The economic fabric has been completely transformed between containment and decontainment. The crisis has changed consumer habits and e-commerce has been profoundly disrupted.
Companies that had not taken the digital turn were hurt and those that had focused their digital strategy on online saw their performance explode depending on the category.
Some sectors that were in vogue during containment are stabilising at a higher level than before containment, while others are still in crisis.
How can individual retailers adapt their model to gain agility? And how can they respond effectively to rapidly changing consumer needs? How can they adapt their company's offer accordingly?
Universes strongly impacted
For some sectors, demand increased considerably during the containment, and even afterwards. The categories Garden, DIY, Home & Deco and Domestic Appliancescategorieswere inundated with people wanting to use the lockdown as an opportunity to do some spring cleaning or renovate their homes.However, in the face of this high demand, some retailers were overwhelmed and could no longer guarantee fast delivery and restocking.
Today, demand in these sectors is still very high and there is a need to restore a balance between supply and demand, in order to reduce delivery delays and order cancellations.
Conversely, some sectors were severely constrained during containment and are still constrained today. These include, for example, the Travel & Tourism, Car and Events & ShowsThis is due in part to the restrictions on travel within the country and to other countries, on gatherings limited to a certain number of people and on certain places such as cinemas.
Source: https://covid.ds-weborama.com/
Consumer trends are changing
The confinement has not been without consequences on the consumption habits of the French. According to a Happydemics survey, 22% of French people say they no longer consume as they used to.
First of all, there was an increase in local searches. In other words, even though digital channels were overused during the lock-up and that drives or home delivery are becoming more popularIn other words, even though digital channels were over-consumed during the confinement and drive-throughs or home delivery became the norm, the French want to go back to the shop, especially to local shops.
Source: Google Trend
There has also been an explosion in the use of audiovisual media, which can be explained by the desire to escape and seek information during this period of health crisis. YouTube, podcasts, cooking shows, DIY, personal development (yoga, home sports, etc.), not forgetting of course streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ or VOD, are some of the means used by the French to entertain themselves during the confinement. This trend is also confirmed post-confinement.
If we look at the case of Netflix, we see that 15.8 million people subscribed to the platform from January to March, compared to 9.6 million over the same period last yearThis brings the total number of subscribers in April to 183 million.
Many French people have turned to digital technology to communicate and maintain a social link with their loved ones or colleagues through video conferencing. The use of Google Meet, for example, increased 30-fold during the confinement.
And expectations are changing
As consumer habits change, so do consumer expectations. This is why companies need to adapt their marketing message to fit this evolution.
The Internet user must have confidence in the brand and must feel reassured in the purchasing process, from delivery to after-sales service. They must also find in their purchase the characteristics described in the product sheets.
Towards a new way of communicating?
As experts, we suggest that you adopt certain strategies in order to adapt your e-commerce to the new consumer habits.
Firstly, there are values to promote. Retailers need to adapt the way they speak, and to do this, transparency and agility are essential.
On offers where demand is high, it is important to ensure that stock is well updated on the various platforms and that delivery times are short enough to further boost sales. In addition, impeccable customer service will help to acquire and retain a new customer base (trust & responsiveness).
How to anticipate and prepare for specific consumption peaks? "The key is to remain agile and adapt quickly to changing demands. To try to better understand consumer behaviour, tools such as the Google Ads Performance Planner or Google Trends can be useful.
Secondly, certain formats should be prioritised. For example, develop YouTube videos for merchants related to growing categories - cooking, DIY, decorating. Another example is to strengthen the omnichannel experience, i.e. to combine web and shop.
Indeed, the shop remains the first destination for shopping for 80% of the French. To try to capture online demand and redirect it to the shop, you can exploit the new features of local campaigns :
- Set up local campaigns (Local campaigns and/or LIA) to be as visible as possible in the vicinity.
- Google My Business: properly reference your shops so that the Internet user can find the offer closest to him. Optimise these listings and provide as much information as possible.
To go further in the reflection and elaboration of your communication strategy, do not hesitate to contact our team of specialised experts.