Three notes:
- “Target Corp. posted the strongest quarterly growth in its history, including a near tripling of digital sales, as coronavirus concerns fueled demand for services that let shoppers pick up goods in parking lots or skip trips to the store. Like rival Walmart Inc., Target has benefited from being able to stay open throughout the pandemic as well as selling groceries and other household staples. Online comparable sales rose 195% from a year ago, driven by same-day pickup and delivery services”, writes Wall Street Journal.
- Some of the biggest retailers are cashing in as the pandemic fuels a surge in at-home purchases. Target just posted its strongest quarterly growth in its history as its digital sales nearly tripled. Walmart meanwhile recorded its biggest ever climb in online sales, with its U.S. e-commerce sales rising nearly 97%. As customers spend more on their food and homes without entering physical stores, big chains such as Target, Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon are among the biggest beneficiaries, notes The Wall Street Journal (LinkedIn notes).
- Amazon is adding 3,500 corporate jobs and expanding offices in six major cities. The roles will be based in offices in New York, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Detroit and Dallas. Amazon has purchased a New York City Fifth Avenue building from WeWork for more than $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal says, citing anonymous sources; it’s set to open as an office in 2023. Amazon’s Workforce Development VP recently said the company “expects much of its staff to one day return back to its offices.” (LinkedIn)
Looking at these three notes, we can conclude one thing: online sales in the developed economies have reached an inflection point. And if nothing changes in the next six months, physical sales are going to make way, permanently. The African economies which could have benefited from this redesign of commerce are hampered by infrastructural challenges which continue to stymie the ability to deepen logistics, necessary to unlock ecommerce and broad online sales. Notwithstanding, online sales is no more the “future”, it has come right now. Prepare your e-store, no matter what you do, because the future of commerce is online.
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It’s pretty obvious that the future is online, pandemic or no pandemic, everything points in that direction.
I expect more than 90% of the kids we have in primary schools today to own a smartphone in their lifetime, and majority of them will be on social media and shop online. We are currently on a transition phase, between those who were born when there were no mobile phones and internet, and those born when smartphones and social media became rampant. What to expect from the latter is pretty clear, they do not harbour the sort of doubts older people have, when it comes to digital interactions.
Whatever you do, it has to have some form of online presence, irrespective of how primitive or traditional you think it is. Even if digging ground is your job, at least someone should be able to type ‘ground diggers’ on an app, and with location algorithms, your neighbour wouldn’t need to go far, looking for who can dig ground, when you are within reach.
We have it clear in our head, the great unification and singularity is on a march of no return. Brace up!