How is Covid 19 Changing Your Customers Buying Habits
As we are entering the end of 2021, to say that this has been a challenging year is an understatement. With Covid 19 affecting every facet of our lives, it has brought many struggles to businesses and consumers. One thing is certain and that is online shopping and spending has never seen growth like we have seen this year.
Consumers have been forced to shop differently due to months of lockdown and social distancing caused by Covid 19. When the pandemic hit the USA in March of last year, many were forced into lockdowns. This led to panic buying of items such as hand sanitizer, isopropyl alcohol, disposable gloves, masks, and even toilet paper. Covid has also led to surges in services like Doordash, Uber Eats and Grubhub to satisfy individuals’ comfort food requirements. Companies like Amazon, Peloton, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Clorox are seeing record sales this year because of the pandemic. Let’s not forget that because of social distancing, companies like Zoom, Slack and Google Meets have become a necessity to meet business, educational, and personal demand for interaction.
Not only has customers shopping behaviors changed, but also their demand for products and services. During lockdown, the products consumers bought most were household cleaners and soaps ( no surprise here), vitamins and supplements, coffee and surprisingly hair coloring. Consumers stopped buying cosmetics and sun care products during the lockdown.
So, with all that being said, online shopping exploded during the pandemic and lockdown. Just to give you some ideas, U.S., consumers spent $211.5 billion during the second quarter on e–commerce, up 31.8% quarter- over-quarter, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. As customers focused their buying needs to online retailers, it also led to many brick and mortar stores closing their doors or filing for bankruptcy. Even after the lockdowns were ended, shoppers had no desire to visit many stores and take chances of being exposed to covid 19. Companies like Hertz, Lord and Taylor, J.C Penney, and GNC are just some of the companies that are either in bankruptcy or going out of business due to covid 19 and customers changed buying habits.
With all that has happened this year one thing is certain. If a business wants to survive and thrive, they have to have a strong, digital presence from now going forward. Customers have turned to shopping online, not only due to the pandemic, but also for convenience and ease. Digital marketing, SEO optimization, social media, paid online campaigns and an online website that really connects with shoppers will be the key to keeping your business open and making money in years to come.
Companies that evolve their marketing strategies to a digital and online presence immediately will be able to benefit the most. Beating your competitor to the online world means that when shoppers look for products or services you offer, your business comes up first.
