The pandemic has been a time of unpredictability and unprecedented changes in everyone’s life, leaving a lasting impact on many aspects of our behaviour. From essential products to medicines and important amenities, buying patterns have witnessed a visible shift towards an online shopping ecosystem. As rules and regulations for restricting movement in public began to be enforced, the need for online shopping has shot up phenomenally. Interesting, isn’t it? According to a survey, close to 59% of the respondents had confirmed that they used online services for during the pandemic.
As for marketing models, brands began to cater to the immediate needs of the consumers to make this pandemic a less painful experience. For example, businesses that ran restaurants switched to delivering food online, Amazon started selling groceries and other essential commodities while several brands began to sell masks and sanitisers; a product that wasn’t sold by them previously. However, as a brand, you are bound to ask the question – Are these trends temporary or permanent? We’ll answer this in a bit!
Understanding Consumers
Consumer behaviour may vary based on cultures, geographical locations, financial status and so on. There are also several reasons in the social context, like marriage and childbirth. However, one thing that people have in common during this pandemic is their increased activity on the internet and social media in specific. People are constantly aware of the different brands as these businesses have adopted targeted advertising as part of their core strategy. While a strict restriction has been imposed on buying from physical store, businesses offering online shopping are thriving.
Thus, interactive and personalised digital experiences delivered across markets are forcing brands to be engage with their customers. As a result of the spike in recorded online sales, brands must offer a change that is more permanent for their target audience. Many companies have also began investing in supply chains to expand the product range being sold. This level of efforts done for retaining your audience has resulted in many new customers to be attracted due to reasons such as convenience and time saved to buy.
The use of such personalised marketing practices has set a trend that is expected to continue even after the pandemic. With an increased awareness about health, change in mobility from one place to another, adoption of social media and increased online shopping habits being the focus of people, the rise in online shopping is bound to see an upward growth curve.
While these trends are undoubtedly interrelated, brands have learned to make efficient use of digital tools that have pushed the envelope of staying connected with their audience, while giving their business a push. In simple words, consumer behaviours are evolving at a rapid rate, giving brands a plethora of ways to understand and deal with them. While these trends are not permanent, are liable to change in the near future, businesses need to understand that understanding their customers takes precedence and investing in learning more about them is always be a profitable move.