Ask a Futurist – “What Does Consumer Behaviour Look Like Post Covid?”

I hit my broadcast studio yesterday to take on the top question of the week sent in via my Ask.A.Futurist series. Send in your question here, and if I select it, I’ll take it on!

This week’s question? Basically around the issue of how we might see consumer behavior change as a result of the global pandemic – what can we expect for the rest of 2021 and into 2022? Clearly, we are seeing new signs of hope amidst a massive vaccine rollout in various countries, and so things are obviously changing. How will consumers change?

I always do extensive research for my new projects, and for this one, I came across some wonderful insight from KPMG from over 75,000 consumers in 15 countries with respect to their future

• 43% are worried about their financial security in 2021;
• 36% will prioritize savings over their spending;
• 21% expect an actual net spending decline;
• 63% expect that value for money will be their key purchase driver

Clearly, the numbers tell us that we won’t see a massive return to pre-Covid spending levels – there is still a lot of economic pain otu there.

What about how they will shop and spend? Don’t expect a rush back to retail: 45% expect that digital channels will continue to be their main spend method going forward. E-commerce, online shopping, and curbside pickup/delivery will be with us for a long time to come. If omnichannel was an issue before – it’s massive now.

In addition, brand loyalty has disappeared – 36% of consumers are now buying from more brands as a result of Covid, and 45% indicate less loyalty to the brands they ‘loved’ pre-Covid. Some of this spending will be local – 35% have tried a new channel, and 29% have tried local shops!

I also covered a number of other important issues in the second half of the video – give it a watch to discover some of the secrets to your consumer interactions going forward!