful in embarking their dominance in the previously low performing and unconventional sectors such as medicines and pharmaceuticals, health and wellness, sports and fitness and most importantly, entertainment! because who doesn’t like binge watching on Netflix while quarantining!

- Kartik Singh