Jakarta, CNN Indonesia - Online shopping is claimed to increase throughout 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase is almost 20 percent from the previous year.

Launching Cnet, this is because some consumers avoid shopping face-to-face to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

"The sales acceleration in digital over the years has been compressed into months," said Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach.

It is acknowledged that face-to-face shopping will be repeated by many consumers, but it is not as usual because online shopping activities have been proven to be done in recent times.

Miebach explained that offline shopping will only be made to purchase certain items.

During the Covid-19 pandemic it was considered beneficial for consumers because more and more items could be found on online platforms. On the one hand, it also benefits platform providers because it can enrich the items on their platform.

Launching Essentialretail, Covid 19 has a long impact on consumer spending habits. This makes for a rapid shift, from the retail sector to online shopping.

A study shows that online purchases have grown 25 to 80 percent since the SARS-CoV-2 virus broke out.

Consumer surveys in Europe's three largest online retail markets, such as the UK, France and Germany, show that retailers have a chance to bounce back by switching to an e-commerce business model after the pandemic ends.

The study also found that 80 percent of consumers intend to return online shopping for "nonessential" products by the end of the year.

AP reported that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in the way people shop by utilizing technology.

Sales growth in e-commerce is predicted to last a long time, even if the corona virus disappears. But what's more important is that online sales will likely take up a portion of retail sales.

E-commerce sales are expected to account for more than 15 percent of all retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2020. That market share is likely to reach nearly 17 percent by the end of this year.

The online sales platform Amazon, already had an increase in the third quarter of last year, rose 37 percent and reached 38 percent in the fourth quarter.

Walmart CEO C. Douglas McMillon said this increasing trend was fairly fast due to the Covid-19 virus.

"With the outbreak of COVID-19, the world of retail is moving fast forward, and this has prompted us to adapt quickly," concluded McMillon.

Source : https://www.cnnindonesia.com/teknologi/20210115204940-185-594424/pandemi-percepat-perubahan-cara-orang-berbelanja-online