There is no question that the ecommerce and home delivery market has experienced a huge boom during this pandemic. As of April 21st, 2020, there has been a 129% year-over-year growth in US and Canadian ecommerce orders, not to mention the 146% growth in all online retail orders. Throughout this pandemic, online shopping has gained enormous traffic due to fewer consumers shopping in stores. This trend has spiked the number of home deliveries. And as such, more trucks are reaching consumer’s homes and travelling through residential areas. As trucks are gaining exposure, this is an excellent time to invest in out-of-home (OOH) truck side advertising. Low-cost mobile billboards are an effective advertising medium and can help deliver a powerful message to your audience during these unprecedented times.
Changes in Ecommerce
During this global pandemic, ecommerce has experienced several changes. We’ve seen people change their shopping habits to cope with quarantine. From online grocery shopping to bulk buying, it’s clear that consumers have changed how they’re buying.
One area of ecommerce that went up was grocery. This market peaked at the beginning of quarantine and continues to be in high demand. Many consumers turned to ecommerce and home delivery to stock up on essential goods that were not available at local stores.
Before this pandemic, many consumers had never thought of buying groceries online and/or through a home delivery service. According to a 2019 report, 81% of consumers said they had never used online grocery services before. Now, many new customers who hadn’t previously considered grocery ecommerce will continue to be customers post COVID. Many grocery providers, such as Walmart and Kroger, have made changes to meet their online demand (e.g. hiring more employees, increasing online variety).
In the United States, food and beverage is a $1 trillion market. If ecommerce were to go up from 3.2% to 5.2% over the course of a few years, around $20 billion could be moving to the ecommerce space.
In addition to grocery, more shoppers are buying clothes, healthcare products and so much more, online. Nowadays, it is so easy to shop online, especially with virtually everyone having access to a personal device. According to the latest PYMNTS’s Remote Payments Study, 72% of consumers are using mobile devices to shop in stores. Despite not being considered essential businesses, many speciality stores also resorted to online sales during the pandemic. Specifically, with fashion and apparel, the risk of going into a store and trying on clothes is too high for most consumers currently.
The Increase in Home Deliveries
Inherently, due to the increase in online shopping, there has been an increase in home deliveries. Trucks and truck drivers have played a huge role during this pandemic – delivering essential items to stores and homes alike. For most people in isolation, home deliveries are the most safe and convenient option to get their essential items. Post-COVID, we will continue to see many new customers use home delivery services more frequently – having been familiarized with the process these past few months.
Truck-side OOH Advertising
With more trucks on the road for home deliveries and store deliveries, truck-side advertising is getting increased exposure. Truck-side advertising has always been a reliable method to increase the reach of a marketing campaign. Mobile billboard advertising is a cost-friendly medium in comparison to other types of advertising (e.g. T.V, radio). Mobile billboards offer excellent ad recall, as this medium will increase sales by 107%, as supposed to 54% for static billboards. These moving billboards are easy to tailor, which makes it possible to change or add new information to your advertisements. They are also great for building brand recognition, reaching a large audience and making a memorable statement.
Throughout this pandemic, consumers didn’t completely stop leaving their homes. People limited their presence in high foot traffic areas, but did continue to visit grocery stores, gas stations, even going on walks in their neighbourhoods. Although static billboards in the busiest parts of cities began to go unnoticed, mobile billboards were still being seen. As trucks were driven around to deliver packages to homes or regular deliveries to local grocery stores, consumers were still seeing these trucks on the roads.
Final Thoughts
This pandemic has accelerated the growth of ecommerce and home deliveries around the world. As we move into a new era of shopping habits, trucks and truck drivers will continue to serve an incredibly important role in the global supply chain. With more trucks on the road, it only makes sense to leverage truck-side advertising to promote your brand.
