- Consumer shift to digital channels will remain after the pandemic -PwC report.
- Customer loyalty has plummeted, with buyers switching brands at unprecedented rates.
- The use of smartphones for online shopping has more than doubled since 2018.
Billions of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are driving a “historic and dramatic shift in consumer behaviour” – according to the latest research from PwC.
The consulting and accounting firm’s June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey reports a strong shift to online shopping as people were first confined by lockdowns, and then many continued to work from home. Other trends in this shift towards digital consumption include online shoppers being keen to find the best price, choosing more healthy options and being more eco-friendly by shopping locally where possible.
Another significant finding from the report is that consumers do not think they’ll go back to their old ways of shopping once the pandemic is over.
A consumer pivot to digital and devices
More than 8,600 people across 22 territories took part in PwC’s survey. They were asked how often, in the past 12 months, they had bought clothes, books and electronics using a range of shopping channels.
The chart below illustrates their answers, and shows a shift to digital and a growing trend for shopping using connected devices such as smartphones, tablets and smart voice assistants such as Amazon Echo, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings.
Consumer profiling by PWC shows a big shift to digital shopping
Image: Pwc- Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey – June 2021
More than 50% of the global consumers responding to the June 2021 survey said they had used digital devices more frequently than they had six months earlier, when they had taken part in a prior PwC survey. The report also finds the use of smartphones for shopping has more than doubled since 2018.
COVID-19 has exposed digital inequities globally and exacerbated the digital divide. Nearly half of the world is still not online.
With more basic services moving online and the pandemic highlighting affordability challenges in wealthier nations, these deep digital gaps are exacerbating inequality and preventing the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At The Davos Agenda, the World Economic Forum launched the EDISON Alliance, the first cross-sector alliance to accelerate digital inclusion and connect critical sectors of the economy.
The EDISON Alliance will prioritize digital inclusion as the platform of platforms for partners with a common purpose for achieving the SDGs. Its vision is to ensure that every person can affordably participate in the digital economy.
Companies are invited to join the EDISON Alliance – read about how in our Impact Story.
Medicines and groceries on demand
A survey of US consumers by McKinsey & Company gives a more detailed breakdown of the shift to digital shopping channels and the kinds of purchases consumers are making.
The survey found a 15-30% overall growth in consumers who made purchases online across a broad range of product categories. Many of the categories see a double-digit percentage growth in online shopping intent, led by over-the-counter medicines, groceries, household supplies and personal care products.
And McKinsey noted that “consumer intent to shop online [post-pandemic] continues to increase, especially in essentials and home-entertainment categories”.
A decline in brand loyalty
With consumers shopping from their sofas and home offices, another trend flagged up by McKinsey is a marked decline in brand loyalty.
Consumers are switching brands at unprecedented rates.
Image: McKinsey & Company
In total, 75% of US consumers have tried a new shopping behaviour and over a third of them (36%) have tried a new product brand. In part, this trend has been driven by popular items being out of stock as supply chains became strained at the height of the pandemic. However, 73% of consumers who had tried a different brand said they would continue to seek out new brands in the future.
The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.
As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.
To help all stakeholders – communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications – a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forum’s annual Global Risks Report.
The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is dominating companies’ risks perceptions.
Companies are invited to join the Forum’s work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.
Healthy, hygienic and sustainable
The trend towards online shopping has also seen consumers focus on staying healthy during long periods in lockdown. McKinsey notes a desire to reduce touchpoints to ensure greater hygiene with the shopping experience.
One enterprise in the US has tapped into these trends to provide a service for shopping online at a range of farm shops local to the buyer. To qualify for the FarmMatch scheme, farmers must grow their food using sustainable methods.
As the world navigates its way out of the pandemic, the way we all act as consumers has been changed fundamentally by COVID-19. The research points to this change becoming permanent, leaving retailers and manufacturers with the challenge of attracting and retaining consumers in an ‘omnichannel’ world, where customer loyalty is hard-won.
