So much is changing from the perspective of consumers’ habits and preferences that we wanted to see if we can try and look into the very near future and help marketers prepare.
Looking into different data points recently published, we noticed that while optimism among consumers is slowly increasing and some corona-induced trends we saw in recent months are slowing down – few behaviors seem to be lasting longer.
For example, as seen on Numerator excellent, well-rounded COVID-19 coverage:
- Budget-driven retailers will gain more customers over quality-driven stores. This means quality-driven stores featuring natural, organic, and premium products are likely to lose consumers who are tightening their pocketbooks.
- Online delivery and click-and-collect services will continue to attract new users while “store loyalty” is harder to come by. See stats according to a story on Adage, quoting Numerator’s survey on consumers –
- 64% of shoppers are trying a new store because their “preferred store” is out of stock on items they need
- Meanwhile, 38% of respondents said their regular store is too crowded
- And 36% said that they are shopping closer to home than usual due to COVID-19 concerns
And one thing we can make of all of this is that, as people prepare for the 4th of July, they will prioritize local traveling by cars and restaurant takeaways.
We can look at another angle to see where things are going. According to an NPD report, the bike market is skyrocketing, with sales up 75% since April – reaching $1 Billion for the first time ever – as reported on Bicycle Retailer.
Meaning, people elect to do more indoor cycling for exercise and mostly use bicycles to travel, commute, or just for family leisure activities.
“The excitement that consumers are showing in cycling, particularly in recreational and family riding, is an absolutely amazing moment for the bike community. This is a unique and powerful chance for retailers, manufacturers, and non-profit organizations to engage new riders,” said Dirk Sorenson, a sports industry analyst at NPD.
Additionally, “Continued growth will require them not only to have the product in stock, but to focus on new riders’ basic needs such as fixing a flat tire or locating a family-friendly trail to ride. Addressing these basics right now has immeasurable ROI, and the industry should be laser-focused on
servicing these new riders.”
And as for marketers, no matter what your product and offering is – there is always a way to tell your story in a relevant way, especially when you know more about your audience’s main pain points and preferences at a certain point in time.
So now, put all this information together: the preference to travel locally, the tendency to go on activities with close family as fear of infection rises, and the demand to stay away from crowded places – and you get the rise of a new trend – “safecations!”
The U.S. Travel Association predicts that due to the pandemic, domestic travel spending will drop by 40%, from $927 Billion in 2019 to $583 Billion in 2020.
“We really had to ask ourselves, ‘When is it irresponsible to ask people to travel? What do we do as a tourism brand?’ We can’t come out and tell people to plan a trip because we have no idea when people are going to be traveling again,” said Lindsey Norment, brand director at Virginia Tourism.
Virginia’s tourism marketing team spent a year working on a summer campaign only to halt it four days after its launch in March.
Again, putting one and one here together, and it’s becoming clearer what kind of summer consumers are heading for.
Making some sense of what some researches tell us, we can now anticipate the new lifestyle that is being shaped as we speak. The next step for marketers would be to think about your product, your offering, and your communications and come up with a strategic plan to stay relevant and appealing to consumers, even as habits and trends are swiftly changing.