DEV Community: Alex paul

Impact of COVID-19 on Food Industry and How E-Commerce is helping

Alex paul — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 09:37:33 +0000

Impact of COVID-19 on Food Industry:

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the food industry globally. Governments across the world have imposed complete shutdowns for restaurants and bars that have also directly affected other industries like food production, wine, beverages farming, etc.

The seated dinner restaurant market in the US has declined by 83.01% as of 31st May 2020 (year-over-year analytics by Statista).

The pandemic has not only changed the food and beverage industry but also drastically changed the eating habits of people. Below are some facts and figures that help us understand the changing eating habits of people in the US in 2020 since the pandemic.

changing eating habits of people in the US in 2020

We all know that the food industry is one of the hard-hit industries by the COVID-19 crisis. Studies have shown a great fall in the open restaurants and bars but not on the whole food, dairy, and instant food products.

The COVID-19 crisis has changed the buying behavior of customers too. There was only a specific range of customers that preferred buying online while the rest chose to look and feel the product physically at the brick and mortar retail shops. This even continued until these physical shops ran out of stock when customers overstocked for essentials during the lockdown.
How E-Commerce is helping brands to revive

At present customers have no choice but to opt for brands that are supplying their needs through e-commerce. Research says that customers now tend to buy products they need or want irrespective of the brand they prefer. That means the customers you once counted as loyal are no longer the same and they can go to any other brand that gets the product delivered safely.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, businesses focused on getting a wide range of products, from essentials to luxury. Talking about food especially, customers looked for a wide range of offerings, right from types of dairy products to a variety of cuisine in restaurants and different types of beverages.

Looking at the current situation, luxury is not what customers want, but their interest has shifted to what is much needed. Moreover, the focus is on what are the safety measures taken by the providers and how hygienic it is.

While the dine-in restaurants are shut, take-away meals are a boom. Research says that customers are preferring more home-cooked meals and are surging towards buying whole food products or canned ready to cook ones.

Businesses that have understood the need of the hour are making their move to e-commerce and are coming up with more online features. Brands are now focusing on delivery hygiene like contactless delivery and are being innovative with it.

For example, Swiggy, India’s top food delivery app recently introduced “THE GENIE SUNDAY POTLUCK” where customers can choose the participants in the potluck, their family and friends, cook delicious food at home and by using Swiggy’s Genie they can get it delivered safely to each other’s houses.

Swiggy was thoughtful enough to understand that customers are missing the regular get-togethers they had before the pandemic but also was innovative in introducing the idea of a socially distanced potluck and yet enjoy the food cooked by their loved ones.

Related: From Retailers to E-Tailers: What eCommerce means for the CPG industry in the current era?
How can i95Dev help?

Now that the world has understood that most of the things that were believed to be done while being physically present can now be done virtually too. So if at all you were planning to set up your e-store, now is the time.

E-commerce is the key to business today and the time to come! You might say, it is not an easy task to switch to e-commerce overnight. It is certainly not, but with the right e-commerce solution partner, it will become easy like never before.

We at i95Dev have helped 180+ clients to get their business to e-commerce that has changed their brand value and gained profits like never before. We specialize in designing, developing, and maintaining B2B/B2C omni-channel e-commerce solutions across Retail, Manufacturing, Distribution, and Wholesale Trade, etc. powered by Magento.
Contact us now: https://www.i95dev.com/

Growth Strategies with SAP B1 and Magento Integration

Alex paul — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 09:24:02 +0000

Some of the Growth Strategies with SAP B1 Magento:

Simple Financial Entry and View
Strengthen Customer Relationship
Improve Customer Experience
Accurate Inventory & Product Management
Boost Productivity and Operational Efficiency
Limit Order Fulfillment Cycle Time
Increase Your Customer Base
Effectively Manage and Grow your Business
Better Inventory and Returns Management
Greater Competitive Advantage

Once the true SAP B1 Magento integration is done, businesses can focus on the greater, more strategic side of their business processes and really deliver a better experience for their customers. With the right data updated in real-time, a lot more can be achieved.
CheckOut: https://www.i95dev.com/magento-sap-business-one-connect/

Top 5 Industries Impacted by Coronavirus Outbreak

Alex paul — Thu, 07 May 2020 10:41:40 +0000

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has brought the world to a standstill. People have been strictly directed by governments to implement social distancing to prevent any further spread of the disease. The pandemic has imprisoned people in their own homes, retail establishments have been locked down, and recession is knocking at the door.

Amidst the global crisis, most of the industries are going through a tough time while there are a few industries that are help their customers go through these painful times. Online businesses are making a buck by bridging the gap created by offline businesses. If we go by the opinion of business experts and the change in customer behavior, e-commerce might continue to serve people better after things go back to being normal.

Let us throw some light on the top 5 industries that are most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak:
Retail

The retail sector has nosedived. Malls, independent outlets, and showrooms are temporarily shuttered due to the outburst of COVID-19. The shutting down of factories has disrupted the supply chain extensively. Tracing back to the Great Recession, the manufacturing indices have dipped to their lowest point. The luxury and fashion segments of retail are pulling back hastily. Only groceries and disease-fighting essentials are vanishing from the shelves of Walmart and Target due to panic buying. In the present situation, people are preferring to buy online as it helps them avoid large gatherings and makes them feel safe.
Healthcare

The healthcare industry has been deployed on the front line. The doctors are testing the suspected ones, tirelessly treating the affected, and constantly seeking a permanent vaccination for COVID-19. The hospitals are being flooded by patients so much so that it is being problematic to handle. The e-commerce sale of medicines, medical kits, and masks have skyrocketed. There has been a non-uniform rise and fall in share prices of companies such as Moderna trying to come up with a vaccine for the disease. The impact on the online medical products’ supply chain is a serious concern as the makers of drugs across the world heavily depend on ingredients from China. Also, there aren’t enough ventilators to accommodate the rising number of patients, the best example is Italy.
Apparels and accessories

After the coronavirus outbreak, the e-commerce sales growth for apparels dipped massively and came to a standstill. In the last quarter, the sector saw a growth rate of about 30 percent. It was just ahead of the ides of March when the steepest dip was recorded. According to Edison Trends, e-commerce apparel brands such as Stitch Fix witnessed a 7 percent plunge in weekly sales between March 2 and March 22. Riding on the back of its best sales in December, an online apparel company Ratio Clothing expected its sales to break records in the 2020 summer season. However, due to the pandemic, the company’s online sales dropped sharply in the first week of March. The online accessories industry has reported a decline in sales as well, Nike being a notable example. However, Adidas hasn’t let its ship sink as its online sales shot up in March, leveraging its effective promotional activities.
Groceries and essentials

COVID-19 has pushed consumers into a state of panic buying! The online retailers of groceries and essentials have witnessed a whopping growth of 45 percent. E-commerce giants such as Amazon, Flipkart, Grofers, and others stated that products such as rice, vegetables, instant noodle, handwashes, sanitizers, toiletries, etc. are being bought rampantly. Reporting a 20 percent growth in demand, BigBasket has been delivering grocery to unnumbered homes in many cities, contributing greatly in providing relief and ease to consumers. To deal with the overwhelming demand, the e-commerce giants have begun to stock up on the most-sold products in their online stores. This ensures an unbroken supply chain and makes the online firms prepared to meet the unexpected rise in demand in the near future.
Hyperlocal marketplaces

This is one sector that has gained traction. While everyone is locked down in quarantine to mitigate the impact of coronavirus, hyperlocal marketplaces are doing well as they function online. Whether it is food, grocery, medicine, or other essentials, the delivery services, do the job for you without you having to make physical contact with the world outside your home. You just have to make an online purchase and your package is dropped off at your doorstep from where you can easily collect it. It is safe, contactless delivery and is doing wonders in the current scenario.
Conclusion

During these hard times, industries are evolving to catch up with the changing customer requirements. While we covered how some industries are adopting to the current situation, other industries are similarly doing their best too. To know more, read our other blogs or contact us to know how we can help you in this difficult time - https://www.i95dev.com

Top 5 B2B Features of Magento 2

Alex paul — Thu, 07 May 2020 10:38:11 +0000

Magento provides quite a few out of the box B2B features for e-commerce merchants through the Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce. Below are some of the best B2B features.

Quick Order

The latest version of Magento allows users to upload lists of SKUs to place an order. Users can order from their history, or place recurring purchase request to suit their needs. Intuitive user interfaces aids in rapid re-orders workflows definition.

The user interface requirements of the B2B store is quite different from the B2C store. Ordering on a B2B store is more about finding the right product and placing the order rather than anything else. This feature satiates that need.

Multi-Channel Network

B2B value chain comprises of many parties. The e-commerce platform must be flexible enough to map the network. Companies with multiple branches and multiple brands need clear demarcations between business entities. Magento’s new interface provides this much-needed feature out of the box. The interface allows the admin to create multiple business entities, brands, storefronts, etc. Permissions and access levels help control these entities.

Quotation Management

B2B e-commerce online store must replicate the offline experience. Price of a commodity vastly varies based on the quantity in a B2B transaction, in addition to various parameters. Negotiations and price quotes are vital to this process.

The same negotiation and quotation process is handled online with the new Magento platform. This feature allows the appropriate use to raise quotes, approve them and escalate them as needed. The feature can also suggest the buyer to increase the quantity to avail discount, which aids in upselling.

Custom Catalog and Pricing

It is critical for a B2B store to maintain customer specific catalogs. These catalogs have custom products and pricing. B2B store leverage on this to reward and retain their best customers.

Magento gives the online storeowners the flexibility to create dynamic catalogs. The rules and logic can be specific to the individual Magento store. This flexibility of dynamic pricing allows users

This is a very critical aspect for B2B e-commerce and it is taken care of by Magento B2B module. Magento can also integrate with ERP to make sure the pricing and inventory are in accord. This can be vital for many companies where ERP acts as a primary database.

B2B Payment Options

Payments in the B2B scenario are as complex as they get. With options like net terms and line of credit, payment can be specific to each customer. Like an offline business, online store must accommodate these needs. These options can also aid in customer relations as the relation with the customer dictates the credit terms. The e-commerce platform must accommodate these payment systems for the success of the online store.

Magento extensions, long with the native features, can handle a multitude of payment options. Online stores can integrate with other platforms to check the credit status of a customer, before approving the checkout. With additional Magento add-ons, you can have access to payment options like net terms and parent-child account management, where the parent entity is billed to for all expenditure made by child entities.

Conclusion

The i95Dev team helped numerous customers over the past 18 years. The above information is an essence of what we learned from helping these companies scale rapidly.To know more about how we can help your store please visit- https://www.i95dev.com