By Laura Lemos. Anti-counterfeiting Lawyer.
The Covid-19 pandemic impact has, for the most part, pushed society to move further online than ever before. Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest industries impacted was retail. The result, is an exponential growth of e-commerce, from new businesses, customers, to new product types.
In 2020, while there was an overall decline in retail sales globally, online sales grew by more than 20% worldwide, compared to that of 2019. According to recent data, the pandemic accelerated the shift from physical to online stores by about five years.
The digital space became a great alternative for businesses to continue operating despite the restrictions and obstacles that the pandemic has brought. As a consequence of this premature growth, companies have had to invest in digital much faster than originally planned, both to adapt to the new online environment and to survive in the fragile scenario.
Although the pandemic has highlighted the importance of an online presence and digital technologies, it has also revealed several vulnerabilities regarding abuse of the online environment and the rise of illegal trade and counterfeiting. Read more