Journey towards online shopping to accelerate
Meanwhile, new Consumer Pulse research from GfK South Africa indicates that consumers look set to accelerate their journey towards online shopping beyond the pandemic as they stay in to enjoy the investments they have made in their homes during the lockdown.
The survey reveals that consumers are preparing themselves for a prolonged period of cocooning, with 59 percent of consumers expecting the pandemic to last more than another 12 months, and 34 percent predicting that it will continue for another 18 months or more. Only 2 percent reported that they have booked a holiday for the summer and 71 percent agreed that they will travel closer to home in the future.
This reality is catalysing changes in consumer behaviour that are likely to outlast the pandemic. Some 30 percent of consumers reported that they had made an online purchase in the week preceding the survey, up from 19 percent in the Level 5 lockdown. Meanwhile, 26 percent said they would definitely increase their usage of home delivery even after the pandemic.
Some 16 percent agreed that they would definitely try to avoid the malls and shops and almost half (48%) said working from home would definitely continue to be a reality for many companies after COVID-19. These figures reflect consumers’ growing fears about the virus as infection numbers soar – 70 percent said that they are “extremely worried” about the coronavirus in lockdown level 3, up from 66 percent in lockdown level 4.
“The pandemic and the national lockdown have forced South Africans to change how they connect with the things they care about and how they experience life,” says Rachel Thompson, insights director at GfK South Africa. “Consumers are seemingly ready to stay in beyond the end of the pandemic to enjoy the investments they have made in DIY, home appliances, and consumer electronics for home entertainment.”
The research shows that consumer preference for online shopping has grown dramatically in most product categories during the lockdown; across product segments an even higher proportion of consumers said that online shopping would be their post-COVID channel of choice. The survey results indicate that growth in adoption of online shopping in groceries, consumer electronics, DIY, and mobile phones will be robust post-pandemic. A significant portion of consumers who claimed they used online as their preferred channel for fashion and IT shopping during the pandemic said they would go back to traditional channels after COVID-19, but not enough to bring this number down to pre-COVID levels.
Pages: 1 2 3
