COVID19 and Shopping

It’s been nearly three months since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic. In this time, the retail space as we know it has had to completely evolve.

Without any warning and with no choice, brands and retailers have had to adapt to a pandemic that no one saw coming. As a direct result of Covid-19, many non-essential physical stores have been forced to close until further notice. Stores that have remained open have suffered from reduced/rationed stock and social distancing requirements. These actions have resulted in consumers changing their shopping behaviours, which in many cases has resulted in more transactions moving online.

Top priorities for shoppers

Alongside the products that people are viewing and purchasing, consumers’ priorities are also changing as a result of Covid-19. According to our survey, before the pandemic, respondents’ main priorities when purchasing were quality (48%), price (47%) and brand (24%). Now, they’re mostly focused on availability (49%), price (36%) and quality (34%).

It makes sense that availability is such a concern – over half (58%) of respondents said that they have experienced product shortages at stores from which they’ve tried to make a purchase. When asked if they feel like they have access to essential and non-essential supplies, 44% said that they’re getting by, but it’s tricky. Only 30% said that they have been able to get everything they need quite easily.

It’s very interesting to see the change in priority for shoppers, with the focus moving to availability. This will prove a key time for consumers to try new brands that they perhaps wouldn’t have before. This may result in a change in brand loyalty for some consumers who discover new products as part of their new shopping experiences.

What could this mean for retail?

While it’s key to explore how shopper behaviour is changing throughout this period, the question many people want the answer to is what long lasting impact will Covid-19 have on ecommerce and shopping habits. Which categories will people continue to increase spend in, and which will likely become less of a priority?

The shift we’ve seen in consumers moving to online shopping can only help to accelerate innovation in ecommerce across multiple industries. As companies have been working hard to improve their ecommerce experience – whether that be from improving delivery times, updating product descriptions on web pages, or utilising ratings and reviews across their products – it will be interesting to see whether once Covid-19 is over these consumers keep shopping online, or if they will want to return to shopping in physical stores.

We just don’t know yet. But one thing is for sure: brands that provide a seamless, informative online experience are poised to succeed during this challenging time.