How Covid-19 Has Affecting Our Shopping Habits

Over the past 12 months, we’ve all had to change our shopping habits, from going to the local supermarket to booking delivery slots, from popping into the High Street to ordering online. But what will happen once the lockdown ends and more restrictions are lifted? 

Online Shopping

If you have an online business then fingers crossed you’ve found an increase in sales, however, if you’ve also got a shop that has been shut most of the year then things will have been a struggle. People have become more used to shopping online, gaining confidence and in the future, more people will carry on shopping online.

62% of shoppers feel less positive about shopping in-store. 

I’m sure this will change over the weeks as non-essential retail re-opens, will customers revert to their former ways. The High Streets will have to work hard to get people back, and towns, where the parking is expensive, will suffer.

43% of shoppers now feel more positive about online shopping.

This points to the possibility that eCommerce will be even more important in the future. Businesses that don’t offer online ordering will struggle to keep up with the competition in the future.

A Change in Habits

There are many people whose habits have changed for good and some who will go back to shopping offline. But the number of people who will continue to shop online has increased, the ease of clicking a button and the quick delivery times will have convinced a lot of people.

I believe there will be some things that people will still want to go into a shop for, furnishings, gift items, and of course those spur of the moment items.

Some industries will have benefited massively during the lockdown, Amazon, for example, were a HUGE winner, they’re deliveries never seemed to miss a beat, the local independents offering free delivery and made use of their loyal customers. Royal Mail also benefited from the extra demand and again their delivery teams never seemed to fail.

70% of consumers said they expected products that they ordered online to take longer to arrive during the lockdown.

Having a website is not enough reason for people to buy from you, you need to work hard on getting them to purchase. There are certain bits of information that needs to be in front of them, delivery costs, delivery time, if the item is in stock, returns policy and depending on the item you sell what the item is made of and its size.

The competition for online orders has never been tougher, every website needs to make sure it is doing everything it can to be competitive.

The top 5 reasons are listed here, now not everything here fits every business but it’s a good starting place when shopping.

When I shop online free delivery is a massive one, I really expect it to be free and if it’s not 9 out of 10 times I’ll click straight off the site and 61% of people asked also feel the same.

For many customers it’s not just about the process of getting the product but what happens if they want to return the item or it arrives damaged.

More and more customers want free returns included, this is a big thing within the clothing industry. The fact that you can’t go into shops and try items on means that unless they’ve bought from that brand before they may not know the type of fit or sizing. Websites can help a little with this by describing the fit, and creating a size guide to help potential customers.

The easier a site makes things the better, yes a flashy website looks good but with so many new people shopping online you need it as simple as possible, simple ways to see the product, the price, the stock availability, the delivery times, how to easily pay, and how if something goes wrong how do they return it. If you run a site follow the chain, can you purchase something easily without asking how?

The Role of Physical Shops

Without a doubt, shops still have a role to play and I think independent shops will thrive after lockdown, maybe thrive is a strong word, to begin with, but over the next few months, they will stand proud in our High Streets.

The High Streets in tourist locations will do well, especially as more and more people will be booking stays in the UK, also those within walking distance of housing. People will miss going into shops, physically touch something, speaking to the assistant and also whilst out for lunch.

55% of consumers said that they would welcome the ability to book time-slots for physical shops rather than queue.

Shopping over the coming months will need to be very adaptive, this is where independent shops have the advantage, the ability to change at the drop of a hat.

(The stats from this post came from a recent report carried out by WUNDERMAN THOMPSON COMMERCE)