Online shopping is a necessity to revive your business

The past few months have compelled retailers to create multiple streams of income by selling online in a bid to build business resilience, are you among them?

It’s evident by now that the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a deterioration in high streets due to the decrease in consumer confidence and increase in e-commerce.

The collapse of the high street has sparked fear for retailers as they find ways to lure digitally-adapted customers back into stores now that restrictions have eased – but consumers – and their confidence – are not making a strong return.

With the recent announcement from Boots to cut 4,000 jobs after a dramatic decline in shoppers – the high street is seeing a plummet in sales, as many customers have benefited from online retail being a fast, safe and convenient option.

The company said it expected UK retail conditions ‘to remain very depressed, despite gradual easing of restrictions’. However, Boots stated online sales had soared by 78% during the lockdown and that it would be investing more in online and digital services in future.

For many other smaller retailers e-commerce is not only a necessity to revive their businesses in the depressed high street, but to remain competitive as competitors scramble to adapt alternative methods to recoup the loss of physical sales.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, consumers’ retail habits have inevitably changed. Many have sourced e-commerce solutions while bricks-and-mortar stores were closed.

This means that brands need to find more methods to attract, engage and retain customers. Successful retailers of the future will not see physical and digital as separate, they will instead focus on merged commerce; the ability to cross virtual and physical sales, by implementing click and collect and delivery services – allowing customers to flow between online and offline services with ease.

Online shopping will remain a more regular habit – experts predict that the market will grow by a third this year. As retail is multifaceted, businesses need to take their virtual store as seriously as their presence in brick-and-mortar in order to attain customers and survive.

Would you like to stabalise your retail business in a time of uncertainty through e-commerce? Contact our team at Mercury Order today.

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