How the buying behaviour of the consumer has changed post pandemic

Consumer behaviour is always changing and evolving. Marketexperts have tried profusely to understand the latest trends but even theycan’t predict it until it happens. The pandemic was an enigma for many. Notsince the deadly Spanish flu in 1918 had we seen something like this.Production in most industries was at a standstill and the hospitality industryin huge losses. Nobody could have seen it coming and every household was in thedark about when it will end. Much like everything, consumer behaviour alsochanged during this period and it will never be the same again.

The first distinctive feature was that of panic buying.Households scrambled to get groceries and other items which led to hoarding ofgoods. It reached a point where the government had to issue a plea askinghouseholds to stop hoarding goods. It was present in my household as well whenmy mother decided it would be a good idea to buy 60 eggs! Groceries and othernecessities like toiletries had increased demand for them on the onset of thepandemic unlike many others. The situation for most was grim and they had toshut down but the ones who adapted their business models accordingly managed tosurvive.

The main winners were the e-commerce companies. As reportedby Bain, India’s e-retail market grew by 25% during lockdown while the $810billion retail market shrunk by 5% in FY 21. India was a largely untappedmarket in the e-retail space before the pandemic. It is now the third largestonline shopper base of 140 million and has the potential to be the largestonline shopper base due to India’s large internet base of 675 million. The newgeneration shopper generally prefers e-retail over traditional retail becausemany do not like to spend time in shops and would rather spend their free timedoing something else. Due to the pandemic even the ones who prefer traditionalretail had to adapt and use e-retail platforms. Many companies adapted theirbusiness model and shifted to e-commerce platforms. A prominent example is oneof Tweakymod, a Hyderabad based startup. It is a company that manufactures mobile phone covers, who fulfilled barely80-100 orders per day. But once it started selling on ecommerce platforms in2020, orders went through the roof. In 2022, it achieved 10x growth in salesover 2020. The company fulfils over 2,000 orders every day.

Consumer behaviour also changed by putting an end to frivolous spending.The pandemic brought out the difference in situations of the haves and thehave-nots. Many lost their jobs and production was indefinitely stopped in manyfactories. In this uncertain economic situation, the amount of savings everyhousehold had was worth its weight in gold. People realised that they shouldspend on things which have true value to them because in situations like this,we realise how vulnerable we truly are. Luxury items and our attachments tomaterial goods was tested during this pandemic. Consumers shifted more to value-basedpurchasing after the pandemic. As Mckinsey and company stated, “Given consumers’ pricesensitivity, value remains the primary reason for consumers to try new brandsas well as new places to shop. Aside from value, convenience and availabilityare most often cited as top drivers of consumers’ decisions about where toshop, while quality and purpose (desire to support local businesses, forexample) are the more important considerations when choosing new brands.” 

The pandemic has also shown us that our health should not becompromised. Consumers will want to pursue a healthy lifestyle which will giverise to brands who promote health and organic products. Mamaearth which is apopular health brand in India who sell organic products switched to thee-commerce model in 2020 on the onset of the pandemic. They grew by 400% duringthe pandemic because of new customers coming in and being won over by theirorganic products. The modern consumer is more health conscious now which isgood news for any brand wanting to enter that domain.

Globalization has always been a driver of any economy. It has been thenorm for decades. However, the supply chains were severely disrupted and wecould not depend on other countries to come to our aid. This led to consumersbuying more local products and endorsing local brands. The food and retailsectors particularly benefitted from this. Licious has become a household namenow due to the pandemic.

The pandemic was something which was out of the ordinary for us all.However, much like in every situation, there were winners in this situation aswell. E-commerce and health-conscious brands received the biggest boost. Consumerbuying behaviour is different from what it was and it will continue evolving. Allwe can say is ‘What next’?