A staggering 81% of consumers admit they have changed a shopping habit since the start of the pandemic and 92% say they will continue their new behaviour in the long-term, a new Facebook report on post-COVID consumerism has found.
The report, called Industry Perspective: The Evolving Customer Experience, features insights into how customers are shopping and also includes insights such as the rising use of messaging apps to complement the purchase process, with 66% of consumers stating their mobile phone and the apps on it is quickly becoming their most favoured shopping tool. The same figure also said they would like to communicate through an app when receiving CX.
According to Facebook: "As a result of global and personal changes, what sits at the heart of consumers’ expectations today is the ability to choose and control how they shop - whether it’s having a say in what data they share in exchange for personalisation or being more selective in the creators they go to for inspiration."
"The pandemic has accelerated the usage of messaging services for seamless and personal support. Over 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, total daily conversations between people and businesses on Messenger and Instagram grew more than 40%. In this seamless process, over half (53%) of consumers want the ability to purchase directly through a messaging app and even more want the ability to customize products through chat functions (59%)."
Other key trends established in the report are what is driving shifts in how people find and purchase products, including increased mobile usage, concerns about data privacy and the rise of the creator economy.
The study states that 79% of customers believe that the CX they receive is just as important as the product they sell.