Pandemic impact on e-commerce

AfterPay Insights research among more than 5,500 consumers in the Netherlands since the corona outbreak reveals that e-commerce purchases are up +48% compared to Dutch consumers’ normal online shopping behavior, so preceding the corona outbreak. Although Dutch e-commerce is still increasing, growth has reached a ‘plateau’ in the second half of May.

We see two different but clear trends explaining consumers online purchase behavior in general, and demands on merchants specifically. First, the increasing concerns around the financial uncertainty in society have… Read more

This article is an updated version of the deep dive into German e-commerce following April.

Data from AfterPay Insights’ research into the e-commerce behavior of 5,500 German consumers shows that purchases are up +36% in May compared to before the corona outbreak. Although German e-commerce is still increasing, growth has reached a ‘plateau’ in the second half of May.… Read more

The impact of the corona-outbreak is still noticeable all around us. However, countries around the world have started easing restrictions, hopefully giving way to economic recovery.

In parallel, consumers’ changed e-commerce behavior is slowing down and growth hits a plateau. This is confirmed by the two new data points that have been added to our dashboard. With these new data points, we are now able to show you development of e-commerce in The Netherlands, Germany and Norway from end of March until end of May. The first and second half of April are characte… Read more

From a merchant perspective, AfterPay Insights previous research shows that one of the most critical aspects to attract and retain customers is to be perceived as ‘secure’. And this has become even more central since the corona outbreak. But how do consumers interpret a ‘secure’ webshop? Which dimensions are most relevant to build trust in security? We decided to find out by taking a deep dive into the space of ‘perceived security’.

We found out that ‘security’ is a lot broader than just the technical- and data privacy related aspects that the industry normally… Read more

Data from AfterPay Insights’ research into the e-commerce behavior of 3,400 Norwegian consumers shows that purchases are up +32% compared to before the corona outbreak.

In contrast to the other countries analyzed by AfterPay Insights, online consumers in Norway show the most opposite behavior when it comes to e-commerce. They are skeptical when they project how they will shop in the future, but in reality still continue to increase purchasing online. Norwegian consumers are also very driven by rational motives to shop online and an increasing number of consu… Read more

Data from AfterPay Insights’ research into the e-commerce behavior of 3,400 German consumers shows that purchases are up +36% compared to before the corona outbreak.

The increase of online purchases is largely driven by existing online shoppers buying more. Both infrequent- and heavy shoppers have increased e-commerce purchases, and our research reveals that only more frequent online shoppers are prone to shifting purchases from brick and mortar stores to online in certain categories - this is especially noticeable in the food categories.

We see that o… Read more

New consumer data from The Netherlands, Germany and Norway has been added to our research, expanding our research base to more than 11.400 respondents and generating consumer e-commerce insights that span two months. 

With this new data we have found that e-commerce purchases since the beginning of the corona outbreak have overall increased 33% in The Netherlands, Germany and Norway after the last two weeks of April. This is in line with the projections that we made in the beginning of April. The current overall increase is primarily driven by growth in Garde… Read more

Deze post is ook te lezen in het Nederlands.

AfterPay Insights research among more than 3,400 consumers in the Netherlands since the corona outbreak reveals that e-commerce purchases are up +32% compared to Dutch consumers’ normal online shopping behavior, so preceding the corona outbreak.
The increase of online purchases is largely driven by existing online shoppers buying more. Both infrequent- and … Read more

As consumers transfer more purchases from offline to online, venturing into new categories, also comes a change in mindset from a consumers’ point of view. Offline habits and expectations have now completely transferred to the digital experience. With this also comes a challenge for merchants. Are they able to satisfy consumers’ online and offline purchasing needs?

Our research shows that consumers are becoming increasingly less satisfied with merchants’ performance as the pandemic continues. The satisfaction with delivery time, for example, has significantly… Read more

It seems like the initial impact of the pandemic in Europe is now behind us. Where consumers’ first reaction was to stockpile, it now looks like consumers in The Netherlands, Germany and Norway understand the longevity of the situation.

Our previous blog posts have shown that in the last two weeks of March, consumers turned to the easiest form of distraction: food and entertainmentRead more

Over the past month, our research has shown that the corona outbreak has had a significant impact on consumers’ e-commerce behavior. Now, we have updated our research with new data from 3.000 consumers in The Netherlands, Germany and Norway. And there are significant developments.

In the coming week, we will come back with more analyses on consumers’ online purchase behavior and how it is developing during April and into May. In the mean time we want to share a sneak peek of our findings.

E-commerce purchases have increased with 15% in Germany, 24% i… Read more

With the rise of the global pandemic also comes a time of uncertainty for many people. Uncertainty is undeniably linked to worries. These worries not only preoccupy consumers’ thoughts, but also translate to an impact in their purchasing behavior. For some businesses, these changes mean skyrocketing sales. For others, the negative impact of the corona-outbreak is devastating.

Either way, developing a solid understanding of consumers’ worries is essential for many businesses, especially in uncertain times like these where merchants need to prepare for quick ch… Read more

In the past week we took you through country deep dives for the Netherlands, Germany and Norway. However, differences do exist between these countries and they are worth noting. Especially for internationally operating businesses and professionals, insights into these differences are vital in understanding how to adapt and pivot in the new co… Read more

Read this post in Norwegian. 

Norwegians are considerably less worried about corona from a personal health perspective, compared to their fellow Europeans from Germany and The Netherlands. But their worry from a financial perspective is on par with consumers in the other countries.

The combination of a low level of worry about personal health with a high level of worry about the financial situation has res… Read more

Read this post in German. 

It is evident that the German lockdown has created barriers for consumers to access brick & mortar stores and caused a significant switch in purchase behavior in e-commerce. AfterPay Insights research amongst 1,178 consumers in Germany shows e-commerce purchases have increased by 7% driven by a significant increase in Groce… Read more