The impact of COVID-19 on the Economy and Recruitment

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Insight

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our lives - from who we see and how we spend our time, to where we work and how we shop.

In 2020, eMarketer forecasted there would be a "collective $3.9 trillion in ecommerce sales as consumer interest and desire for online shopping becomes part of every day life" and SEMrush reported that "buy online" searches almost doubled in the first month of the pandemic.  

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Ecommerce is thriving

There has been a massive shift in behaviour as ecommerce has been put well and truly at the top of the agenda ultimately taking the lead in economic growth.  

• Daily average global ecommerce sales and traffic measure 7% and 3% higher respectively in August
• Ocado named 2020’s fastest-growing UK brand
• Boohoo Group revenue grows 45% in the six months to August 31st due to online growth
• Nike’s digital sales grew 82% year-on-year between June and August
• In the lead up to Christmas, 58% of UK consumers say they’re shopping more online than they did before Covid-19
• August retail footfall in UK 31% down year-on-year as more people go online
• 80% of UK Amazon shoppers are still hoping to make a purchase this Prime Day
• Retention overtakes conversion and acquisition as the key goal for website personalisation in UK and US
• UK retail sales returned to pre-Covid levels in July
• Europe saw a 35% rise in ecommerce app installs during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak

Source: Econsultancy

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Employment & recruitment

We've seen some pretty sobering figures recently;

• Globally, 9% of marketers have faced redundancy due to COVID-19. (CIM)
• 25% of marketers were placed on furlough, compared to 18% of those in other jobs. (YouGov)
• 93% of Brits expect unemployment to rise in the next year. (YouGov)
• A third of UK workers say it’s likely they’ll get laid off. (YouGov)

However, the digital and ecommerce landscape seems to have faired somewhat better as business leaders have looked to digitally transform their organisations and keep up with online consumer demand. This in turn has had a direct impact on the digital and ecommerce jobs market.

•  High demand for a digitally skilled workforce.
• Jobs market within the sector is expanding. 
• Tech continues to enable the set-up of new online businesses alongside the remote workforces to support them.

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"15% of UK companies have created roles specifically to cater to an increase in digital sales and boost online capacity ...and over a quarter think the pandemic has accelerated a ‘technological revolution’ in retail. 

(Barclays Corporate Banking)

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It's not only businesses that have identified their need for expertise in digital. Many (we assume) marketers have already either upskilled or looked to do so over lockdown and this can only be good news for the industry.

The UK saw a 132% increase in Google searches for 'online digital marketing courses'.

(SEMrush)

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Digital Marketing and the Post-COVID-19 World

It is now abundantly clear that businesses can no longer generate success by being purely offline.  There is, of course, a place for bricks & mortar stores, but the need to be online is greater than ever.

Having products to sell and a platform to sell them on will not be enough.  Positive customer journey and superior CX must be prioritised - which means investing in a team with digital marketing & ecommerce skills such as (PPC, SEO, content strategy, platform expertise, analytics etc).

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"The digital media and marketing industry remains confident, with 64% predicting revenue to increase over the next 12 months and 18% believing it will be up by more than 50%."

(New Digital Age)

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To be competitive and stay ahead of the competition a skilled digital workforce will be essential. Ecommerce is growing exponentially, jobs will be plentiful, digital skills will be in high demand and individuals who truly have the skills (and desire) to succeed, absoutely will.

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If you're looking to hire great digital talent or a role in ecommerce give us a call. We'd love to chat.

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