The crisis associated with COVID-19 is changing the e-commerce market. In just a few weeks, we have found ourselves in a completely new reality. For some, the pandemic is a chance for business development and gaining new market segments; for others, it has become a dramatic struggle for survival. That's why our Codest experts dived into the market, analyzed available data, and prepared our own analysis and tips for all e-commerce companies which are struggling to win the battle with COVID-19. We released the report that is must-read for the whole industry (and not only!). It will help you understand better the current situation on the market and inspire you how to turn a threat into a success.

1. E-commerce: New state of the game 2020

2. Agenda
1. The COVID-19 impact on the e-commerce market
2. Changes in user behavior patterns
3. Industries that profit during the COVID-19 pandemic
4. COVID-19 as a chance for e-commerce market
5. Take care of your product and win this game!
6. Ruby on Rails for e-commerce development
7. Summary

3. The COVID-19 impact on the
e-commerce market

4. COVID-19 vs. changes on the e-commerce market
The crisis associated with COVID-19 is changing the e-commerce market. In just a few weeks, we have found ourselves in a
completely new reality. For some, the pandemic is a chance for business development and gaining new market segments; for others,
it has become a dramatic struggle for survival.
According to the unanimous opinion of experts, COVID-19 will stay with us for a while. We must learn to live under such
circumstances. This is a particularly important piece of information for the entire e-commerce market, which faces the challenge of
adapting to new realities.
The first changes on the market were noticeable just a few days after the appearance of the infection in China, and later in Europe
and the US. First, we were able to monitor changes on the Asian market with particular attention, and then, due to the spread of the
virus in Italy and Spain, we witnessed the first changes in consumer behavior in European countries. The current pandemic, which
has dominated the whole world, provides great material for analyzing the international e-commerce market.
According to an analysis by CCInsight, the year-over-year growth rate of online transactions increased significantly during COVID-
19 in North and South America; a similar tendency was recorded in a significant part of Western European countries. The Asian
countries are at the opposite extreme – including Russia and China.

5. Year-Over-Year Growth Rate of Online Transactions
source: CCInsight

6. Year-Over-Year Growth Rate in Online Transactions by Region
source: CCInsight

7. Year-Over-Year Growth Rate of Online Transactions by Country
source: CCInsight

8. The COVID-19 impact on the e-commerce market in a few words
1. The global crisis is an opportunity for both new and existing e-commerce companies to grow, acquire new
market segments and reach new customers.
2. After the drastic e-commerce market crisis in the APAC region, started in January 2020 and lasted until March
2020, we should expect its gradual reconstruction in the following months of 2020.
3. The situation on the markets in the US and Western Europe is dynamic, but it shows a slight upward trend.
After the largest wave of COVID-19 in these regions, even more growth can be expected.
4. The e-commerce market in Sweden, where restrictions were relatively low, is doing very well during the
COVID-19 crisis.
5. As for other European markets, such as in Germany or the UK, the situation is stable and growth fluctuations
are insignificant.

9. Changes in user behavior
patterns

10. Online shopping is a trend
As the COVID-19 crisis spreads throughout almost the entire world, consumers have shown increased interest in
online shopping. This global behavior is dictated by, among others, a greater fear of the limited availability of the
most important commodities and the necessity of abandoning traditional shopping methods.
This phenomenon has become a great opportunity for the entire e-commerce environment, but in the coming
weeks, as the crisis will be put under control, the curve should flatten and the growth stunt.

11. COVID-19 affects consumer behavior
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the approach of consumers to shopping. It turns out that when it comes
to grocery delivery:
● 14% of consumers used grocery delivery services for the first time,
● 13% of consumers increased the frequency with which they are using these services,
● 25% haven’t used grocery delivery services and don't plan on doing it.
Interestingly, BOPIS (Buy Online Pick Up in Store) solutions are becoming increasingly popular:
● 10% of consumers tried BOPIS for the first time,
● 13% of consumers increased the frequency in which they're using them,
● 24% of consumers have not used BOPIS and don't plan on doing it.

12. Online services are blooming!
source: valassis.com

13. Traffic and transaction evolution by industry
source: contentsquare
This chart accurately illustrates the
traffic changes in individual industries.
Consumers strive to obtain the most
important items for their survival.
There is also a growing interest in the
media, so they can follow the changing
situation in the world.
In turn, we see a decline in industries
such as luxury, jewelry and watches or
tourism, because in difficult times these
goods significantly lose their place in
the hierarchy of values.

14. Traffic and transaction evolution by industry
source: contentsquare

15. How will the e-commerce market change after COVID-19?
The e-commerce market is changing rapidly during the pandemic, and experts have no illusions – more and more
companies will transfer some of their activities to online retail. Supermarkets, for example, are already making such a
move as they are experiencing a decrease in the number of customers coming to stores and are trying to reach them in
a new, unexplored way.
100 fastest growing product categories below:
source: visualcapitalist.com

16. Industries that profit during the
COVID-19 pandemic

17. E-commerce Consumer Sales (COVID-19) +25,06%
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic, we could notice significant
increases in industries such as FMCG,
health and safety products or
catering/food delivery.
Consumers have reacted with concern to
the development of a widespread
pandemic. They aim to meet their most
important needs.
At the same time, the isolation strategy
used by most countries around the world
means that the e-commerce market has
seen a marked movement related to
products providing home entertainment
and activities for entire families. This
trend is best illustrated by the chart
below.
source: commonthreadco.com
Aggregated via ShipBob, ShipHero, Attentive, Stackline, CTC, Klaviyo & Adobe

18. TOP 20 fastest growing categories in e-commerce
1. Disposable gloves + 670%
2. Bread Machines + 652%
3. Cough & Cold + 535%
4. Soups + 397%
5. Dried Grains & Rice + 386%
6. Packaged Foods + 377%
7. Fruit Cups + 326%
8. Weight Training + 307%
9. Milk & Cream +279%
10. Dishwashing Supplies +275%
11. Paper Towels + 264%
12. Hand Soap & Sanitizer + 262%
13. Pasta + 249%
14. Vegetables + 238%
15. Flour + 238%
16. Facial Tissues + 235%
17. Allergy Medicine + 232%
18. Women’s Health + 215%
19. Cereals +214%
20. Power Generators +210%
source: stackline.com

19. TOP 20 fastest declining categories in e-commerce
1. Luggage & Suitcases - 77%
2. Briefcase - 77%
3. Cameras - 64%
4. Men’s Swimwear - 64%
5. Bridal Clothing - 63%
6. Men’s Formal Wear - 62%
7. Women’s Swimwear - 59%
8. Rash Guards - 59%
9. Boy’s Athletic Shoes - 59%
10. Gym Bags - 57%
11. Backpacks - 56%
12. Snorkeling Equipment - 56%
13. Girl’s Swimwear - 55%
14. Baseball Equipment - 55%
15. Event & Party Supplies - 55%
16. Motorcycle Protective Gear - 55%
17. Camera Bags & Cases - 54%
18. Women’s Suits & Dresses - 53%
19. Women’s Boots - 51%
20. Cargo Racks - 51%
source: stackline.com

20. COVID-19 as a chance for e-
commerce companies

21. Don't give in to the COVID-19 crisis
Few important facts:
● consumers who remain at home have begun to look for new ways to obtain basic products
● there are restrictions on shopping in traditional stores
● consumers want to accumulate stocks and products for fear of an uncertain future
● we are witnessing permanent changes in consumer shopping habits
● consumers appreciate the safety and convenience of online shopping
● according to Dentsu Aegis Network Italy, sales via online channels increased by 152%
● in the first week of the quarantine, Amazon noticed a 143%conversion rate increase on the Italian market

22. Take care of your product and
win this game!

23. What can help you attract customers to your e-commerce platform?
● better exposure of your offer
● efficient management of an increased number of orders
● permanently available assortment
● opinion of a reliable shop
● mobile application development (focus on increasing conversions)
● simplified payment system
● top quality UX and UI design
● effective store positioning in search engines
● great customer service

24. How to care about an e-commerce online store? 5 tips
1. Responsive design
In the current e-commerce trade, the role and importance of mobile devices are growing rapidly. More than half of your
traffic can flow from mobile. Unfortunately, you may often forget that your web apps are also adapted to the needs of
mobile users. This is one of the most serious mistakes.
Take into account that even every second of additional page loading on mobile can cause a decrease in conversion.
Even the smallest bug on mobile can significantly effect how users feel about your e-commerce. Therefore, one of the
basic principles when building e-commerce is to ensure mobile users make the application responsive on all devices
and free of errors.

25. How to care about an e-commerce online store? 5 tips
2. Safety
This is a particularly important point in the case of e-commerce platforms, where personal data is exchanged and
payments are made. The easiest way is to take care of it while developing your e-commerce. At Codest, we work with
several e-commerce providers for whom we develop various functionalities. We use Ruby on Rails technology for this.
Why? Ruby on Rails provides the highest safety standards for the product being built. It has plenty of built-in security
and functionality that make the application ready for any attacks or attempted intrusions. It has built-in protection
against XSS, CSRF and SQL Injection attacks, which are among the most frequent attacks on web applications. Of
course, you do not have to limit yourself in reference to choosing technology, but - based on my experience - I can
recommend Ruby on Rails without a doubt.

26. How to care about an e-commerce online store? 5 tips
3. Increase your sales profits by … tests!
You have probably wondered more than once how you can increase the profits of your e-commerce. There is copious
guidance on the internet, but I can recommend a simple and effective solution: tests. The best information about
possible changes and improving your e-commerce, adapting to the needs of customers, you will get from tests.
Tests are one of the elements of UX designer work. You should test various application functionalities to optimize
usability. I have no doubt that this will positively affect your profits. Following this path, you will get information about
what your users like and don’t like.

27. How to care about an e-commerce online store? 6 tips
4. Keep constant software development and build a product ready for scale
You have built your e-commerce, have your first customers, and are you waiting for your sales to grow every month.
You will be disappointed if you think that it is enough to build e-commerce and then make a profit. Unfortunately, in the
era of changing trends and growing requirements of users, you should constantly work on the development of your e-
commerce. Look for new solutions and add useful functionalities.
Otherwise, it may very quickly turn out that your current users are suddenly choosing the competition. This requires
constant software development and it's important that your e-commerce is adapted for scale.

28. How to care about an e-commerce online store? 5 tips
5. Don't overcomplicate the path for your user!
Do you want to create something extra? Great, but remember not to get carried away. Believe me, users like simplicity.
They don't want to be overwhelmed by a pile of information or pop-ups. They find it irritating. Sometimes they need as
little as 0.5 seconds to decide whether your product is what they are looking for.
Try to focus the attention on the key elements of your product by using CTA. Don't distract your users.

29. Ruby on Rails for e-commerce
development

30. Build your e-commerce online store with Ruby on Rails
Why can Ruby on Rails help to boost your e-commerce platform?
1. Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) rule. It enables developers to avoid retyping the same code at various stages of
application development and, thus, significantly accelerate their work,
2. Convention over Configuration. It assumes that the necessary configuration will be minimized by replacing it with
ready-made models,
3. Open-source framework. Ruby on Rails is an open framework, which means that the source code is freely available.
Developers can use the available libraries without any payment. In addition, the Ruby community is very well developed,
constantly provides ready-made fragments of code on the network to speed up the work of each programmer.

31. Build your e-commerce online store with Ruby on Rails
Why can Ruby on Rails help to boost your e-commerce platform?
4. Highest standards of safety. Ruby on Rails has plenty of built-in securities and functionalities that make the
application ready for any attacks or attempted intrusions.
5. Tests. Ruby on Rails has built-in automated mechanisms to support testing, which positively affects the reliability of
the application.
6. Short way to MVP. The Rails framework allows for a very fast creation of a basic product containing the most
important functionalities that a customer can verify. The same goes for e-commerce platform development and
customization. The speed of implementing new solutions is very important.
7. Flexibility. Ruby is considered to be a pretty flexible language, as it allows a developer to modify code contents at
any time. In this way, it does not limit the programmer.

32. Summary

33. About Codest
Codest is a software house specialized in Ruby, JavaScript and UX/UI design. We strive to turn ideas into software
products.
We are passionate developers and product designers. Codest creates comprehensive software from a simple idea to
the final product. We provide such services as:
- custom software development
- free software/product development consulting
- outsourcing developers
We have strong skills in Ruby, Ruby on Rails, microservices architecture, Elixir, REST API, WebSockets, JavaScript,
Vue.js, React, React Native, Redis, ELK Stack, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, nginx, Amazon Web Services: EC2,
S3, CloudFront.
We build software for e-commerce, marketplace, adtech, fintech, proptech and SaaS industries.

34. Have you some idea to rapidly build your e-commerce shop?
Let’s talk!
Kamil Ferens
Senior Business Development Manager/ E-commerce advisor
E-mail: business@codesthq.com
Tel.: +48 666 008 186
Click here to set a free consulting meeting