The Managing Director of Leeds-based Ascensor believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken ecommerce from “evolutionary pace, to a revolutionary speed.”
He explained that the lockdown had accelerated the online market by 5 years.
“We have seen the enquiries for Ecommerce capabilities rise by more than 1,000% during 2020. Continued lockdowns and socially distanced behaviour have limited in-person shopping and driven more customers online,” he said.
“The result is that existing Ecommerce businesses have brought forward their plans and scaled up significantly. Many companies without previous Ecommerce capabilities have also been quick to move online using well-proven hosting and design providers.”
However, he cautioned that a switch to ecommerce wasn’t necessarily that simple.
“The direct-to-market web providers may suggest that companies can purchase an ‘off the shelf’ package and start trading online using ‘plug and play’ site technology. Often the user experience and performance of these websites is limited, the customer data processing may put companies at risk and the ability to optimise digital marketing channels is minimised due to an inaccessible code base.”
“For online retailers to be successful they need to ensure their website performance meets customer experience expectations, that data processing is compliant and that all relevant digital marketing channels can be exploited. This requires the support of digital marketing specialists who can take care of Ecommerce design, build, data security and data protection.”
