Is Your Business Prepared to Crush Q4 Holiday Sales?

An analysis of the COVID-19 impact on retail, and how this will affect 2020 holiday marketing strategies

Written by: David Eagan, E-commerce expert & Blended Sense advisor

COVID-19 has forever changed the way that we run our businesses, especially when it comes to e-commerce. The pandemic accelerated several e-commerce trends that were already on the rise; instead of taking several years to come to fruition - those timelines have now compressed into just a few months. Here’s how we know this: e-commerce made up only about 11% of retail sales before 2019, and has been slowly taking larger shares from brick & mortar retailers. Fast forward a few months into the COVID pandemic, and the percentage of e-commerce sales in retail is now sitting at 15% (that’s 4 years of change within a mere 6 months). Let’s take a look at a few more notable statistics to back this up:

• eCommerce order volume has increased by 47%
• Shopify is growing Marketplace revenue by 50%
• Online groceries have increased by 40%
• Walmart online grew by 74%
• Even Chipotle digital grew by 81%

Building New Purchasing Habits

Research says it takes 66 days to build a new habit. We’ve have been dealing with the pandemic-driven lockdown for over 3 months, and most consumers are finding out how much easier, and quicker, it is to conduct day-to-day transactions online. Whether we realize it or not, new purchasing habits have been created. I don’t see us returning to the old ways, and it’s time to embrace the new e-commerce normal. With that being said, what has your business done to adjust & adapt to the new world?

• If you’re a restaurant owner: are you utilizing Uber Eats and DoorDash in order to have your food delivered directly to your customers’ homes?
• Have you switched to Zoom for customer service calls, business meetings, and interviews?
• Are you a retailer that updated your website so that you can can accept pre-orders for curbside pick up?
• If you’re in the healthcare industry are you using a platform like TelaDoc to alleviate the stress of your patients?

Making the Switch to E-Commerce

If you have not made the change to e-commerce, it is time to reconsider and start investing in the future of your business before it is too late. As we look forward to the rest of 2020 - The Golden Quarter of Q4 is just around the corner. This is when retailers make a large percentage of their profit in just the three months leading up to the holiday season. What I’m saying is this: if you start preparing today, you still have time to have a successful 2020. If you have made the switch to e-commerce, congratulations! Blended Sense is here to help you continue on your path towards success. You can start with this…

Get a FREE online diagnosis from our expert strategy team (yes, you heard that right - completely free)

In addition, your online business is going to need a wide variety of content in order to engage your customers. Having the right photos and videos can be the difference between getting a sale, or someone merely scrolling by your ads. Blended Sense excels at handling content creation that is easy, affordable, and will support you in building your content strategy for the 2020 holidays.

Starting at just $99 per month, Blended Sense ensure you have all your digital content needs covered so that you can have a backlog of beautiful content to keep your customers engaged, and buying from you. Head here to learn more.

Wishing you success for the rest of the year!