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E-scape from Lockdown: The E-Commerce Revolution

7th May 2020

The evidence is unequivocal.  Companies that export are more successful than those that don’t.  Faster growth.  Faster development of products, channels and IP. More profitable.

But the world is in lockdown. Now is not the time to be considering export, right? Wrong.

Business owners would be forgiven for thinking that the Corona virus has totally undermined international trade; falling demand, disrupted supply chains, restrictions on trade.  It would take a long time to brainstorm a list of reasons why you should run a mile from anyone suggesting ramping up your export plans.

The truth is, however, for those that are wanting to export, the opportunities remain.  In fact, in the B2C space, Christmas has come early.

B2C sellers who sell through e-commerce channels perennially enjoy a trading pattern that builds slowly through the year and then spikes just before Christmas. E-commerce exports have continued to grow each year, and consistently follow the Christmas spike pattern. Or they did.

In the first quarter of 2020, Christmas happened 9 months early. In fact, not only was there a spike in March and April, that spike was larger than any other Christmas spike before it.  Corona virus has, and still is, delivering opportunities for exporters, and e-commerce sellers.

Sales behaviours have also followed an understandable trend – in the early days of lockdown, demand was focused on health-related products such as sanitizer, PPE, and yes – toilet rolls. As people realised they were going to need to create a home-based lifestyle, demand turned to home entertainment products, IT goods, and gym equipment.  And so, the evolution continued.

This has demonstrated two powerful lessons: first: lockdown has been challenging, but not stopped international B2C trade.  Second: if it is possible now; just think of the opportunities that could present themselves outside of lockdown.

Whilst you might be late coming to the party for some of the goods alluded to above, the demand continues – and with it another side effect.  People talk of the ‘new normal’.   For e-commerce, this is a world-wide market of people who have swapped ‘bricks’ for ‘clicks’ – selling to a world-wide market is here to stay.

Dispelling the myths

There are a number of perceived barriers to international trade, especially if you are small startup B2C business.  Language barriers. Cultural differences.  Getting paid.  Inefficient trade eroding margins. Market access. Marketing. Taxation. But these perceptions don’t have to be the reality.

A number of online selling platforms have sprung up to provide solutions to these issues, and with the backing of Bishop Fleming’s international experts you can access support in areas such as taxation, and financing your business to scale it, and quickly.

Meanwhile, the UK government has relaxed and reformed a number of regulations around moving goods cross-border in order to simplify and facilitate trade.

The takeaways are simple:

  • Exporters grow faster than businesses that don’t
  • Lockdown is the reason you should be embracing export, not shying away from it – it represents your ticket out of lockdown
  • With the right partners, it is possible to achieve what you thought impossible

If you are looking for a successful business transition out of lockdown, the answer is clear – it is time to plot your e-scape, with e-commerce.

Chris Walklett
Head of International Advisory

Bishop Fleming is a member firm of Kreston International. We can support and signpost help to deliver your lockdown exit strategy, with global thinking. With 20,000 staff in over 120 countries, this is international. 

Check out our Business after COVID Hub.

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