Customer and employee experience platform provider Medallia has announced the release of a new report into the changes in retail consumer behaviour brought about over the last year.
The Future of Retail Consumer Behavior relies on data collected by Sense360 By Medallia, a consumer behavioural intelligence and benchmarking platform. Sense360 By Medallia brought together data from three sources – namely foot traffic data from smartphone geolocation information from two million consumers, spending data from over 6 million consumers, and psychographic survey data.
The report examines consumer spending trends over the last 15 months, how consumer behaviour has changed, to what extent that behaviour will continue, and the specific ways different retail sectors have been affected.
“Retail consumer behaviour changed drastically over the course of the past year, but as consumers and businesses begin to define a new normal, we wanted to understand what behavior changes will be permanent and what trends may already be fading,” said Andrew Custage, Head of Analytics for Sense360 By Medallia.
Among the highlights of the findings of Medallia, which recently went private in a $6.4bn deal, were that:
- Overall fear levels toward COVID-19 have dropped compared to a year ago, though behaviours and the shopper journey have shifted – particularly towards online shopping
- Grocery delivery and curbside pickup options have blossomed, promoting off-premise shopper behaviour
- Some retail trends were temporary, such as a boost in demand for sporting goods during early periods of lockdown.
- Specialty retailers such as those in the beauty industry have become more competitive, with customers tightening wallets and flocking to mass retailers and ecommerce giants such as Amazon
“Perhaps the clearest insight from the report is that while consumer behaviour was initially forced to change by the pandemic, certain habits continue to stick even as restrictions loosen – creating a sustained adoption of digital platforms,” said Andrew Custage.
“In order to understand the volatile world we now live in, it’s critical for retailers to use holistic research to understand their customers and the competitive landscape.”
