The eCommerce market - industries with the highest online growth in 2020 and 2021
Don't let a good crisis go to waste - Winston Churchill was to say during the negotiations ending World War II. Today, the British statesman's words can be applied not only to politics but also to business. In the face of crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, when some players lost their minds and made wrong, ill-considered decisions, others - did not let the opportunity go to waste. Learn about the eCommerce industries that saw the most growth in 2020 and 2021.
2020 in eCommerce - summary
Groundbreaking, verifying, historic - this is how the past year is described in the context of eCommerce. What once seemed like desired, but for many an addition - in 2020 defined those who survived and thrived during the crisis. After a brief adaptation, eCommerce stores have displaced their stationary counterparts. Let's take a closer look at the industries with the highest online growth.
As early as April 2020, the first reports on eCommerce in Poland and worldwide were created. These still cautious summaries contained information about the overall growth for e-commerce as a whole (about 25%) and listed the industries that did best in the first period of the pandemic. These included e-commerce stores with medical supplies, as well as those with baby items and online grocery stores [reported by Stackline, ShopBob, ShipHero]. On the other hand, the AfterPay Insight platform, which deals with the e-commerce market during a pandemic in the context of changes in consumer behavior, adds among the industries experiencing growth, in addition to those mentioned above, eCommerce stores offering pet food sales or a wide group from the hobby and media and entertainment assortment.
At the end of 2020, we gained a broader view of eCommerce sales performance at that particular time. The grocery and deli industries in particular came out on top. In April 2020 compared to April 2019, the number of transactions in online eCommerce stores increased by 374% [Shoper report]. Cosmetics stores, drugstores and pharmacies also recorded continuous growth. Similar results are presented in a report by the Widoczni agency, which analyzes the eCommerce industry operating on Allegro. Comparing sales exclusively on this platform in the period 15.03-16.04.2020 to the same period a year ago, it lists 14 e-commerce sectors that did best during the pandemic. These are: health (soap with 24 times growth! ), home and garden (mounting foam in first place), consoles and vending machines (Nintendo Switch with a 5-fold increase), children's industry (especially Badminton equipment), computer equipment (high popularity of webcams and laptops), beauty (the biggest increases were recorded in socks and cosmetic gloves), necessities - supermarket (household gloves with a record 20-fold increase), travel and sports equipment (primarily bicycle clothing), handicrafts (24-fold increase in sales of felting wool), consumer electronics and household appliances (electronics chemicals in first place), industrials (face shields with a 40-fold increase), clothing and footwear (women's slippers, men's slippers and maternity shorts twice as likely to be purchased compared to 2019), automotive (head protection), books and comics (especially fantasy, horror and science fiction in English).
Although in recent years the number of eCommerce online stores on the Polish market has been growing, in 2020 we saw a huge quantitative leap. Last year as many as 9 thousand such platforms were created. Previously, such a number was created over a period of about 6 years. Will all of them survive? Certainly many of them will not survive the test of time and will not adapt to further changes, this time - the easing of restrictions or constant fluctuations with tightening and withdrawal of subsequent bans and orders for subsequent sectors.
eCommerce market - beginning 2021 and forecasts
It is estimated that the Polish eCommerce market in 2020 was worth as much as PLN 70 billion and grew by about 40% (interestingly, the forecast assumed a 15% increase). Almost tripling the growth rate compared to previous years shows how rapid changes were observed this year. Mazars experts who prepared the report E-commerce in Poland: companies' development strategies predict that even after the end of the pandemic, the upward trend will continue. The prerequisite for this to happen is the development of such areas as technology, logistics and e-commerce competencies of employees.
A survey conducted by SW Research on behalf of Everla shows that even after the sanitary regime is relaxed, 90% of customers of eCommerce grocery stores do not intend to give up the option of online shopping. Customers taught to use online stores for more than a year living under pandemic conditions will not change their habits quickly - especially since the speed and ease of shopping works in eCommerce's favor.
In 2021, the most important e-commerce trends certainly include new planning tools to account for changes in the marketplace and those to handle returns and exchanges processes in a simple and customer-friendly manner. Equally important is the ongoing observation of changing consumer habits, including "buy now, pay later" payment methods. Another challenge for entrepreneurs is to collect customer data from multiple sources in order to get the most accurate picture of consumer preferences and behavior.
2021 opens up much more opportunities for Polish entrepreneurs than 2020, if only due to the entry of the sales giant Amazon to the eCommerce market. Another sales channel is a chance especially for young and smaller companies. On the other hand - the presence of such large players and the overall increase in the number of eCommerce stores means an increase in competition. Thus, in 2021 smaller companies will have to distinguish themselves not only by the quality of products and services, but also by technological advancement and well-thought-out marketing strategy.
Magento - enter the world of eCommerce with confidence
Extraordinarily high growth rates in many eCommerce industries are a fact, and the impact of a pandemic, or crisis situation, on this state is obvious to all. In the entire year 2020, the value of online sales in the US increased by 18%. Google's data shows that globally the number of shoppers increased by 26%. Of course, when analyzing the state of the global economy, we cannot think only about online stores - global markets have suffered losses. Nevertheless, the industry is on an upward wave. Take advantage of this trend in your business and bet on an eCommerce store. At Advox Studio, we use solutions provided by the Magento platform. Thanks to them, we can create for you a store that changes along with your business. Magento eCommerce guarantees scalability, many functionalities necessary to run a business in rapidly changing conditions, and security. Write to us - we will help you implement a store that sells and is attractive and intuitive for your customers.
