One of the consequences of this virtualization was the strong growth of purchases made by mobile, with 45% of consumers saying that they increased their purchases through this device. On the contrary, 50% of respondents replied that they reduced their instore purchases, that is, in a physical store. It is also important to mention that 40% of global consumers had a reduction in their family budget, either by reducing the workload, by the extraordinary layoff measure or even by having lost their job (source: PWC). All of this nefarious impact of the pandemic led to drastic consequences for consumption, causing people to give priority and more attention to essential goods, which was reflected in an abrupt fall in goods and services considered non-essential or superfluous, such as clothing ( -51%), sports articles (-46%) and restaurants (-41%).
Understanding what is changing in consumer habits is crucial, not only to overcome the pandemic crisis, but also to understand that there are certain things that will not go back to what they were before. According to a PWC consumer study, these are some of the most important learnings:
74% work from home at least a few days a week
59% increased the use of video chat platforms
35% do their grocery shopping online since the start of the pandemic and of these, 86% say they will continue this habit even after the pandemic
45% increased the use of the mobile phone for shopping, as opposed to a 50% decrease in purchases in the physical store – the mobile phone is the device that wins consumer preference
But how can all these changes be related to your business? What does all this imply? Will it be necessary to define new strategies? How should they change? Are you aware of where your consumer is? How is your customer’s experience? How is your relationship with your consumer and how will it be affected?
infographics (1)
The changes caused by COVID-19 have changed the way we consume
Faced with so many questions and challenges that this new reality has brought us, this article aims to talk about some basic strategies and actions that can be easily implemented in your daily digital actions. These are just a few ideas that can have a direct impact on your results and that, because they are so obvious, are sometimes overlooked. Let’s see:
Data
Nowadays everything is measurable. And if you’re not already measuring your data, you can quickly start doing it! Currently, we have a democratization of access to data and, fortunately, we no longer need a data scientist to have access to it. These data can be easily transformed into relevant and valid information, which subsequently helps us in making decisions. The important thing and the focus on your action should be to transform your business objectives into SMART digital objectives, with well-defined KPIs in order to be able to measure and adjust your strategy to achieve the expected results.
Holistic Approach
This is one of those basic tips that we often forget about. Working the sales funnel as a whole and synchronizing it with the strategies adopted for your customer, is crucial to reduce costs and increase sales. You must work from awareness to conversion, always using the same strategy and specific media channels for each moment of the funnel. The less fragmented and more focused the media strategy is, the more easily we can achieve better results.
Omnichannel
There is a big difference between being present in multiple channels of interaction with your client and these being managed separately, than having an omnichannel strategy. At the outset, it may seem that these strategies are similar, but they are so different that those that do not adopt an omnichannel strategy are only 33% likely to retain the customer, compared to 89% of those who adopt it (source: Aberdeen Group). It is necessary to be focused on the customer and ensure that the customer has a unique, special and user-friendly interaction experience with the brand, regardless of the point of contact it establishes with the consumer. If 15 years ago we had an average of 2 points of contact with the brand, today we have an average of 6 (source: Marketing Week). Can you imagine the potential that these contact points can add to your strategy? You just have to remember that you are ONE individual with multiple points of contact.
Customization
If the use of personalized messages was crucial before, with the pandemic they have become vital. The pandemic was responsible for leaving people distant from their social life and, therefore, they feel alone and isolated.