The impact of ecommerce is far and wide with a ripple effect from small business to global enterprise.

1. Large retailers are forced to sell online.

For many retailers, the growth of ecommerce has expanded their brands’ reach and positively impacted their bottom lines. But for retailers who have been slow to embrace the online marketplace, the impact has been different.

Retailers that fall into the middle ground are the ones feeling the biggest changes in response to the impact of ecommerce. 

 In February of 2019, online sales narrowly surpassed general merchandise stores for the first time, including department stores, warehouse clubs and supercenters. Because Amazon Prime took away the price of shipping, more consumers are comfortable with online shopping.

2. Ecommerce helps small businesses sell directly to customers.

For many small businesses, ecommerce adoption has been a slow process. However, those who’ve embraced it have discovered ecommerce can open doors to new opportunities.

Slowly, small business owners are launching ecommerce stores and diversifying their offerings, reaching more customers and better accommodating customers who prefer online/mobile shopping. 

Pre-pandemic, small businesses were working to expand their ecommerce presence. Today, 23% of small business owners feel they’ll have to strengthen their ecommerce capabilities in order to survive in a post-pandemic world. Another 23% of small business owners have created a website or updated their existing one since COVID-19 lockdowns began.

3. B2B companies start offering B2C-like online ordering experiences.

B2B companies are working to improve their customer experiences online to catch up with B2C companies. This includes creating an omnichannel experience with multiple touchpoints and using data to create personalized relationships with customers.

Ecommerce solutions enable self-service, provide more user-friendly platforms for price comparison, and help B2B brands maintain relationships with buyers, too. 

4. The rise of ecommerce marketplaces.

Ecommerce marketplaces have been on the rise around the world since the mid-1990s with the launch of giants we know today, such as Amazon, Alibaba, and others.