Since a new variant of coronavirus, Omicron has emerged from South Africa, there is a fresh wave of panic across countries. It has been almost two weeks since it was reported on 24th November to WHO and there is much speculation about how it is going to affect the world at large and the still-shaky economy of the majority of nations.
Will Omicron Affect Ecommerce More Than Earlier Corona Virus Variants?
It is said to be more infectious and difficult to detect. This has led several countries to shut down their international flights especially to and fro South Africa in an attempt to prevent its spread among people.
With international boundary restrictions, eCommerce stores providing global shipping in some countries might take on considerable loss depending upon their sales structure. Also, it is yet to be seen how this new variant affects the population at large and it is very much possible that governments might go back to their imposition of restrictions on eCommerce sales.
Platforms like Amazon which offer different category products including essential items might still be allowed to operate provided adherence to proper safety precautions is ensured.
Ecommerce stores selling non-essential items are more likely to face the brunt of restrictions. It is important to note however that owing to the lack of reliable data this is just speculation at present and everything depends on the impact of Omicron on the general public and government decisions.
After the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants of the covid virus, Omicron has arrived just in time for the start of the holiday season. This has had little impact on the shopping behavior of people in general, however.
Although many people were looking forward to shopping in stores this season having missed out on the joy of doing so last year, a large percentage of people continue to shop online owing to the ease it provides and the ability to shop without mingling in crowded areas. Especially with the onset of a new mutant virus.
This holiday season eCommerce sites, in general, saw a good increase in sales compared to last year but it still remains lower than the previous year. Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales received tremendous responses from buyers. Many people opted to start their holiday shopping earlier this year.
This came as no surprise knowing the global supply chain crisis and most people being aware of its impact on product availability. Many retailers started with the holiday deals as early as October this year and with early holiday discounts people were not waiting around for the start of the holiday season to make their purchases.
This came in response to the expected implications of the supply chain crisis. Most companies including small businesses and factories had suffered greatly during covid infection flares. Government-mandated shutdowns, restrictions, and manpower health concerns had led to shortages of raw materials, starting materials, and labor supply in turn delaying their production and delivery times.
This also resulted in higher average cost but customers did not seem much bothered by it as observed from their shopping behaviors and total spend online during these couple months.
The eCommerce industry had been severely impacted during the initial period of the pandemic but over time some online stores actually made a good profit as the shipping restrictions were lifted partially and then later fully, while several suffered significant losses. Amazon, which is native to the digital world in fact reported record-breaking sales this holiday season having started their holiday deals promotion in early October.
Ecommerce remains the most popular choice for shopping among people for its efficiency, safety, and availability of a vast variety of products. However, it goes without saying that the overall impact of Omicron on society and government decisions will have a direct effect on the performance of eCommerce in the coming months.
