COVID-19 Consumer Behaviour

The COVID-19 crisis will result in permanent change to our shopping behavior and ways of conducting business in the US and in the whole world. While some businesses are experiencing a short-term peak in demand that may be temporary, other businesses will be moving online for good.

It’s mainly due to these five factors that are influencing shifts in e-Commerce and consumer behavior:

1. Convenience #1 reason for online shopping: Consumers are getting used to convenience that online shopping offers and the habits they’ve picked up during the pandemic are quickly becoming persistent. Convenience has even overtaken price as the number one reason for consumers shopping online. Essential product categories, such as fresh food, cleaning supplies, and other household essentials are particularly susceptible to the convenience wave.

2. Continued social distancing due to the risk of a pandemic blowback: Around the world, there is an underlying concern about a pandemic blowback. Thus, social distancing will encourage the continuation of online shopping, reinforcing shifts in consumer behavior in the longer term.

3. Intensified competition online: E-commerce businesses that are experiencing a surge in sales will do everything they can to retain and connect with their newly acquired customers, be it through loyalty programs, promotions, subscription models, and expansion of the product range. As consumers are becoming more tech-savvy and using referral sites or price engines to find the best deals online, the competition will just further intensify.

4. New distribution and logistics capacity: Companies who offer shipment and delivery services are experiencing an overwhelming demand for contactless and last-mile package delivery, which has pushed them to build up new capacity and scale their operations.

5. Elderly consumers go online: As the elderly population is in self-isolation or self-imposed quarantine, their online shopping habits are expected to continue and even accelerate the existing behavioral trend. According to recent statistics on the effect of COVID-19 on online purchases in the US, 5% of consumers aged 65 years old and above shopped online for the first time due to self-quarantine and physical distancing. A third of consumers aged 65 and older also plan on buying more goods from online marketplaces due to the pandemic.

Source: The Wise Marketer