Through force, customer expectations have evolved and changed – and these heightened levels of customer service, product fulfilment, and accessibility will be expected to be maintained when the world goes back to some form of normal.
Research conducted by Accenture, and research conducted by Yandex.Kassa (Checkout) show the scale of the consumer shift brought on by quarantine and social distancing measures.
An Accenture poll showed that during the period of self-isolation, 71% of respondents began to spend more time online, 45% completed their online education, 44% received online medical services. The majority of respondents (77%) indicated that they will use online services more often in the future.
Accenture analysts expect 37% of all purchases will be made online after the pandemic, up from 32% from a similar poll conducted in May 2020.
Customers will continue to remain online, and their expectations for the overall digital experience will continue to grow as they begin to combine previous offline experience and expectations with the new online world, with convenience and simplicity becoming a priority.
The differentiating factors for successful business development will be intelligence, empathy and trust. The speed at which companies build and deploy these capabilities will be a source of competitive advantage.
This change in consumer behaviour will also lead to increase competitiveness and new opportunities on the online space, with Yandex organic results becoming a rejuvenated battleground.
According to Yandex.Kassa research, during the lockdown period, users began to more actively order goods on online storefronts.
In July and the first week of August, the turnover of online payments for such purchases was on average 41% higher than in March, and the number of payments increased by 30%. But the average value for orders (AOV) in online stores did not change before and after self-isolation – averaging around 2,500 rubles ($33).
Analysts at Yandex.Kassa noted that with the introduction of the self-isolation regime, the number of people who began to buy food and goods via the Internet grew significantly.
