Outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus is taking a toll on the world economy. The pandemic that has managed to cause disruption in over 100 nations worldwide is still active and leaves us clueless about what the world is going to confront next.
Focusing on the business front, let’s take a look at the kind of effect Coronavirus has on Google Ads and Affiliate Sales.
You would be surprised to know that the ecommerce giant Amazon has reduced its spends on Google Ads to practically nothing. And the current situation is responsible for it. The buying trends during the COVID-19 outbreak also display strong changes that possibly can impact Google Ads, publisher advertising earnings, and affiliate earnings. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to understand what exactly is happening in this space as this might help your business get through this difficult situation.
As per a report by Tinuiti (a digital marketing solutions provider), Amazon has been gradually cutting spends on Google Ads until the end of January, and as of March 11, 2020 the ecommerce giant has almost stopped advertising altogether.
Do you know why Amazon is virtually terminating Google Ads?
It seems that Amazon might be reacting to the shifting trends in consumer spending patterns with effect to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per an article published by Buzzfeed News, Amazon has recorded a surge in purchases which has triggered the need to hiring an additional of 100,000 workers in order to meet demand.
Buzzfeed also reported, “As Americans retreat to their homes to weather the Coronavirus pandemic, they are increasingly turning to Amazon to get basic necessities such as groceries, as well as medicines, cleaning supplies, and, of course, toilet paper.”
It is interesting to know that Amazon is now focusing on meeting demands of people who are sheltering at one place and are just stepping out for basic necessities such as medicines, food, and other essential supplies.
And as the fear of the deadly coronavirus prevails, the fear of contracting the life threatening disease is making consumers turn to Amazon.
As per a report by Tinuiti, “Amazon seemed to abruptly change course toward the end of January 2020 across many product categories and was less prevalent through the first week of March.”
Furthermore, Amazon seems to have turned off all its text ads post March 11, 2020 and happens to maintain a very light text ad impression share against a few advertisers and has almost vanished for many.
Intelligent shift in search trends
It is now time to understand how the change is taking place in the digital marketing space. Starting with the basics, online sales are experiencing an extreme shift in buying trends. Demand for supplies such as household items and medicines are surging to an extraordinary degree. Believe it or not, the change is super dramatic and now the situation is such that Amazon needs to hire an extensively large workforce of around 100,000 new employees in order to meet the demand.
Another interesting piece of trivia here is that Amazon still lists items such as yoga mats and AirPods amongst its popular products on sale, yet the demand for toilet paper overshadows it all. Based on similar grounds, the consumer buying trends signal a profound change on the pattern at least for the next few months.
The Amazon focus
In a situation of crisis where survival is the game, Amazon has its major focus on medical supplies and household staples.
As per a Search Engine Journal report, Fulfillment by Amazon is only focused on household and medical supplies that consumers need.
Amazon’s statement noted:
“We are seeing increased online shopping and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock.
With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers.
For products other than these, we have temporarily disabled shipment creation. We are taking a similar approach with retail vendors.”
Amazon also plans to focus only on necessary supplies at least until April 5, 2020.
Takeaways
COVID-19 is all set to bring out an enormous change in consumer spending trends and can impact consumer buying trends at least for the next few months.
Amazon’s dramatic shift from Google Ads can be a sign that ecommerce for non-essential goodhttps://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tourism-problem-economy-form-corona-virus-1674906502
s might begin to dip, whereas medical and household supplies rise in demand.
This step indeed works in reducing the pressure on advertising costs and in a way it is smart to not advertise anything outside medical supplies and staple items because who is going to buy that anyway?
However, this might affect affiliate marketing as it will be difficult for Amazon to ship high margin products that are extremely popular with affiliate marketers.
