Marketing 0

#2 “Onward” Quadrant
The next quadrant consists of industries and companies that have
difficulty migrating customers despite having invested in significant
digitalization of their business processes. Industry sectors in this
quadrant have digital ecosystems in place and have been
incentivizing customers to go digital for some time. But most
customers are still stuck in inertia and digital adoption has been
limited.
One example is the retailing industry. As a digital native, Amazon
has dominated the e-commerce scene for many years. It even
stepped up its grocery retailing operations by acquiring Whole
Foods. On the other hand, long before the pandemic, brick-and-
mortar retailers had also started the digital transformation in
anticipation of incoming disruption. Retailing giant Walmart
launched 
Walmart.com
for e-commerce and partnered with Shopify
to expand its marketplace operations. The moves allow the two big
retailers to go head-to-head in providing an omnichannel experience.
The supporting infrastructure is also growing, enabling e-commerce
to expand. Although some big retailers build their logistic
capabilities, companies like DHL invest in an e-commerce fulfillment
network. Social media also make a foray into the online shopping
sphere by providing the social selling platform. Target, for instance,
has become the first big retailer to sell products via Instagram.

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Despite the highly established ecosystems, the Census Bureau
reported that in the first quarter of 2020, e-commerce only
contributed to slightly less than 12% of the total retail trade. Pew also
reveals that although 80% of Americans shop online, most of them
still prefer to go to the stores. But the pandemic could create a new
normal where the bulk of shoppers migrate to a more digital
customer journey. Industry players need to monitor the trend closely
to see if the pandemic is a big enough catalyst for online retailing.