E-commerce is now standard for brands and consumers. Shopping online is a natural part of the consumer journey. The coronavirus pandemic not only hindered the high street with forced closures, it also accelerated the already-growing e-commerce market.

Mobile is a massive part of the growth in e-commerce (known as m-commerce) because mobile devices are often the primary device when making a purchase, even when in-store users check online prices and assess their options. This year, m-commerce will account for more than half of retail e-commerce sales for the first time, according to eMarketer.

With the continued growth of e-commerce/m-commerce, the high street will likely never be the same again following COVID-19.

Companies such as Amazon have enormously benefitted from this growth. Amazon continues to be the major player, dominating the UK market. Further developments from the likes of Google show how media is becoming more set up for commerce.

YouTube is now looking to convert its videos into a shoppable catalogue, recently asking creators to use YouTube software to tag and track products featured in their content. The data will then be linked to analytics and shopping tools from Google, its parent company. This move will allow users to buy directly from YouTube content, meaning the platform has the potential to transform from advertising titan to direct competition for Amazon and Alibaba.

Although video commerce has been around for some time, the scale of YouTube is potentially the kick the industry needs for it to take off with impact.

With the huge growth and speedy developments in e-commerce across the globe, it is massively important that brands have a strategy for e-commerce even if products and services aren’t delivered online, as this reflects this particular consumer behaviour is here to stay. The key consideration for advertiser brands is how they can ensure they are thinking e-commerce first, however that may be packaged.

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