A new study conducted by Facebook India in partnership with Boston Consulting Group has revealed how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted consumers’ behaviour and purchasing patterns.
Titled ‘Turn the Tide’, the study denoted how the pandemic has instilled a “never-before focus on health and safety”. An increase of almost 120 per cent has been recorded in online searches on health and immunity in India post COVID-19, as 40 per cent consumers intend to buy more vitamins, herbs and supplements in the coming days, as accorded by BCG COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Survey between April 30-May 3, 2020.
However, India has observed a sharp fall in the number of visits across public spaces. An 85 per cent reduction in the number of visits to retail and recreation spaces, and 65 per cent reduction in visits to workplaces has been greatly witnessed.
Approximately 48 per cent couples without children, and 67 per cent of those with children are on the search to either increase or retain spends on fresh food in the next six months. As for spending on staples, 71 per cent couples without child, and 85 percent of families with children aim to continue spending. About 54 per cent of those with children, and 53 of those without, would retain spends on packaged foods in the next six months.
A more focused approach towards “at home” consumption was noticed across different age groups between 18-45 years of age. As per the research, 85 per cent of youngsters between 18-25 years, 83 percent of people between 26-35 years and 72 per cent of those between 36-45 years look forward to increase or retain spends on fresh food for the next six months while 62 per cent, 68 per cent and 62 per cent of the above categories respectively would spend on packaged food.
The pandemic has led to a drastic change in consumer behaviour, with people bracing digital services and experiences more. New habits like “remote way of living”, “do it yourself” and “superior hygiene and clean living” are setting up the trend of ‘new normal.’.
If we go by the reports, there has been a 2.7 times rise in viewership of cooking recipes, a 2.8 times rise in the duration spent on self-help and personal grooming videos, and a 100 per cent spike in “how to” trends. About 52 per cent consumers have increased use of social media.
“Consumers will look for buying avenues which provide contact-less convenience while fulfilling their core needs of familiarity and immediacy,” the report mentioned.
In case of home and personal care, “consumers will trade up in home care, trade down in cosmetics, and selectively trade up /down in personal care owing to a more value conscious, yet quality focused mindset”.
About 20-25 per cent urban consumers for non-food categories (home care, personal care and cosmetics) are expected to be digitally influenced while 30-40 per cent of them will start or increase online search. New online buyers for home care, personal care and cosmetics have increased by 1.45, 1.3, and 1.35 times respectively.
News Source: The Indian Express
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