New consumption habits
Many have been the impact that Covid-19 has generated on the economy. On the one hand, we are talking about a system’s dry stop, a reduction in consumption and a significant loss of customers for companies. On the other hand, at social level, pessimism has been established among consumers as their income has been affected and expenditure has been reduced to basic needs. We have been talking about continuous market developments and new challenges and so consumer habits are changing and adapting to every situation. On this occasion, increased digital consumption has been the great trend of the crisis. The importance of digitalisation for businesses is undeniable as online channels have become the most effective form of communication with their customers. Progress and technological innovation had already covered a portion of the population with some specific characteristics and transformed their purchase habits but with the passage of the pandemic, the number of online consumers has grown massively by changing the client typology to which companies focused their activity. People of all ages and with new consumption habits have come to the digital environment looking for new forms of communication, entertainment, training and purchase and so knowing all these behavioral changes is an important part for businesses to adapt their business models to demand changes and to secure market retention and even growth. That’s why from Creactivitat we put out the main features and purchase habits of the consumer Post Covid-19.
Post covid consumer characteristics
Security: The passage of the pandemic has been one of the most important factors among consumers. It’s crucial to be able to fulfill both the measures of safety of disinfection and social distance, as well as to offer security of online payments, delivery times and returns. The aim is to become completely transparent and to transmit confidence to the user. Age ranges: as we discussed earlier, technological innovation was gaining ground with regard to the recruitment of new (native) users but with the arrival of Covid-19, users with different characteristics and ages start to demand products and new experiences through digital channels. To strengthen these communication channels and to be able to offer a simple and high quality experience is the key to promoting customer loyalty. Commitment and sustainability: They are two factors that have been present before the health crisis but have been emphasized exponentially among society. The transparency of companies with respect to their own response to the pandemic and their social and environmental commitments to consumers have to be clear so that they can offer them confidence. A false compromise image that doesn’t fulfill what’s intended to be transmitted can be very bad at branded authority level. Overinformation: The users have more and more information about products or services they wish to consume and can even check opinions from other customers and compare experiences. Indeed, the opinions of other users today are more important than the corporate image itself at the time of the purchase decision. That massive information before buying the product or service makes the client more picky and so it’s very important to keep up with his expectations as his opinion about the company will become a key factor for the recruitment of new users. Etocentrism and immediacy: Another great trend of this new reality is that users, because of their confined or shorter work hours, are investing more time in themselves. The search for new forms of entertainment, routines for performing physical exercise, online training methods and the use of digital communication channels have been exponential and have been an opportunity for the emergence of new audiovisual content platforms and we have to work with a directly consumer-oriented approach to be able to meet their needs by creating custom content with data collection or with the Big Data. Moreover, these users have a higher level of demand and immediacy becomes a decisive factor at consumption and can even pay an extra cost if this new need is met. To sum up, a good custom journey design adapted to these demand by consumers will create good opportunities for businesses to achieve new audiences and increase their market share. Overall, we are faced with a reality that presents new challenges and opportunities, technologies play an important role to be able to meet the needs of consumers more and more focused on themselves, seeking custom products and services, sensitised with the environment and with a range of information and choices to consume. To adapt to these behavioural changes and new consumption habits is the key to survival in the market and an even great opportunity to grow.
Oscar Calamita
Marketing Department
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