The government and medical experts emphasize key hygiene instructions - the importance of washing hands and not touching faces. As a result, pharmacies and medical suppliers went out of stock within a few days. Yet, while various countries announce mandatory quarantine, and people start spending more time at home, online shopping attracts more and more attention.
Skyrocketing sales of medical supplies
A recent Adobe market study has revealed some noteworthy statistics. 80 out of the 100 biggest U.S e-retailers’ transactions were researched. The results show that sales of various virus-preventive medical goods such as disinfectants, gloves, face masks and antibacterial sprays have grown significantly: 817%. Nevertheless, users have stocked up with not only the recommended protective items, but with cold, cough and flu medicine. Sales of these have grown 198%, whereas sales of the painkillers - 152%. This implies that people are willing to comply with conditions of quarantine as well as to stock the potentially needed drugs well in advance.
Of course, there are some more weird examples as well. When the world faced psychosis due to shortage of toilet paper and stores across Canada (along with the USA) set a limit to the quantity each person can buy, online sales of toilet paper grew dramatically, over 186%. We can definitely expect more of such extreme, yet unexpected cases as the situation unfolds.
Similar situation in Lithuania
Apparently, Lithuanian market was not ready for such an extreme change in purchase behaviour. We already see a lack of medical supplies and reagents, and you may have to wait for a week or even longer to receive your groceries bought online.
“At Adeo Web, we work with more than twenty different Lithuanian-based companies. At the moment, the majority of them face high system loads and tough challenges in the logistics chain. There is no doubt that demand in and for eCommerce will only increase over time,” Arvydas Vaitkus, a marketing manager at Adeo Web said. “We put all our efforts into helping not only our clients, but everyone asking for help during this challenging time - we provide free eCommerce consultations. We feel responsible in helping Lithuanian businesses to survive this crisis, so we work non-stop, no matter what time or day it is.”
“We always keep an eye on global markets and follow global market trends. Usually, after some time these trends can be seen echoed in Lithuania. However, even at this moment we can clearly see that the online growth keeps increasing daily, without excluding any specific industry. Some businesses grow exponentially, some grow incrementally. But the fact is - eCommerce is the only hope for businesses to survive this crisis - those who will manage to use this channel right will come out on top,” Paulius Nagys, CEO of Adeo Web said.
E-commerce - a light in the dark during the global sales eclipse
As physical stores close their doors for at least a few weeks (or months), all business owners switch to the most effective and, in most cases, the only viable sales channel - eCommerce.
For example, one of the biggest eCommerce players, Amazon, is now expanding their capacities and is looking to hire 100,000 new employees to meet the unprecedented demand in online sales. The eCommerce giant will also allocate additional 350 million USD to increase the average hourly wage for their employees. Likewise, we can see a similar situation in Lithuania - as eCommerce platform “Pigu.lt” has decided to hire several dozen extra employees in order to cope with an increasing orders flow.
Therefore, businesses that have consistently and strategically invested in online sales channels in the past, can now use them efficiently and exceed all of their historical sales records. However, not all companies have the resources to expand the scope of their eCommerce on a whim.
We have to admit that up to now most Lithuanian companies regarded eCommerce as just an extra line in their investment budget. Force majeure circumstances have shown that consistent investment in eCommerce is a must-have hygiene for every business. Without these investments, it can be extremely difficult or, in some cases, impossible to survive.
Free consultations
“We are not medical professionals and we can’t save lives. However, we can and feel the responsibility to save Lithuanian businesses, because eCommerce is the only sales channel left for them today,” said Gerda Aleksandravičiūtė-Pečkaitienė, an operations manager in Adeo Web. “It is now more important than ever to maintain a rational mindset and avoid any rash decisions, because they can cause more damage than benefit. Our expertise and experience in working with eCommerce projects over the last 10 years can help companies to survive. This is the least we can do to help companies overcome the crisis they face today.”
About Adeo Web
Adeo Web is an eCommerce, B2B client service system and digital product development company, currently actively expanding in the U.S. market. Adeo Web offers a wide range of integrated services, including eCommerce and e-product development (SaaS), starting from a strategy and tactic plan, UX/UI design, digital marketing, programming to Google Cloud Platform development, optimization and support.
