Customer Expectations post Covid are just one of many ways the pandemic changed our lives for years to come. But some of the changes are good. And just as our lives won’t ever be the same, customers’ expectations will not be the same either. As the pandemic disrupted our world as we knew it, business had to rush to adapt for survival. And in the process, customers have come to expect new products and services as part of our post Covid reality.
The Covid Pandemic has shaken our lives, and boosted ecommerce off the charts.
Our lives have changed, and ecommerce is increasingly becoming a key player in most of our daily routines.
- E-commerce’s share of global retail trade rose from 14% in 2019 to about 17% in 2020.
- And it’s expected to be as high as 22% by 2023.
- Here in the US. it grew 32% from 2019 to 2020, to levels expected in 2022.
Customer Expectations Post Covid are shaping new market conditions.
- Products and services that we never thought could be digital, keep growing past the fade stage. And surveys indicate customer expectations post Covid mean online purchases like these, are here to stay:
- Online workout classes, at home fitness gadgets.
- Cosmetics and personal care.
- Tools, gardening, and DIY items.
- Handcraft supplies.
- Pickup and delivery. As stores were forced to close during lockdown, they had to figure out ways to stay in business. Thus many of them set up pick up and delivery options within days.
- A year later, customers have become used to the convenience of ordering online for pickup or delivery. At the same time, stores have been able to improve what for many has meant a way to survive.
- Indeed, we seem to be witnessing the birth of a new market standard: “Consumers intend to continue with many digital behaviors even after COVID-19 subsides, including restaurant curbside pickup (about 30 percent penetration, with about half intending to continue post-COVID-19)”. McKinsey Survey: US consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis.
- Personalized E-commerce as the new frontier.
- Covid has pushed retail sales to go online, while competition keeps growing steeper for consumer’s attention and spending dollars.
- At the same time, providing a data-driven personalized shopping experience, is the missing ingredient to the virtual transaction.
- According to Optinmonster.com, customers spend 48% more when their shopping experience is personalized.
- Health and safety protocols have also become part of our new normal as part of the Covid prevention measures.
- Nowadays, customers expect stores to keep strict cleaning and safety protocols, and this drives who they do business with.
- So, in most cases, health and safety protocols are a cost of entry for business.
- Digital Customer Care is the required fine balance between the ecommerce and the need for human touch.
- Customer expectations post Covid imply the wonders and convenience of digital services and products. However, customers still expect the human touch as a differentiating factor in the customer experience.
- Technology powered transactions still need employee involvement, as nothing can replace the relationship they have with the customer.
We at Estafeta, like all business worldwide, are dealing with the pandemic and the new market conditions it has created. We continue to work with our customers in understanding their changing needs and expectations, so we can better serve them. So please, feel free to contact us and let us know how we can help.
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