Md. Jamil Hasan :
On March 11, WHO declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic- an indication that the world is going to face another crisis moment after the World War II. All the manufacturing organizations have stopped their production, financial markets have started to see their downfall, and consumer’s liberty has been curtailed for their safety and security. People have never been experienced such a stagnant world before.
Economist Frederic Bastiat has introduced us to the difference between obvious and seen costs and more unobvious and unseen cost. The health issues associated with the virus are seen and obvious. But the unseen cost has myriad impact on consumer’s post covid behavior specially in their economic and social lifestyle.
Consumer decision-making pattern and their priority list will not be the same as before. They will prefer to spend less, their saving tendency will become vigorous and they will spend on only what they need right now. Though a research from the global measurement and data analytics company Nielsen has claimed that there has been an improvement of consumption willingness in China as the country has effectively controlled the contagion, this research cannot certainly claim that all the consumers around the world will show the same attitude.
Consumer’s preference for brick-and-mortar retailer will slow down, as there is a chance of social gathering. The majority of the e-commerce business will continue to grow at the same time their major challenge will be to provide consumer real time delivery, authentic product and touch & feel experience. According to the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-CAB), about 100 e-commerce businesses – mostly with product lines of essential commodities, groceries and medicine- are witnessing a jump in business as people are bound to order online due to lockdown.
The ways of passing vacation and leisure will drastically change due to the outbreak. The habit of maintaining social distance seems to be sustained for long time. People will be more interested in passing their leisure with their family, playing indoor games, watching movies and series and dieting for developing their immune system. The tours and travel agency, hotel, motel, restaurant and different tourist spots where there is chance of social gathering, need to be repositioned their brand to get the customer attention.
According to the EY Future Consumer Index, five new segments may emerge as consumers move beyond the pandemic. First one is ‘back with a bang’ (constituting 38% of the respondents) is expected to spend much more in all categories. They are called fuel of the economy as they mostly contribute for the revival of the economy. Second one “stay frugal’ (constituting 29% of the respondents) will spend less as they used to do before whereas ‘keep cutting’ segments (constituting 19% of the respondents) will cut their spending than they used to spend. ‘Cautiously extravagant’ segment (constituting 11% of the respondents) will be willing to pay premium price for certain product but that must be needed to surpass their level of satisfaction. The final ‘get to normal’ segment will remain unchanged according to the index.
Overall, it is time for all the big and small organizations to rethinking their business model, properly understanding consumer behavior mutation, repositioning their brand, taking decision about going virtual and focusing on consumer’s digital footprint to communicate effectively with them. Otherwise, they cannot sustain in the market and will vanish in the near future.
(Md. Jamil Hasan writes on business).
