Many of the Amazon headlines today mention record sales and continued dominance, so I was a bit surprised to stumble on this article that suggests that some online shoppers are looking beyond Amazon to make purchases. Per a survey conducted by CommerceHub, nearly 90% of consumers plan to maintain the same level of spend on online platforms and about the same percentage express concerns about shopping in person. This should come as no surprise as the pandemic is still ongoing.
However, Amazon had focused on shipping essential items during the height of the pandemic, which resulted in shipping delays for non-essential items. As a result, about 1/3 of online consumers turned to other platforms such as eBay to shop rather than Amazon.
Personally, I have defaulted to Amazon for just about all of my recent purchases, but like the consumers surveyed in the article, I have noticed shipping delays for many of my items. With many other online retailers offering fast shipping and inventory variety that begins to rival Amazon, I wonder if this will produce a sustained trend of consumers moving away from Amazon.
Smaller retailers are still struggling during this crisis, but the article suggests that smaller retails may be able to leverage a few key advantages to differentiate their offerings. For example, the curbside pickup option has proven a safe, reliable option for many consumers who still want to make purchases "in person.". Furthermore, there is pent up demand in the apparel category, which should provide a respite to clothing retailers when the pandemic subsides.
Source: https://footwearnews.com/2020/business/retail/commercehub-survey-ecommerce-grows-avoid-amazon-1203063688/
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