Digital marketing or SEO services, the main proponent in marketing and business has always been a vital function in helping websites and eCommerce stores penetrate the market and generate sales on various ways. It’s the go-to approach of every business that ought to establish an online presence, yet its success rate never fails to ensure these businesses in satisfying their plans. Confronted with different outside factors that contributed to the changes internally, digital marketing still continues to dominate the industry.
However, the unexpected arrival of COVID-19 has shaken the core of digital marketing and the operation of almost all physical stores and market platforms. Stores are closed, operations are limited, and unemployment rate is increasing. This has put everyone in different level of emotions and the face of digital marketing is never be the same again.
Existing businesses are forced to shut down and have to stop their operations while newly established businesses are having difficulties in terms of growth and expansions considering how customers have started online shopping. On a lighter note, digital marketing paved the way to the emergence of different eCommerce solutions and innovative marketing strategies that every business can use. But its detrimental changes are undeniably the start of the new digital marketing era.
Dying physical stores
The imposition of social distancing and quarantine have put every single physical store on the edge of terminating the operation to minimize the spread within the workplace going to the customers. It’s absolutely a difficult situation for brands that have a physical setting because they are left with only one choice and that is to turn online and adapt to digital marketing.
Online shopping that leaves a gap demand
Since the customers have shifted to online shopping and almost every business is turning to online integration, the demand gap between expectation and reality of the ordered items leaves an improbable remark on the side of the customers. Online shopping is the new normal- meaning that the customers are pretty much relying on it from purchasing the essential items to satisfying their cravings.
However, due to the volume of orders that are received by these online stores and eCommerce platforms, some customers are left hanging with their orders while most of them are experiencing poor quality service. In fact, 70% of the customers have service issues and 64% have encountered the same issue.
In terms of product quality, customer expectations are always high considering how these brands have established their reputation. Most of the times, these customers experience poor service from different brands and it’s assumable that the quality of these products is far-flung from what these brands have claimed what it should be. In other words, the ordered items arrive completely different from the photos or videos of the product and its description. The customers are dissatisfied and sometime furious that the products arrived to them in such manner and not only it has poor quality, but it left unimpressionable shopping experience on their side.
Massive shift of businesses to digital marketing
In relation to the dying physical stores, the opposite action made by most of the businesses is to turn online. The shift from physical stores to digital marketing provided numerous opportunities for business to grow and reach wider audiences. These businesses have started to recognize the significance of digital marketing and website development to market one’s product or service to a much larger population of potential customers. In a sense that the people are glued to their devices and solely relying on online shopping, there’s a huge chance for businesses to generate more sales and uncover potential opportunities to grow.
With the help of digital marketing and other marketing solutions, business owners are offered with opportunities that they weren’t able to experience in running a physical store. Compared to a physical store where sales depend on the location of the establishment and its reputation, in digital marketing and eCommerce, the brand can easily penetrate a new set of potential customers and nurture leads through social media, ads, email or SMS marketing and many more.
Drastic impact on some of the business industries
Aside from the rewarding benefits of digital marketing and online eCommerce solutions, some business industries are experiencing severe drought of sales and loss of customers in just a month. This is very difficult for these business industries to maintain the operation as the preferences of the customers have changed, no travel allowed, community quarantine, and among other COVID-19 restrictions.
- Retail brands have been forced to shutdown due to the community quarantine and the closing of borders between countries. So, it’s difficult to maintain the operation and connect with the customers since retailing depends on import.
- Hospitality and Tourism is also one of the industries that experienced global downgrade and a decline of sales in only a couple of months. This is due to travel ban restrictions and the people are not allowed to book flights especially going to high-risk countries that have thousands of cases daily.
- Construction. Since companies have to pull out from their operation, it’s expected that the construction process and site must be stopped to prevent the infection in the workplace.
Increased online activity due to changing customer pattern
During the start of the pandemic until now, the online activity of people continues to increase and breaking the boundaries between the relationship of the brands to their customers. Considering the fact that people are relying on online shopping, some of the business industries are reaping results and exponentially generating sales due to the increasing demands of the customers overnight and non-stop.
Takeaway
The COVID-19 pandemic made a clear statement to the industry that it’s time to change their ways from traditional to online integration as it will continue to be widely developed in all forms. These changes experienced by all businesses are only the first batch of impacts, either negative or positive and as the virus is still here, this will not be the end. Every business should see these changes as an opportunity to be better and enhance their services for the customers.
