According to PwC’s June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey, the changes occurred from the beginning of the pandemic are sticking, signifying a historic and dramatic shift in consumer behaviour. In just a six-month period, from the time PwC first Pulse survey was conducted in October 2020 to the second Pulse survey in March 2021, consumers evolved to be even more digital and eco-friendly. They also reported being more price-conscious, healthy, data-conscious and local. «We examine five most significant changes exposed by the latest survey –PwC experts say in the report -. Consumers evolved to be even more digital and eco-friendly. They also reported being more price-conscious, healthy, data-conscious and local».
PwC data show than 50% of the global consumers have become more digital since the first Pulse survey was conducted. Shopping via smartphone keeps climbing steeply, gaining 2 percentage points on in-store shopping just since March 2021 Pulse survey and more than doubling since 2018. Regarding health-consciousness, the survey reveals that a quarter of consumers are concerned about health and safety, up slightly from earlier this year. Environment and sustainability also go on to be one of the priority in consumers purchase choices. «Globally – PwC explains – 50% of consumers say they’re more eco-friendly, but in Indonesia it’s 86%; Vietnam and the Philippines, 74%; Egypt, 68%; and the United Arab Emirates, 67%.»
Pandemic also bring a new trend in the world: attention for local products. Of course, the main reasons are lockdown and impossibility to travel. Everything seemed to ‘go local’ during the pandemic. «Those who couldn’t travel far afield – PwC explains – began exploring their own regions with renewed interest, ordering food from local restaurants and finding creative ways to entertain and celebrate milestones in a socially distanced way. Even though horizons for many people are beginning to widen, ‘going local’ is still popular: 43% of those polled in our most recent Pulse survey say their activities have become more local since our first Pulse survey was conducted. Regional differences are stark with this trend; some territories are more than 20 percentage points higher than the global average. In Indonesia, 69% say they’re more local; in Russia, 63%; the Philippines, 58%; South Africa, 57%; and Malaysia, 54%. To nobody’s surprise, that local emphasis is more marked among those who say they’re planning to spend more on at-home activities than on activities outside the home».
