The Covid-19 outbreak caused the most dramatic shifts in consumer behaviour seen in our lifetime but now we have to turn our attention to the post-pandemic world.
Google has partnered with UK research consultants Trinity McQueen to test the attitudes and behaviours of 5,000 consumers across the country. As Google explains, “the results point to both opportunities for online retail and the value in-store experiences can add for an effective omnichannel strategy”.
Here, we summarise the five key findings from this research.
#1: The shift to online experiences is permanent
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the shift rcs data towards online shopping in the UK with store closures, lockdown measures and safety concerns all contributing to increased online spending.
The pandemic forced people who rarely or never shopped online before to make the big jump and encouraged everyone else to spend more of their money through online channels. And, according to the joint study published by Google and Trinity McQueen, these new shopping habits are here to stay.
“Our research signals that this seismic
shift to online is here to stay. In the the drop in visibility and engagement observed fashion, beauty, and telecommunications categories, the percentage of consumers saying they will shop or expect to shop online versus in-store in the next six months remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.” – The shift in shopping: The data that reveals the permanent changes to U.K. consumer behaviour, Think with Google
Even 18 months after the first lockdown was announced
UK, the percentage of shoppers who sab directory expect to shop online vs in-store over the next 6 months remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels – a 28% increase in the fashion retail sector alone.
As a result, thousands of businesses in the UK have survived the most challenging economic event in living memory, thanks to having an online presence while some have even thrived by making the shift to online selling, in response to changing consumer behaviour.