No, not that c-word, the other one: Christmas!
Christmas 2020 is set up to be the biggest opportunity for e-commerce in UK retail history but many businesses are not prepared.
It is September 2020 and, as I write this, new lockdown restrictions have been announced for North East England, North West England, the Midlands and West Yorkshire. It is now being reported that the Government is considering short-term closure of pubs & restaurants in an effort to control the spread of Coronavirus. There is a risk of a more widespread lockdown an outside chance of another national one, being referred to as Lockdown2
Whether that happens or not, it is time for business to face the harsh reality that we are not going to see the traditional throngs of Christmas shoppers filling our high streets & retail stores this year.
The nationwide lockdown in March created problems for many UK retailers, but lockdown wasn’t the same story for every business.
Retailers with an effective eCommerce presence were better able to capitalise on the sudden shift to consumers buying online.
Businesses that can adapt to changing situations are more resilient. The nationwide lockdown created a large & sudden increase in consumer shift to using online retail.
During the first lockdown, consumers desperately wanted to support their local small businesses but, if those local stores were closed with no eCommerce alternative available, their loyal customers had no choice but to buy online from someone else – someone with an eCommerce website.
According to the latest official ecommerce figures that shift to buying online dropped slightly from it’s record high in May 2020, when nearly one thrid of all retail purchases were made online, but it has consistently remained far above any previous year’s highest levels.
More consumers have discovered the convenience of buying online.
And that means that Christmas 2020 is set to be the biggest opportunity for e-commerce in UK history.
Is your business ready to sell online?
If you need to improve your existing eCommerce, or simply get started selling online, Narrative Industries can help.