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Your consumers’ behavior has changed! Share via

Our team has written a few pieces about the changes that businesses have faced since the beginning of the lock-down and the pandemic. While we’ve observed our partners across several industries change their objectives and enhancing their strategies, and some went to the extent of reshaping the whole business, we’ve realized that change has become the only constant. 

But what do businesses need today? All agencies and platforms have been focusing more on observing and studying businesses and companies, while those themselves are actually looking for data about the change in consumer behaviour. Our content isn’t written by robots, it’s written by individuals who have experienced a change in their purchasing attitude and the way they prioritize things. We’ve all changed, perhaps forever. Thankfully, this article will focus only on the way consumers have changed across the world and in the MENA region. 

 

The impact of Covid-19 on the consumer’s behaviour 

Experts have noticed that online users are developing new interests and new attitudes in general. While many of these do not relate to the e-commerce industry directly, they eventually have an impact on their purchasing decisions.

The coming few attributes are the most noticeable: 

Concern about Covid-19 

People wanted to learn more about this unknown and mysterious disease. Eventually, people’s main concern was to know more and it looks like people have read a lot about it. An indicator would be that search volume for “Coronavirus” was at its highest on the 15th of March, but “Covid-19” was at its highest on the 22nd of March. 

Shopping, as an experience, has changed drastically 

While people used to purchase their needed products on a weekly basis, the whole world faced a crisis with the unavailability of many necessities due to the outrageous buying that took place when people started panicking about Covid-19.  

Consumers have been reshaping their homes 

Because we’re all staying at home, and will probably stay longer. Your customers are redesigning their homes to fit their new lifestyle. Some are focusing on entertainment, others on sports, while many are focusing on cooking.

They’re more focused on development and productivity 

As mentioned in the previous point. People are really conducting changes to their lifestyles. Now, with more time to spare, consumers are thinking wisely about filling their time activities that either develop their skills or contribute to their growth.

 

What have your consumers experienced? Where are they now? 

Many people are talking about rising peaks. The truth is that Covid-19 doesn’t have a one-time impact on our lives or businesses. People have already gone through stages. Of course many are lagging behind, but most people have already reached the adaptation mode. But what are the characteristics of these stages? 

Awareness 

Coronavirus is the most searched topic in 2020. The term “Covid-19” has reached its peak on the 22nd of March, while “Coronavirus” was most searched for on the 15th of march. Even such a change in the trend shows a growing understanding of the pandemic by online users. 

Action 

We’ve all seen how the people reacted to the unknown pandemic caused by the outbreak of Covid-19. The panic caused shoppers to physically go to supermarkets and purchase all the necessities they need. 

Adaptation 

Your consumers probably already started working on developing themselves and adapting to life with Covid-19. Gyms are still closed in many countries and a few cafes and restaurants are open. People are avoiding crowds anyway. Hence, they’ve been shifting their interest towards cooking and exercising. According to Google Trends, the search topics related to “exercise” and “cooking” have never received such traffic since 2004, with the peak being April 2020. People are still 3 times more interested in exercise-related topics.

 

Segments of consumers after Covid-19 

The saving kind 35%

Those are the ones who are generally pessimistic, not about the pandemic, but about the current situation and concerned about their family and their future. 

The pessimistic kind 27% 

This kind is hit the hardest by the pandemic, which led to drastic cuts in this category’s spending. Most probably these consumers aren’t going to spend except on necessities, and they’ll try to limit their spending furthermore. 

The calm kind 26% 

Those are the minority that hasn’t been impacted by the pandemic, at least not to the extent that will affect their spending habits. 

The very optimistic spender 11% 

This kind cares so much about the pandemic, yet is equipped and ready to deal with the status quo. This type of consumer is actually spending more on various categories

 

What’s happening online? 

People have been restoring to social media in order to communicate with each other and keep themselves entertained. The surge impacted most social media platforms and the way they use social media and the internet. 

WhatsApp 40%+

Facebook-owned WhatsApp had the highest surge in usage. The surge was caused by users who are aged between 18 and 35 years old. While the surge was low in some countries, it exceeded 70% in countries such as Spain. Meanwhile, Facebook experienced a 37% increase in usage caused mostly by the same age group. 

Groups calls have increased by 1000%+

Well, this one is expected. Facebook has announced that it has noticed that group video chats have increased by 1000% during the pandemic. Meanwhile, those video calls lasted way longer than they did before March 2020. 

Netflix 16%+

People have been using Netflix to entertain themselves in the absence of any other means of entertainment. We’ve known that on-demand media was rising anyway, but Covid-19 has caused a higher surge this time, on website streaming. YouTube, on the other hand, witnessed a 15% increase.