COVID-19 and the future consumer – New research on how the pandemic has irreversibly changed behaviour

Last week we were fortunate to have Sonia Gupta, Managing Director of Growth and Innovation at Accenture, join our weekly webinar to unpack their latest research insights. Covering more than 8500 consumers across 20 markets, Accenture’s survey reveals important trends in how the pandemic is transforming consumer industries – and how business needs to respond. Here I share a few of their findings and how we have seen them manifest in our own organisation.  

Trend 1: The new consumer: The COVID-19 pandemic will define consumption for the next decade. New habits formed will endure beyond the crisis and permanently change what we value, how we consume, live and work. Firstly, people are adapting to new personal circumstances, with scarcity in both time and money. Some 30% of consumers are financially strained and 9% are pressed for time. Secondly, we can see clear trends in what people value – health and wellness (59% will continue to shop more health consciously); supporting local (25% increased local purchases during the pandemic); sustainable purchases (61% are making more ethical or eco-friendly purchases); and reinventing connection (80% feel more connected to their families). Thirdly, the channels of consumption have changed, with the shift to online set to continue. Retail footfall remains below January levels despite easing restrictions and socializing at home has replaced going out – a trends that is persistent across age groups. As a result trends like virtual concerts, GoPro tutorials and mass online events are becoming mainstream. Ecommerce has seen 10 years of growth in a matter of weeks, with 51% of consumers using in-app ordering and 45% making use of home deliveries. At Discovery we have seen this trend reflected in significantly increased online exercise engagement (over 350 000 page views of our Vitality online workout channel) and the jump in virtual consultations (almost 12,000 completed on the DrConnect platform since 1 April 2020). 

Trend 2: Trust is being tested: Consumers have high expectations for business to act responsibly with 68% saying organisations will use their government funding to first benefit their employees and society. While 48% feel more confident about their employers than before the pandemic and 55% think their employers responded well, 43% rated their company’s response as poor or neutral, indicating widespread dissatisfaction with corporate leadership in many instances. This diminishing trust presents an opportunity to improve perceptions by taking appropriate actions to meet the new needs of consumers. This equates not only to giving them comfort around hygiene and safety but also demonstrating how companies positively impact society and the environment. Meeting this demand quickly and innovatively can become a point of significant competitive advantage. 

Trend 3: New ways working: The virus has catalyzed an overnight transition to a virtual workforce, and many employees expect to continue working from home in some shape or form. Overall, 35% of employees plan to increase the frequency of working at home in the future—and that number rises to 48% for those who never worked from home before. In Discovery we have in SA moved around 70% of our 10-000 strong work force to a WFH environment, and are functioning fully business as usual. The takeaway is that companies who have been resistant to flexible working will need to rapidly adapt, while at the same time looking at how to retain human connection and culture. The upside is that this shift means recruiting the best talent is now no longer constrained by geographic boundaries.

I encourage you to review these findings in their entirety, but what I hope is clear even in this brief summary is that people’s attitudes, preferences and behaviours are undergoing profound and in many cases permanent changes, and the invitation to organisations is to fight the inclination to return to normalcy and use this as a moment for disruptive innovation. This has certainly been a strategic focus for us and will continue to be as we progress through this pandemic.