How Consumer Behaviour Has Changed Due To Covid 19
Consumer behaviour consists of a customer’s psychology and motivation. It is a study which analyses what’s behind an individual’s behaviour that drives them to make a purchase, use a product, or consume goods. There are times when consumer behaviour study focuses on individuals, groups or even an entire organisation.
From the definition itself, business owners or marketers like you would likely get the impression that understanding consumer behaviour is a complicated task. It’s not as easy as looking for a review of your favourite movie, but what is amazing about consumer behaviour is how much it can impact your business once you fully understand what motivates the decisions your customers make.
What Makes Consumer Behaviour So Important?
Once you know more about what drives the behaviour behind your buyers, you can easily determine the best way to market your service or product. You can create a plan that can provide you with the results that you want. For example, Stackla stated that 67% of consumers prefer purchasing online when the pandemic started.
This data gives you an idea of how you can cater your business’s marketing plan for buyers in our post-covid world. Let’s say, you are selling cosmetics. Considering this increase in online shoppers, you could change your commerce platform focus to an online shop, or sell your products through an online marketplace to connect with more customers.
Another example is based on eMarketers’ data. There has been an increase in live viewing on Instagram by a massive 70%. Therefore, this could be a good strategy for you to try to boost your brand’s exposure.
While there are various ways to get the attention of potential buyers, if you can understand and utilise consumer behaviour, you can narrow down the strategies that you should try. It saves you time and effort with a guaranteed increase in sales afterward.
What On Earth Were Consumers Doing During The Pandemic?
In 2020, when COVID-19 became evident to the rest of the world, there was an enormous shift in behaviour from consumers in Australia.
This graph from statista.com shows that 43% of consumers spent less, while 32% shifted to online shopping. Some prefered to still shop locally, but the pandemic convinced a lot of people that delivery is the best way to get their items.
Explodingtopics.com cited an example in which searches for “plant delivery” spiked during the pandemic despite plants being hard to ship. This gave entrepreneurs a new wave of ideas of what businesses they should start. A plant shop that delivers, perhaps.
Searches for “plant delivery” spiked at the start of the pandemic.
The pandemic required people to stay at home, paving the way for online shopping and deliveries to succeed in the industry. 50% of consumers turned to online marketplaces to purchase their goods. Businesses can take this into consideration when marketing their products and services. Can their product be shipped? Can it be ordered online? How will the buyer acquire that service without leaving home?
Interestingly, 81% of Australian shoppers prefer the standard delivery method as they would rather receive free shipping than fast delivery. There are also those who use mobile apps to find offers and promotions, so keep this front of mind when deciding which platforms to advertise on.
Data from Explodingtopics.com also showed that monthly subscription business models received an increase of 90% during the pandemic. Take note, this is year-over-year. So rest assured, businesses can offer a subscription service without worrying that no one will be interested as there are plenty of people who have opted into monthly subscriptions since the pandemic began.
Research conducted by Monash Business School’s Australian Consumer and Retail Studies (ACRS), showed that grocery products, accessories, and clothing were the most purchased goods. These were followed by household and home care items.
So, How Will Consumers Behave in 2022?
Indeed, the sudden shift caused by COVID-19 changed the way consumers buy goods. Although 2022 has just started, experts already have made their predictions on what will drive consumer behaviour this year. Senior Analyst Anjali Lai made the prediction on Forrester that in 2022, consumers will focus on instant comfort and happiness.
Products that eliminate fatigue and uncertainty would be ideal to sell, such as comfort food or relaxation kits. People will start focusing on their personal care more. In fact, based on data gathered by Explodingtopics.com, the growth expectation for the global meditation market is $12B AUD by 2027, an enormous increase from the $5B AUD it generated in 2019.
A news article by ABC News cited data from The Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2020, in which there was an increase in spending on food and alcohol, indicating that boredom and stress could be causing an increase in drinking at home.
Percentage change in household goods consumption by select categories per quarter 2020. ABS, Insights into household consumption, December quarter 2020
The article included The National Australia Bank’s Consumer Sentiment Survey which revealed that people were still mindful of what they’re buying, indicating that people will think twice before making a purchase. We are still in the early months of 2022 which makes it hard to predict the next trend in consumer behaviour, but using data from previous years you can get a glimpse of what digital marketing strategies are likely to perform well this year.
How Can I Apply This To My Digital Marketing Strategy In 2022?
Now that you have a bit of information on consumer behaviour when the pandemic started and have read the predictions for 2022, you can move on to creating effective digital marketing strategies. Consider the following statistics when you’re navigating through the planning process for 2022.
In an article released by Suzanne Mitchell, Marketing Director for GoDaddy Australia, she stated “As many emboldened Australians consider turning their passion into their purpose, they’re not simply looking for a product, service, or software. They’re looking for a brand to be their partner.”
This indicates that consumers want brands and businesses that matter. That matters to them, and that matters to the world. Consumers want to purchase products or services from businesses that align with their values. That they feel excited and happy to purchase from, because it matches their core beliefs. Businesses that make them feel proud to be aligned with, as they try to navigate through the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.
Businesses would have to say goodbye to cookies as well. According to Deloitte 2022 Global Marketing Trend Report, 61% of high-growth brands are transitioning to a first-party cookies strategy. It’s a more limited approach but it gives consumers more privacy.
Yellow.com.au shared this prediction in Zendesk’s State of Messaging 2020 report, regarding the impact of artificial intelligence in 2022. The report predicted that by 2020, up to 70% of consumer messaging will be handled by chatbots. In addition to chatbots, marketers are looking to utilise the power of AI to assist them with other marketing tasks too, such as email marketing, data analysis, and copywriting.
There is also a chance that social media shopping will explode this year according to
Yellow.com.au. Based on the 2021 PayPal eCommerce Index data which states that social shopping in Australia has increased by 700% compared to pre-covid. Another figure worth mentioning is that only 35% of businesses are utilising social media shopping, and with customers spending on average $138.91 per month on social shopping alone, that’s a lot of room for growth.
While there are many marketing strategies that you can test on your target market, one thing is for sure: Post-covid, digital rules. If you’re struggling to transition to this new digital landscape, you can turn to digital marketing agencies like Contevo to help you out.
Contevo is a conversion-focused digital marketing agency that combines tried and tested traditional marketing models with advanced digital technologies to increase your sales, leads, web traffic, and more.
