How has Covid-19 changed consumer behavior?
The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 has a significant influence on the lives of users. As domestic orders and countrywide lockdowns start to ease, consumer behavior, including discretionary income and spare time changes, and the revised value and priority, continues to be driven by new personal circumstances.
Consumers, both from a health and economic viewpoint, are increasingly concerned about the effects of COVID-19. People react in a lot of ways and have different behaviors, attitudes, and buying patterns. Citizens around the world are fearful of transitioning to a new standard. Fear is high as people look at what it means for them, but most specifically for their family and friends and society as a whole.
In several ways, customers are reacting to the crisis. Some feel nervous and anxious about panic sales of staples and items of grooming. On the other hand, some customers are oblivious to the pandemic and, considering warnings from government and medical experts, prefer to do business as usual. CPG enterprises also need to consider their customers' reactions to develop customized and individual marketing campaigns for each customer. The single-size ads days have passed.
The most basic requirements have been focusing on customer priorities, sending demand for grooming, cleaning, and staple goods soaring, while non-essential segments are slumping. The factors impacting brand decisions are also evolving as the wave of "buy local" accelerates. As new customers move online for grocery shopping, digital commerce has also seen a boost, a trend that is likely to be maintained post-outbreak.
In times like these, our need for the necessities of life takes precedence. It comes as no surprise that personal health is the top priority for the consumers we surveyed, followed by friends and family's health. Food and medical security, financial security, and personal safety were other leading priorities.
As a result of the pandemic, what people are purchasing and how they are shopping has changed drastically, and these new patterns are continuing. Consumers have used this life delay in many ways to focus on their consumption. They aim to shop locally, attentively, and cost-consciously.
In neighborhood markets, 56% or more of shoppers purchase local goods, 79% and 84% intending to maintain this activity for the longer term. This number is high. The reasons for this range are from the successful marketing of local shops or domestic goods or the search for legitimate and handmade products.
Likewise, consumers are restricting food waste, making purchases that are more climate-conscious, economic, or legal, and this is expected to continue for the vast majority of them.
There is no evidence of any decline in the rapid growth in eCommerce and omnichannel offerings since the beginning of our work. The most recent data show that the sales from new or low-frequency customers following the epidemic will rise by 169%. More and more customers expect the vast majority to maintain their use of digital and all-channel services such as home delivery, refrigeration pickup, or shipping via social media platforms.