Posted: September 9th, 2022

E-Commerce Amid COVID-19

E-Commerce Amid COVID-19
Today, all products are available and easily accessed through the internet through online transactions. Electronic commerce is a mode of business that involves buying and selling of products through the internet (Laudon, and Traver, 2016). The first e-commerce business took pace in 1994, via a website known as Net Market. The online businesses are conducted using digital gadgets, such as smartphones or computers. Business organizations operate and conduct businesses through the internet, which has been cost-effective, for example, amazon involved in online delivery and sale.
Individual companies have also taken over the online market, promoting product’s marketing, hence providing a broader market. E-commerce business comes in different models, business to business, consumer to consumer, business to consumer, and consumer to business. The four models’ nature depends on participants and transactions; for example, business to consumer model involves buying and selling goods from an online retail shop to a consumer (Laudon, and Traver, 2016). Also, companies can sell products to other companies, for example, selling cloud services. Platforms such as Etsy and eBay encourage consumer-consumer business to sell an item to another consumer.
E-commerce comes in different forms, where some are similar to traditional business models. For instance, wholesale business, retail business, digital products, subscription, drop shopping, and crowdfunding (Laudon, and Traver, 2016).. Online mode of selling and buying enhance the convenience and allow the consumer to select various products. E-commerce operates twenty-four hours around the clock, where a client can access a product when needed anytime. The online business sells multiple products, where a client can choose where to buy products and the type of products to buy. E-commerce may be convenient but denies a customer a chance to touch and feel effects. Additionally, purchasing goods online may take time before delivery, hence denied the client the pleasure of instant gratification.
According to recent reports, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected consumer stores and leading chain stores. Sales in commerce have dropped, leading to bankruptcy and closure of many businesses (Seetharaman, 2020). E-commerce has accelerated by five years during the pandemic. Business platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, have recorded high sales with forty-four increases. Additionally, one in five people in the United States now purchases products online where, according to e-market news, the use of product delivery applications has increased.
People across the globe worry and visiting stores for shopping due to COVID-19 safety precautions (Seetharaman, 2020). Online markets have enabled individual’s access products faster without having to risk their lives. According to COVD-19 industrial update, different online business has been affected differently. For example, travel sales have been affected, dropping at a forty percent rate where most traveling industries are dormant. Automotive online sales have dropped by eighty percent.
Nevertheless, sale of groceries, homemade goods, technology, and clothes purchases has gone up to seventy percent (Gao, et, al., 2020). Online sale of technology has increased tremendously, especially where people are now purchasing cloud-based infrastructure. Virtual events have dominated the market, where the entertainment industry has now shifted to virtual reality technology.
E-commerce has increased rapidly in 2020, where generally, online sales have grown to seventy-six percent (Gao, et, al., 2020). Business platforms, such as Amazon, remain the top, followed by Walmart and eBay. At this time, consumers are eager to purchase products online because most online businesses are spending on social media advertising. According to e-market reports, social media has increased due to lockdown and quarantine, where at the end of 2020, things might get back to normal (Gao, et, al., 2020). E-commerce businesses have taken advantage of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, to post advertisements where customer acquisition and retention are high.

References
Gao, X., Shi, X., Guo, H., & Liu, Y. (2020). To buy or not buy food online: The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the adoption of e-commerce in China. PloS one, 15(8), e0237900.
Laudon, K. C., & Traver, C. G. (2016). E-commerce: business, technology, society.
Seetharaman, P. (2020). Business models shifts: Impact of Covid-19. International Journal of Information Management, 54, 102173.

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