We’ve taken part in a lot of conversations about how the pandemic is shifting shopping trends. Some of the changes were obvious and undeniable. Others were temporary or speculative.
Now, it’s over a year since the pandemic significantly changed people’s habits and their ways of thinking. It’s a great time to revisit perception, surveys, and trends.
One organization recently did just that, and they have some exciting insights to report. The data, released at the start of October, follows up on data collected just a few months into the pandemic in 2020. It was commissioned by DemandTec and performed by EnsembleIQ.
Here are a few of the top takeaways:
- Here’s an obvious one: More people are shopping online! While 8% of individuals said they were likely to shop online before the pandemic, that number has now increased to 22%.
- Shoppers want to feel like they’re getting the best possible deal. And they’re willing to do the homework to find the lowest price. Today, the sector where people are most likely to shop around and compare prices before committing is supermarkets, where 37% of people are likely to seek out bargains.
- Shoppers are concerned about rising prices. People are afraid that the pandemic has led to instability in pricing. For example, they’re not sure that they can budget for groceries based on what they paid for those same pantry staples last year or even last month. 52% of people believe that supermarkets are likely to change prices often or demonstrate subjective pricing. The next area that people feel is highly susceptible to fluctuation is technology, at 33%.
- People are most likely to respond to “dollars off” and “BOGO” deals. About 59% of people prefer these types of deals. However, one type of deal that became more popular during the pandemic was “buy several, get some free,” which went from 48% to 52%. This might have to do with people consolidating trips to the store and stocking up their store rooms further in advance during uncertain times.
- People will respond best to offers that they learn about, or can redeem, digitally. This makes sense, because people are more likely to do their shopping online—and it makes sense to have your coupons available in the same format. Today, 55% of discounts are redeemed through email or mobile app, while only 21% were before the pandemic.
For thoughts on how these insights can be applied to your business strategy, reach out to Mad 4 Marketing. In the meantime, visit the blog soon for a post wrapping up some of our general recommendations based on these insights.