The 2020 pandemic was an unexpected turnaround that nobody was ready for. The impact was much bigger than fear and precautions; it was about what can be called “the rise of the fall”. Staying home affected all the working fields worldwide that lead to an economic inflation. Thus staying home meant not having the deserved earnings by the end of the month so people had to come up with ways to hustle their living. This is where the internet, especially social media, grew its popularity. What can go wrong when millions of people use the largest platforms created? A lot. But what we can really benefit from is the rise of e-commerce. To really understand the importance e-shops have provided to the economy as a whole, let’s take Lebanon as an example.
Ever since the last third of 2019, the country has begun its economic downfall and covid 19 have eventually worsened the situation. All business owners struggled with customer loss, decreased earnings and in most cases, losing custody of the store because of the inability to pay rent with inflation. While staying home, the only distraction was the internet. So people shifted all their focus in growing their businesses virtually.
A million dollar asset
If we had to name this year it would be called “the year of online shopping”. People became obsessed with the idea of making an outcome while at home that the total count of shoppers per year increased by 13% making it 2.5 billion online shoppers between 2020 and 2021 putting in mind that there are roughly 7.8 billion people in the world. Everyone can benefit from e-shops from the shopper to the owner; it can go from earning money in exchange of stocks or handmade crafts to receiving the item we’ve been looking for and the cycle goes on. So to say that people spend billions every year, imagine if we narrow it down to Lebanese people that have fought and found their online outcome, how much help they would be creating for themselves amid the difficulties they face every day.
Shall we not forget that not only shop owners receive the outcome, it’s who delivers it to people’s doorstep. The biggest role in e-shops is delivery companies. To name a few like wakkelni, aramex and top speed who deliver all over Lebanon, have gained popularity and riches of their own.
What it took e-shops to become successful
1- It is convenient and comfortably appropriate
We all heard of the meme that says “it looked beautiful on the mannequin until I tried it on Me.” Well, bare vision tends to deceive the person as it heightens the expectation when we see the product so beautifully showcased. Customers will ask for a precise size and would not find, for another color but wouldn’t be available, for a typical style and couldn’t be satisfied. So what e-shops have provided is a more comfortable and easy way in searching and finding what we’re looking for. You search the specific feature you’ll need in a product and it will lead you to a dozen other links to what you are looking for.
2- The use of upgraded technology
What stands out even more is the ability in displaying what is being sold. You can now visit website stores and once you click on a product you will see a GIF or a video that shows the product from different angles and modeled in different body sizes to make sure that each online customer will feel welcomed and that they have the chance in finding what they are looking for.
3-A good marketing strategy
It doesn’t matter when they only say “I started a business online”. What’s important is to discover a good strategy in growing the business and attracting customers. It can be done statically through paid ads, hash tags, followings and searches because the algorithm of social media will help the business to expand, popping out in front of the viewer in need when they least expect it. It can also be done by having creative characteristics designed for the business. For example: customization, a large variety of choices, customer help, giveaways, email address to receive seasonal discounts.
In the long run, e-shops are here to stay and are evolving each and every day. Not only has it become a way of shopping safe from a virus at home, but also a faster and guaranteed way of earning money. Now anyone can open a site or a page and start selling what they provide, much easier than having to worry about rent, employees, and massive stock storages, not to forget about the customers that find themselves avoiding traffic and wasting time by shopping online more.