Prof. Veenu Sharma
Programme Coordinator – PGDM (Retail Management)
Assistant Professor of Marketing (View Full Profile)
Around the globe, the life of individuals has undergone incomprehensible changes in the past two to three months. The COVID-19 pandemic keeps on affecting most businesses at an exceptional scale all around, including retail. And organizations dealing with customers have to discover their way through the COVID-19 pandemic. As it’s essential to remember that the worldwide customer is at that point who is moving at extraordinary speed.
Pinakiranjan Mishra, Lead, consumer products, and retail, Ernst & Young mentioned the circumstance will be depressing much after the lockdown is lifted. “For a long time after the lockdown is lifted, the consumers will be in a reactive mode and will buy only what is needed. After that, we will have a recovery mode,” Mishra added.
Retail on Edge
At present, retail is on edge a new area, where buyers are stressed for the wellbeing of their families even though they can purchase for their fundamental needs. To all other challenges this pandemic will bring, the major concern for the industry is customer expressing new behaviours.
Recent research of Ernst & Young Global Limited has expressed the emergence of new consumer behaviour segments during Covid 19 crisis based on their purchase. The new classification is the result of 4,859 customer sentiment tracking on – How Covid 19 has affected consumer spending power.
What retailers need to know–New segments and daily changing buying behaviour
A big challenge in front of the industry is to be consumer-ready as customer shifts from one segment to others and create all together a new segment in a short period. Experts have shared consumer segment transition during and post-Covid 19:
Customer Behaviour during Covid 19 :
Expected Customer Behaviour Post Covid 19
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced retailers to react to a phenomenal move in customer needs and practices. Demand to be assessed and information to be redesigned to appeal to customers. A recent study from McKinsey reveals how promoting pioneers can deal with the emergency and plan for what’s to come. [PRESADO] Word Matters, the AI-based data science firm, has given Five core values and a system to help organizations keenly explore situations–from emergency to normal business.
Through this, the advertising pioneers can figure out what moves they can make and how they can begin to plan for a post-COVID-19 world while communicating with customers.
During this time of emergency, where disarray and apprehension are increased, it’s a great opportunity to not simply dust-off and recall organisation basic beliefs but communicate through all channels, wherever organisations work together.
Trust-based language will be key during the emergency stage. Communication framework for retail proposed by Presado shared below gives a detailed plan from various situation phases to customer sensitive issues.
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