COVID19 led e-commerce to boom: UN

A recent report from UN Conference on Trade and Development study has found that last year’s Covid-19 pandemic has given a boost to the e-commerce segment, however, its impact wasn’t equally felt in the economy.

A report from the United Nations CTA stated: “Although it will take some time to get a full picture of the impact of Covid-19 on e-commerce … some developments show the growth of e-commerce in 2020.”

The study collected data from seven countries – Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Singapore, South Korea and the United States – which account for about two-thirds of online commerce.

Online sales increased 59% in Australia, 46.7% in the UK, 32.4% in the US and 14.6% in China.

UNCTA says e-commerce volumes rose 22.4 percent to $ 2.5 trillion last year, after rising nearly 15 percent between 2018-2019.

In contrast, total retail sales fell by 1 percent.

Shamika Siriman, Head of Technology and Logistics at UNCTA, said in a statement that she also stressed the need for countries, especially developing countries, to use the data to recover from a pandemic.

UN reprentative said that Jumia, the giant of online trading in Africa, did its best where its transactions increased by more than 50 percent in the first six months of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019.

Courtesy: Business Tribune

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *