As the global economy contracted under the weight of the global health crisis, eCommerce revenues showed resilience amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
With consumers shopping more online due to social distancing and self-isolation, there were increases in traffic and sales for the best-performing eCommerce sites.
These high-performing companies maneuvered the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis to grow their eCommerce revenue.
The top examples of eCommerce sites that performed well during the COVID-19 crisis paint a picture of the eCommerce Coronavirus market all businesses can learn from.
These cases demonstrate some exemplary steps that can serve as guidance for other companies facing health crisis impacts in the future while coping with similar challenges or looking to expand.
From implementing improved web design to creative, digital business strategies, here’s how these eCommerce sites were able to succeed.
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1. eCommerce Coronavirus Impact Stimulated Ikea’s Online Sales
Ikea’s online sales reached double what they were in 2019 during the COVID-19 crisis.
In countries like Denmark, a good portion of eCommerce businesses reported that their revenue had been up to 24% higher than expected after the pandemic broke out.
Interestingly, Ikea just launched an advanced virtual showroom with mobile and deep learning. The timing turned out well since this project was initiated long before the current crisis. The new tool allows people to test-run what their homes may look like with various furniture options.
2. eCommerce Allowed Papa Johns To Expand & Run Smooth Operations During COVID-19
It’s no surprise that pizza deliveries have gone up while people are home more and Papa Johns is appearing to be the big winner, beating out Dominos and others.
Although they moved to no-contact delivery, their customers not only felt safe about their food being delivered at home but the demand for their products also increased.
In fact, the company’s North America same-store sales rose by 27% in April 2020, followed by the addition of 20,000 new workers to meet the order volume.
The website operates a smooth ordering process and features a ‘Papa Track’ tool that allows users to keep tabs on their orders.
3. Nike Promoted eCommerce Offering During COVID-19 By Sharing Free Content To Engage Consumers
Nike took action by waiving online fees for NTC Premium, their subscription program behind services including the Nike+ app, and providing free access to fitness classes and other resources.
The growth in membership is a positive association for the brand, encourages activewear purchases for at-home workouts and gets users hooked on the platform before it becomes paid again.
By making its premium content free, Nike also manages to showcase its content and increase the number of new potential customers who can later turn into long-term paying subscribers.
4. William Sonoma’s Tech & Operational Investment Paid Off In Digital Sales
Extended periods of time at home led to people making bread like never before and exploring new recipes that cause them to use their kitchens more than usual.
For example, Amazon’s best-selling bread maker model was sold out after a producer for the Ellen DeGeneres’ show, Andy Lassner, tweeted about the product.
As a leading retailer of kitchen tools and appliances, William Sonoma had solid sales and their stock performance went further up.
The company has been dedicated to enhancing the consumer experience through operational improvement and tech innovation, which has helped their eCommerce performance.
They have already experienced a large portion of digital sales in 2019, as well as strong revenues online due to the Covid-19 crisis.
5. Coronavirus eCommerce Impact Led To Vitamin World’s Web Traffic Spike With Increased Consumer Demand
Growth in the demand for health and wellness items has brought an increase in the consumption of vitamins, whose sales are up 93% year on year.
Vitamin retailers as a whole are experiencing growth in consumers, and Vitamin World specifically has had a significant uptick in web traffic, with double the website visitors in March 2020 as compared to October 2019.
6. Gaming Platform Steam Became One Of The Best Performing eCommerce Sites Thanks To Fast Growing User Base
More time at home means more time spent gaming for consumers who partake in PC games. Steam is a platform that sells games and enables developers to make money from their games.
The difference in users has been notable since social distancing and self-isolation have been introduced.
The peak in online active users in April 2019 was 17,125,670 and in April 2020 it shot up to 24,535,923.
7. eCommerce COVID-19 Boost Helped Adam & Eve Increase Online Sales Revenue
There has been a lot of attention to the increase in popularity of PornHub and adult product provider Adam & Eve has followed the same trend.
According to Forbes, the company’s sales in 2020 spiked over 30% compared to the same time in the previous year. With many retailers who sell their products closed, sales have increasingly been more concentrated on digital platforms and particularly Adam & Eve’s webshop.
8. Chewy’s Digital Sales Benefitted From Growing Number Of Home Shoppers & Pet Adopters
Online pet supply retailer, Chewy has benefitted as customers do their shopping from home. Similar to online grocery shopping, this is a purchase people make regularly, but they have switched online due to the circumstances.
The crisis has not only made some people panic about toilet paper and hand sanitizers but they also stock up on pet food to make sure their pets are fed during the pandemic.
CivicScience ran a survey to find out how pet owners deal with the crisis in 2020. The company discovered that 17% of Americans are now ordering more food for their pets online than ever before.
Additionally, there was an increase in pet adoption which could be seen as an influence on increased demand for pet food and supplies.
9. Credo Employed A Strong Digital Strategy To Keep Sales Strong
Losses can be offset, at least in part, for brands with strong digital strategies. Dawn Dobras, the CEO of the clean beauty company Credo, said that while in-store sales had decreased right before its closure, digital sales had increased as more people relied on online shopping.
The brand has adapted to the current situation in their digital strategy, for example by posting a handwashing guide and selling hand soap simultaneously.
10. Lululemon Leveraged Tech To Maintain Momentum In eCommerce Amid Coronavirus Crisis
While supply chain and delivery were issues for many companies at that time, a decision that paid off for Lululemon was their investment in RFID (radio-frequency identification) tech.
The tech enables real-time knowledge of where every product is, be it in-store or at a distribution facility, to support online sales processes.
The company also bolstered its digital strategy by hosting virtual pilates, yoga, dance and other classes.
When other apparel brands were experiencing sales declines, Lululemon’s North American eCommerce business accelerated its growth rate since the stores shut down on March 16, 2020.
The athletic company reported a fourth-quarter net income of $298.0 million up from $218.5 million the previous year. Its same-store sales also soared 20%, including a 41% boost in the direct-to-consumer channel.
11. Drizly Digital Platform Faced Surge In Sales In Already-Growing Market
Drizly, a digital marketplace for alcohol that works with local retailers, experienced dramatic growth in sales.
The week of March 30, 2020, Drizly sales were up 461% over their baseline of eight weeks prior. Approximately 40% of recent orders came from new customers.
This market has been experiencing accelerated growth for what was already a promising market. Alcohol eCommerce sales hit about $3 billion in North America in 2019, according to IWSR, and that figure is forecasted to reach $13.4 billion by 2024.
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How To Improve eCommerce Site Performance During Health Crisis Downtime
With shoppers turning to digital channels for their shopping during the 2020 health crisis, companies discovered they could increase sales and customer retention by using this time to engage online visitors.
How can you do that for your eCommerce site?
The first step is to listen to customers’ needs when establishing or improving a website and digital strategy.
Working with a digital agency can help with building an effective strategy.
Sites that performed well during COVID-19 saw continued success after the crisis.
Some practical steps to building a high-performing eCommerce website, include:
- Simple website design
- Multichannel shopping experience
- User reviews
- “Save to wish list” option
- Simplified checkout
- Related items
- Optimized store search engine
- Secure features
- Advanced payment options
- Personalized user experience
- Detailed shipping information
These tips offer guidance to companies looking to build their eCommerce functionality and success during such times.
The examples of best-performing eCommerce sites illustrate that strong performance is possible with a solid digital strategy and catering to the new consumer market in the time of this crisis.
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