this is how online shopping has changed in the middle of the pandemic (Clear the X, 1×91).
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Over the last few weeks, online purchases have exploded. Ecommerce and online supermarkets have received avalanches of people who, confined to their homes, have resorted to them to stock their refrigerators, buy what they need to be able to telework and even to play sports. The confinement has not only caused those who already buy online to continue buying, but also users who did not do it before have started doing it.
Online stores, for their part, have had to take different measures to satisfy demand, a demand that has multiplied almost in a generalized way and that has caused some products to be out of stock. There are delays in the shipments of some products, virtual queues, there are devices that are not easy to find when a month ago they were and even Amazon has changed the cover of its website so that we buy less (all the details, in the podcast) .
To talk about how our way of buying online has changed, how stores have adapted, the measures they have taken and the best-selling products, we have in this new episode Enrique Perez (@lyzanor), editor in Engadget, and a server, Jose Garcia (@josedextro), also editor of this medium. The episode is produced and edited by Santi Araújo (@santiaraujo).
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Online shopping is skyrocketing
Shortly before the state of alarm was declared, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health emergency. Faced with this situation, many people went out to buy hand sanitizer gel and masks, wiping out stocks from supermarkets such as Mercadona. In Amazon’s case, some mask packages sold out in their warehouses, leaving only units from third-party sellers whose prices were significantly higher.
Subsequently, the coronavirus was declared a pandemic. Citizens, since then, have had to stay at home and have only been able to go out to shop at the supermarket, throw away the garbage, go to the and, in some cases, to work. There are not a few people who during these days have opted for shopping from home to avoid contacts and queues, which has caused online supermarkets to become saturated, have virtual queues and all delivery time slots have been filled.
Among the measures taken by supermarkets and online stores are services such as Click & Collect or Click & Car, which allow you to collect the purchase directly from the parking lot, extra shifts at night, limited shipments on certain products and contracts. A striking case is that of Amazon, which first hired 100,000 people and then another 75,000.
Some online stores have explained to Engadget that they are multiplying sales and that, in many cases, are at the level of Black Friday or Christmas. Devices such as laptops, printers, signal repeaters, webcams or sports devices have been bought in mass. The same happens with the Switch, sold out on Amazon and at exorbitant prices at third party prices (although available in other stores) or the Ring Fit, Nintendo’s video game for sports, which is sold out in most online stores.
And while the demand for products related to teleworking, leisure or sports has skyrocketed, in fashion and cars the opposite has happened. Fashion stores closed on March 13 and estimates suggest that sales have dropped by 70%, something that has led to early sales for some brands. The same with parts and spare parts for cars, whose demand has also decreased.
The question to ask is what are the future prospects and if the coronavirus will mean a change in consumer buying habits. It only remains to wait to see how the curve of the virus develops and how we return to normal. In the meantime, all we can do is stay home.
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