Factors That Influence Post Pandemic Consumer Behavior

Statistics, research, and sentiments from different sources and authorities in various fields project that a post-pandemic world will be very different. The lasting effects of the pandemic will be particularly visible economically.

Many economic factors that drive consumer behavior will be felt globally in a variety of ways. Entrepreneurs, investors, government leaders, and economists will be monitoring them throughout 2021 amid the vaccination and recovery efforts worldwide.

So, how will consumers behave within the recovery phase and when the pandemic is gone? Well, you have to learn about the possible factors that will affect it. This article discusses each of them, which will influence post-pandemic consumer behavior.

Digitalization and digital fluency

The pandemic forced people to embrace purchasing online, which became the first domino drop that drove digitization and digital fluency. The boost that e-commerce got and the use of digital methods and tools for all kinds of transactions will be maintained.

Businesses, innovators in information technology, and governments will focus on closing the digital fluency gap. Digital fluency refers to the effective understanding and employment of digital tools.

Since digitization will persist, more consumers will educate themselves and use digital tools throughout the recovery period and after the pandemic.

They’ll be wanting to have the convenience of a 24/7 online service culture remain, together with a seamless shopping journey. You can expect more businesses with online shops and services to review and revise the shopping mechanics and experience to improve customer satisfaction.

Consumers will also lean more towards businesses that prioritize safety. The demand for the entire customer journey to be contactless and cashless will remain in attended and unattended e-commerce.

More people will also educate themselves about their rights as consumers so they can exercise them when necessary. More consumers will know about the steps to file a class action lawsuit, warranty laws, and return and refund policies.

K-Shaped Recovery

The K-shaped recovery refers to when different parts of the economy recover at different rates, times, or magnitudes following a recession. It’s going to happen for most countries, especially those that were hit heavily by the pandemic. It implies that consumption levels won’t return to normal as quickly as some would expect them to.

Countries whose gross domestic product rate depends on an industry heavily impacted by the pandemic will likely take more time for consumption levels to normalize.

So, if you’re an entrepreneur in one of these countries, you should consider the unemployment rate of your target market. If it’s high, then you should expect sales to be slower than usual.

You can also expect some industries to be affected by K-shaped recovery. For the food industry, you’ve seen restaurants close down due to the hit they took from the pandemic. However, you can expect food delivery businesses to have accelerated growth.

Health and safety

The pandemic made people realize how important their health and safety are, driving the shift to purchase products inclined to health.

You can expect that the demand for vitamins, over-the-counter medicine, food supplements, cleaning products will remain. More people will also be leaning towards purchasing tools they can use to track their health.

When talking about health, that includes mental wellness along with the physical aspect. Devices that enable tracking one’s health usually come in wearable devices, so anticipate that smartwatches will sell more after the pandemic.

You can also expect demand to go up for products that connect consumers with more accessible and affordable healthcare, both virtually or in person.

Sustainability

You can also expect consumers to purchase and invest for sustainability after the pandemic. The pandemic made many realize that resources aren’t distributed uniformly, so more people will look to live in a sustainable economy.

Consumers who invest in capital goods such as pension funds will be demanding money managers to invest in more sustainable economies.

People will also look for environmentally friendly products, even digital ones. This will drive businesses to push for more green manufacturing.

In conclusion

Overall, the post-pandemic world will change how things work, and hopefully, it’ll be for the better. What’s important is that everyone focuses on making the world better after this crisis, and consumer behavior will influence how that will happen.