Retail has a chance to engage with evolved consumers
Consumer culture & priorities shifted with the pandemic
A report from global research company BAMM has revealed the surprising extent to which consumer priorities have shifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those shifts have changed the way consumers react with brands - perhaps even for good.
Typical values and ambitions have been placed aside while people focus on family, independence and new ways to take care of themselves; now and into the future. This could leave brands scrambling to understand and appeal to an evolved buyer, with the consumer of 2020 drastically different to that of 2019.
To help, BAMM identified five key trends shaping these audiences, and what marketers can do to reconnect with their loyal customers, and engage new audiences they may never have been able to reach pre-pandemic.
Trend #1. Return to self
Priorities have shifted towards family and self. People are turning inward, discovering self reliance and resilience. They're re-discovering their identities, and going easy on themselves in more ways than one:
- 61% cited their relationship with family as having increased in importance during COVID-19
- Physical and mental health followed close behind at 58% and 55%
- Respondents' bottom three priorities were brand social values (36%), career (32%) and their appearance (31%)
Trend #2. Pandemonics
Our economic lives have been transformed. But despite uncertainty dominating job markets, our response was one of bottom-up entrepreneurship and frugality. With the high street in trouble, eCommerce is here to stay:
- 34% of 25-44 year olds sold good and services online during COVID
- 58% of people saved money due to the crisis, with plans to spend it on a holiday (31%), seasonal gifts (25%) or an all-out shopping spree (17%)
- 35% of people shopped online for food for the very first time, with 34% of those people planning to continue
- Of those who bought alcohol online for the first time online, 27% said they would continue to do so after COVID
Trend #3. The Blur
The lines have been blurred between office and home, with the working world logging on from living rooms, bedrooms and home offices with varying degrees of privacy. And while we're keen to return to normal, people have found ways to enjoy escapism:
- 78% agree there's now less mental separation between work and home
- 75% agree that they would like to split their time between working from home and the office
- 34% 25-44 year olds spent more time gaming or in an online "virtual" world as a result of COVID
Trend #4. Rescue Mums
With more women out of work, those with families are taking on more roles than ever. But previously-villainised technology is emerging as an building block of a healthy parent-child relationship during this stressful period:
- 72% mums between 18-34 and 66% mums between 35-44 have sacrificed their career progress to look after their children during COVID
- 67% mums agree "compared to my partner/spouse I've taken more of the burden looking after kids during lockdown
- Although 62% mums feel guilty because of the additional screen time their children have had during COVID...
- 59% say they've been gaming more to spend time with their kids
Trend #5. Smash the Wellness Industry
All is not well in the wellness industry. People are seeing through hyper-curated content from influencers and opting for more attainable fixes that make us feel worthy:
- 77% agree that the wellbeing industry often capitalises on people's insecurities
- 79% opt for simple solutions to looking after themselves over new wellbeing trends
- 36% people are staying sane through "small moments of 'me' time everyday"
"2020 has generated a host of challenges for marketers: rapidly modified strategies, slashed budgets and survival-focused business goals," said Anthony Martin, CEO for BAMM. "But they have also created unique ways to connect with people, and customers who wouldn't typically engage with their brand are willing to listen. Huge opportunity lies in the months ahead. Brands that stick to their 'business as usual' marketing strategies risk missing key target markets and passing up an important opportunity to emerge from the pandemic with a stronger, more engaged customer base."
The report was based on an online survey of 1,500 respondents in the US and UK (using nationally representative samples within each country), and 4 day mobile ethnographies with 15 consumers across 5 continents (North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia).
Sources: BAMM / The Marketing Factbook.
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