2020’s Reflections on Consumer Trends in 2021
The world is counting down to close off 2020, but it seems like past year’s reflections will continue being with us even longer. It was a year full of global, local and personal crises due to the pandemic, lockdowns, demonstrations, natural disasters, wars and many more. Not surprisingly, each event disrupted people’s behaviours, consumption habits and expectations. Agility, resilience and creativity became must-have skills to survive. Hopeful or not, we’re trying to foresee what's waiting for us and how 2020’s effects will resonate in the upcoming year. Let’s explore them together.
Source: Shutterstock
1. Digital Everything
From education to agriculture, f&b to healthcare, banking to entertainment, all industries had to go through a digital transformation in 2020. Remote working and online education were introduced to our lives overnight and they’ll be here to stay. Companies closing off their office buildings permanently, announcing remote working policies and hybrid models. Not surprisingly, all shops became e-shops, entertainment and socialising became ‘live streamings’ and group video chat apps. Telehealth and other health apps were introduced to reduce the footfall and the risk of infection at the hospitals.
Governments developed their own softwares which has been used in public transportation, communal areas, travel hubs and by people to trace contamination within their surroundings. In addition to these in 2021, governments are expected to introduce new regulations to set health standards when roaming globally. IATA took the lead; introduced ‘travel pass’, a mobile app that will help travelers demonstrate their coronavirus-free status, joining a push to introduce so-called Covid passports as vaccines near approval. This might follow with adding other health considerations to the list or other kinds of data to track certain categories. Also, be prepared for digital currencies as some countries are already taking lead in switching their regular banknotes.
With fastly developing technologies like AI; construction, manufacturing, banking and legal systems are expected to become automated in the near future. This brings the subject of data privacy & digital rights. There is an urgent need to develop adequate frameworks to assess the impact. The implementation of different digital responses (AI, mobile applications, facial recognition) is linked to very intimate spheres of personal privacy.
After covid, every business is a digital business. Most importantly, the society adapted to this technological change disregarding any age group or sociological background.
Source: Financial Times
How to respond?
- Proceed with the digital transformation of your business, if you haven’t already. Assure that your strategy and company culture are aligned with this new system. And remember, this is not a one time thing; innovation and digital transformation needs continuous improvement, assessment and training.
- Deliver immersive brand experiences at distance. Find ways to create joy, transfer your purpose and recharge your customers’ 5 senses. Reconsider your customer journey; find those micro moments to create delight and analyse data to offer personalized offerings.
- Omnichannel flow is important more than ever. Customers are looking for a seamless experience throughout your channels. No more empty shopping carts after registering or misleading stock numbers. Remember; customers are demanding transparency and trust more than ever.
Source: Signity Solutions
2. Financial Considerations
Covid-19 forced down most of the world economies and global supply chains have failed to operate. ¼ of EU and ⅓ of US workforce has been under risk which added another level of anxiety on societies’ shoulders. A recent Time/NextAdvisor poll found that 51% of Americans are experiencing financial anxiety; another report by Nanos for the Mental Health Commission of Canada found that 40% of Canadians rank “keeping the economy healthy” as the most important factor for safeguarding mental health a year from now; and also a recent Kantar study found 60% of people across Asia are worried about their financial security.
Economical uncertainty caused customers to assess the monetary value alongside the longevity of their purchases. Now decision making is mainly based on a product or service’s worth. Consumers are focused on buying less but better.
We saw a decent increase in the usage of reselling platforms. They’ve been around since a couple of years with the minimalism trend but the main boost happened during the lockdowns. Many people found it as an opportunity to reduce the clutter at their homes and earn extra income without much effort.
Many preferred to repair their non-functioning products rather than purchasing a new one or repurposed them by simply following DIY videos online.
Because of the broken supply chain, prices for imported goods have increased. Considering local businesses which are not being able to pay their rent or salaries, consumers decided to support their local producers rather than global giants. According to Business Mole, 32 million people have been supporting local and small businesses online since lockdown began in March. 55% of people intend to consciously spend more in local shops after lockdown to show support.
Source: IKEA
How to respond?
- Offer multi purpose products that keep people healthy, secure and safe. Consumer’s will go the extra mile if they’re convinced with the value for money.
- Promote togetherness. Find ways to support small local businesses and individuals; collaborate with them or simply promote them. A recent example is ‘There’s more to life than the Whopper’ initiative by Burger King which calls local independent restaurants to advertise on their instagram account for free. At the end, what goes around comes all the way back around.
- Develop buyback strategies and promote them. IKEA’s initiative to buy back old furniture to recycle or resell is a great example.
- Offer new ways to reuse your products through your online channels. Shift your mindset from customers to co-creators. Consider product and services as unfinished. And who knows? Maybe you get the chance to create a passionate creative community like Lego’s.
3. Emotional wellbeing
In recent years, there has been a rise in the well-being industry with an $11bn value according to the Harvard Business Review, accompanied with the mood market products and services. With the global pandemic spread, the need to support and protect emotional & physical wellbeing has continued to increase dramatically.
According to a poll by ABC News & The Washington Post 70% of people in the US are experiencing stress as a result of the pandemic. Another research by Philips Global Sleep Survey found out that 60% are interested in new information or strategies to help them get better sleep. Chronic loneliness brought on by social isolation or “a lack of meaning” in life during the pandemic. In the UK, a group of leading public health specialists recently warned in the British Medical Journal that “the mental health impact of the pandemic is likely to last much longer than the physical health impact”.
There are nearly 20,000 mental health apps in the market, according to the American Psychological Association. They use technologies from AI chatbots and mood trackers, guided meditations and breathing exercises, to services like Talkspace and BetterHelp that connect patients with licensed therapists. Starting from March, we also started to see many immune and mental support boosting foods and supplements being promoted throughout media channels.
Source: Milled
How to respond?
- Beware of the language used. Remember that some people will be coping and grieving while others are looking for new sources of joy and self improvement. Promote togetherness and compassion.
- Create beauty products that contain immune-supporting natural ingredients and adaptogens, geared for regular use to maximise benefits.
- Tap into the ‘domestic cosy’ aesthetic with interior products and loungewear that offer comfort and appropriate looks for Zoom calls.
- Be aware of the benefits of the materials used within your products. Incorporate antimicrobial and antiviral characteristics which will lower users’ stress levels and increase their trust in your brand.
- Be there when your service is needed the most. The Calm app made a huge success on the night of US elections by sponsoring CNN’s Key Race Alerts throughout the night and ran 15-second ads between coverage, featuring nothing but the text, “Do nothing for 15 seconds” and rain falling on leaves. It came as a reminder for users to relax during this stressful time.
- Be up to date with the latest technology. Recently AI Foundation and famous alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra released an AI generated app called Digital Deepak.
Source: AdWeek
4. Be Environmentally Conscious Active
Environmental issues have become so serious that ‘sustainability’ or ‘recycling’ are not sufficient to rewind back the damage anymore. More and more consumers are turning to brands for solutions as many corporation’s strategic decisions have a direct influence on governmental policies and society as a whole. The future depends on businesses, non-profits, governments, science, and technology communities all working together in finding social and environmental solutions for the future of this planet.
Staying home was not helping at all. Our online habits have a surprising impact on the environment. Based on a study held in 2018, our use of digital technologies actually causes more CO2 emissions and has a bigger impact on global warming than the entire aviation industry. And these emissions are predicted to double by 2025. The CO2 impact of digital is expected to become a priority in the upcoming year.
Massive discount days such as, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing day, The Longest Night etc have a major impact on the waste and CO2 emissions. A Green Alliance report states that 80% of these items, and the plastic packaging they are wrapped in, will end up in landfill, incineration, or at best low-quality recycling sometimes after a very short life.
That’s why, more and more brands are starting to stand against these campaign’s damaging mission. A campaign led by Ethical Hour is encouraging people to #ShopEthicalInstead and think about the positive impact purchases could have. Since 1 November 2020 the hashtag has been used by small businesses and their supporters over 540,000 times.
Source: BBC
How to respond?
- Investigate your sustainability impact for everything. From design to manufacturing and end-of-life, and communicate this with your consumers via labelling or tagging. Be transparent and inform customers about your ethical initiatives.
- Collaborate to shift towards a sustainable redesign. It’s not about being zero waste or zero CO2 emission anymore, but more about being environmentally beneficial. In 2014 Lego partnered up with WWF to take responsibility for their part. Microsoft is aiming to remove all the carbon emitted by the company since 1975 by 2050.
- Support & promote institutions working in biotechnology for more sustainable ingredient alternatives. There has been various researches going on biodegradable plastic alternatives to ‘meatless’ animal sourced products.
Source: Climate Clock
5. Moving from ‘me’ to ‘we’
Brands are now considered even more powerful than governments. They are responsible not only for delivering good quality offerings but to empower their employees, the society, the humanity and the environment. Nowadays, consumers are looking towards brands that can create a positive impact, but they are tired of statements and want to see concrete actions taken on certain causes.
Many with great purposes failing only because they’re not reflecting their values 360 degrees. If you’re supporting a cause, you have to live the experience within the company and reflect it on your employees. Because they want to like what their companies are doing and acting. If not, they’ll walk out as we saw in the previous years like in ‘#metoo movement’.
Pandemic made us realize that we are all connected. It is a one big united world in which it doesn’t matter if you’re working from India, US or China. Talents that weren’t within the reach before, now have equal chances to find positions globally. On the other hand, this has revealed the existence of a large digital divide with regard to both the opportunities to access communication technologies and the skills to use them – which will need to be addressed as a priority to close the vulnerability gaps. This seems to bring a new world order.
Inclusivity invites all people, including underrepresented and marginalized people, to fully experience and connect authentically with your brand. Be their voice, be the change that you want to see.
Source: Mono Solutions
How to respond?
- Consider your employees as stakeholders. Build a purpose from the ground up and focus more on internal communications around empathy than external ones. Your employees are your advocates and will spread your empathy messages beyond your walls.
- Brands now widely expected to have a voice and speak on issues. Use your brand’s voice to help people through their life changes. Acknowledge that we’re in this together, we’re in the age of collaboration.
- Implement open-sourced caring strategies, where safety benefits can be shared.
- Remember that supporting a cause is more than just posting black squares on instagram. Assess your company culture. Because unfortunately, only 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs are minorities till this day.
- Apply Inclusive from the design of your products and services, to marketing and processes. Elevate diverse voices and stories, question assumptions and biases and avoid stereotypes. Consider the vast spectrum of dimensions of diversity across three key categories outlined by Harvard Business Review.
Source: Quartz
At the end life is all about adaptation, innovation and evolvement. Each change has a similar life cycle. It starts with uncertainty; causing panic & fear in which people deny the reality and feel an urge to go back. Then it comes the settling down phase; where people start adapting to change but still demanding similarities from the past. Third phase is enlightenment in which people start to notice the macro effects and start reflecting on society and their personal values. The last phase is becoming integrated in which people have already got used to the new values and start improving within the current circumstances.
2020 was an opportunity to evolve. The old normal was not working for the majority of the world's society - with massive inequality, poverty & hunger. Alarms were ringing already and it forced humanity to do a check up. In the light of potential vaccines, we’re moving towards the final phase of this major change.
Are you and your business ready for the post pandemic world?