On our latest Shuup webcast we spoke with Shuup’s Head of Growth and Operations, Shanna Cox about how the events of 2020 changed the way retailers do business and how Shuup helped some of their e-commerce clients adapt. Here are some of the highlights from that discussion:
How the pandemic affected trends like growth in e-commerce
There were already trends towards increasing growth in e-commerce prior to the pandemic but the pandemic and the resulting widespread closures and behavior changes really accelerated some of these trends. It encouraged lagging adopters to adopt new ways of doing things and new technology.
The pandemic didn’t affect all retailers equally
More experiential stores, like Ulta increased their e commerce by 200% while department stores, like Macy’s and Kohl’s, that already have a large proportion of customers shopping through their ecommerce channels saw a more modest increase of 50-60% in Q1 and Q2 of this year.
When consumers do visit brick and mortar stores, they are more “mission driven”
Foot traffic data tells us that shoppers are making less frequent stops and spending less time in the store than in prior periods.
Future largely uncertain but retailers will be more focused on Omnichannel e-commerce this holiday season
The number of visits to physical retail locations are expected to drop by 25% this holiday season – due to changing behaviors but also from stores limiting capacity. The allocation of holiday staff will likely be fulfillment focused rather than customer facing .
How Shuup helped companies adapt
We discussed three case studies of how Shuup helped launch businesses during the pandemic.
These include:
- Helping a marketplace of personal protective equipment scale and more efficiently meet an unprecedented surge in demand
- Adapting a meet-up and events platform so that they could digitize their offering, allowing clients to book and attend remote events and classes
- Building an innovative solution to help Canadian restaurants limit the frequency and duration of in person contact between their staff and customers so that they can continue to serve customers more safely.
Conclusion
There were very few businesses unaffected by the pandemic. The boom in e-commerce and online interactions with businesses will likely continue in the near future. Pivoting to e-commerce during this time may be beneficial for your business. If you would like to learn more about Shuup’s innovative and customizable multi-vendor marketplace platform, please contact sales@shuup.com