Massive surge in e-commerce

The e-commerce market has seen a marked growth despite a fall in global trade due to the coronavirus (Covid-19), according to a new report.

This has been possible due to emerging technologies which have led to an increase in sales via global commercial platforms.

The above conclusions have been revealed in the report, “Overview: The Use of Technology in the Coronavirus Crisis (Covid-19)”, published by Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat).

Written by Dr Fatima Alsebaie, the report provides an overview of technologies used in combating the pandemic and its effectiveness in improving the situation.

It also analyses the effects of the use of specific technology on the future directions of governments and BigTech firms in the field of health, e-commerce and work policies.

The report observed that health measures implemented by many countries to combat the coronavirus has led to consumers turning to shop over the Internet.

“Companies such as Amazon, Alibaba and Netflix are among the most prominent e-commerce companies benefiting during the crisis,” it said.

“Amazon’s shares have increased by 25 per cent, Amazon’s owner’s wealth increased by $24 billion to $138.5bn since the beginning of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“Netflix’s share increased by about 0.8pc during March, according to the British newspaper The Independent.

“Alibaba and Amazon also needed to hire more delivery workers with the increase in online purchases, Amazon stated that the crisis prompted it to add 100,000 new jobs in the US according to CNN.

“Some published statistics indicate that the volume of online sales in many countries has increased in varying degrees.

“For example, from February 17, 2020 to April 8, 2020, Italy recorded an increase in online sales by 90pc over the same period in 2019, and an increase in online sales between March and April by 13pc in France, and 40pc In Brazil, and 12pc in Poland, for the same period in 2019,” said the report.

It also said that regular shops saw during the crisis that electronic commerce is the only solution for them to face the limited sale, which led to their competition for local and global delivery to keep pace with current changes and deal with them.

Available statistics also showed that delivery service from restaurants and food stalls is the most requested online service within the countries during the crisis.

The report predicted that there will be a strong growth in the volume of global e-commerce by the end of 2020, with the increase in the volume of global sales via the Internet, as it is safe from the spread of the virus.

“E-commerce will become one of the highest priorities for companies and commercial institutions after the crisis, which will lead to the reformulation of strategies and activation of full competition between the e-commerce and traditional markets.

“The crisis may help in the spread of electronic commerce, and gradually expand its scope in countries, and encourage the creation of virtual companies, which results in opening markets and creating new jobs, expanding the circle of local markets, and accessing global markets in the long run.”

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/821289/Massive-surge-in-e-commerce