6 Major Challenges of every eCommerce seller during the Covid period

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a lot of strain on e-Commerce Enterprises to meet the rising demand with a limited workforce, restricted operations, and rigorous safety procedures.

Keeping up with the Government's ambiguous instructions and alerts, as well as suffering one of the worst pandemic in the history of mankind, has compelled e-Commerce brands to upgrade in specific ways.

Top Challenges faced by eCommerce companies due to COVID:

1. Limited Movement and Restricted Operations:

    Due to the COVID-19 shutdown and curfew in force, one of the biggest hurdles that online marketplaces are facing is access to all delivery points.

     Some of the zones and locations may have restrictions, limiting movement in the era of a pandemic and disrupting  Logistics operations. 

     Delivery of essential products and services is possible only outside of containment zones. Many Carrier services have stopped their operations in certain areas which is having adverse effects on eCommerce supply chain.

       2. Dearth of Manpower:

   Due to the pandemic, e-commerce brands are experiencing several issues due to less availability of manpower and an increase in demand. With the introduction of remote working and work from home, operations have partly resumed, but there has been a major increase in late deliveries as well as increased queries from the customer’s end as a repercussion. 

           3.Warehousing and Inventory Management:

    One of the most significant operations in e-commerce is the managing of inventory and providing proper warehousing facility for the goods till the order is confirmed.

     There has been an increase in demand of consumers as a result of the pandemic, leading to drastic surge in the necessity for shipping operations, which further leads to the requirement of manpower and proper storage facilities.

      4. Inconvenient Payment Process:  

    Even the most dedicated retail buyers were forced to move to purchasing things online due to spike in Covid-19 cases and shutting down of retail outlets. Many people in rural and semi-urban areas are not very proficient in online payments, still many e-Commerce marketplaces have ruled out the Cash on Delivery or Pay on Delivery feature to safeguard their consumers as well as delivery agents from being exposed to the virus. 

      5. Ensuring Safety and security:

    There are several precautions that are needed to be followed by eCommerce companies while reaching out to customers especially during delivery of their products, these precautions needs to be taken care of along with certain upgrade in operations leading to increase in time and cost for the business.

       6. Enhanced Assortment: 

     Due to pandemic there is rise in altogether different set of users and catering to their needs is to be urgently taken care of. For example - With the remote working culture springing up, there is subtle increase in demands for home appliances, furniture’s, system upgrades, etc as well as there is high demand for groceries and essentials which needs to be delivered in the shortest possible time.

     How eCommerce companies can overcome these challenges?

•        Ensure safety by properly sanitizing your products before and after packaging. Take all the safety measures required for shipping and delivering your products to the customer. 

•          Encourage and educate your customer to pay online to have minimum physical contact. 

•     Try storing your inventory in shipping fulfilment centres or look for alternatives for storage of your products to cope up with manpower hurdles and ensuring timely deliveries.

•      Alternatively, e-Commerce sellers can reach out to shipping aggregators like eCourierz in order to gain access to different carrier services, allowing them to expand their outreach even during the pandemic and ensuring delivery across the country. 

     The merchants need not rely on a single carrier to have their products delivered  to the end consumer. With eCourierz, the sellers can avail prepaid  and COD option as well as ship Bulk, Volumetric shipments effortlessly. Not just  that, but the sellers can also conveniently book international shipments with the  leading partners. You can avail a safe doorstep pick up and delivery with  eCourierz, ensuring that you don’t have to leave your place for shipping your  product during this pandemic. Stay home, Ship with eCourierz.