The Coronavirus has been present around the world since the end of 2019, and for this reason, people and businesses alike have had to adapt. This adaption can be seen through the increase in online sales and the rapid growth in technological developments.
Digital Consumerism
Covid19 has seen a shift towards online shopping, with 27% of UK shoppers claiming to permanently shift to online shopping rather than in-store. Regardless of the covid rates, 50% of global consumers claim to predominantly shop online, which has accelerated digital shopping by five years of its estimated growth. During the height of the lockdown in the UK, four in five people were said to have drastically increased their mobile phone usage. Due to this growth, businesses began to rethink their marketing strategies, as more people online positively correlates with an organic increase in traffic to a site. This realisation saw Europe decreasing online advertising spending by 9%.
Due to this sudden change, businesses have had to adapt to make their sites interactive, to keep customer engagement and sales up. Businesses have learnt that online conversations can be just as important as those face to face. To keep up with this connection, companies have implemented live chats and posted regularly on social media platforms to maintain this interpersonal relationship. Last year 74% of companies had worked on building better customer-facing digital interfaces, and 44% had invested in technologies to improve virtual communication with customers, evidencing this increase in online customer service.
Business to Business Companies
More than 75% of Business to Business (B2B) companies say they prefer remote human engagement compared to face-to-face interactions. It’s believed to be easier to schedule, saves on excess expenses and is a safer option than in-person dealings. When interacting with suppliers, around 50% is remote, which is 20% more than in-person sales. This shows that even now when covid restrictions are no longer in the UK, online interactions are still preferred. In terms of new customers and existing ones, remote engagement successfully supports both selling and prospecting, as 45% believe it is more effective to reconnect digitally with existing customers and 48% regarding new customers. These remote interactions rely heavily on Video conference calls and Online chats, which account for 43% of all business revenue. B2B e-commerce sales are forecasted to increase global retail sales to 22% by next year, which despite the influx Covid-19 caused, is still rising at a steady incline.
Visual Marketing
The pandemic slowed down the process of marketing new products, due to the limitations of meeting other people for a photoshoot. Visual content is imperative when it comes to marketing, with 28% of marketers believing that 71-80% of businesses rely on visual content to succeed, therefore businesses needed a way to produce imagery fast.
Companies that had already introduced Computer-Generated Images (CGI) to their website had the upper hand as they were used to the idea of remote working, as the images they created are digital anyway. The pandemic has made customers and businesses less hesitant when it comes to 3D rendering as they have now experienced that its time effective, cost-effective, and has little dependence on environmental situations. Businesses that really ventured into the world of digital product visualisation are the furniture industry. The limitations of photoshoots and in-person meetings meant that it was hard for furniture companies to gather samples, oversee manufacturing and create visible content to sell products. CGI teams are able to produce images of furniture before the manufacturing process is even complete, which means companies can get their stock on the market prior to it being at the warehouse.
When it comes to the actual selling of the product online, computer-generated images are so hyperrealistic that many consumers can’t tell apart CGI and photographs. Augmented reality (AR), also allows for 360° views of the item to be shown, so the product can be seen from different angles. Instead of the manufacturer creating different variants of colours, and then photographing, AR allows consumers to click through and select the desired colour to be put onto the product, which again is time effective for both parties. In addition to CGI being a helpful tool during the pandemic, 51% of customers claim that using this feature would make them more inclined to purchase. Therefore, it’s no wonder why so many furniture companies are opting for this choice of imagery over traditional photography.