After 16 months of consumers relying on connectivity and omnichannel shopping experiences, the baseline for convenience is higher than ever. Now as the world reopens, retailers will be tasked with meeting people where they are. According to new Nielsen data, that will require a seamless blending of on- and offline strategies rather than an emphasis on one over the other.
According to the firm’s June 2021 online survey, among all the ways consumers purchased goods, click-and-collect saw the highest increase since before the pandemic. In-store pickup, for example, increased from 25 percent pre-pandemic to 38 percent in June while curbside pickup rose from 16 percent pre-pandemic to 36 percent in June.
Still, click-and-collect won’t be replacing traditional forms of shopping anytime soon, according to Nielsen. The act of ordering from a local store and having it delivered grew from 22 percent to 32 percent, in-store shopping increased from 78 percent to 82 percent and online ordering and shipping on sites like Amazon grew from 70 percent to 77 percent. These figures suggest that retailers will have to remain flexible and nimble in order to meet consumers’ heightened demand for convenience.
Nielsen’s data also show that aggregate in-store shopping behavior in the US changed very little between the second half of 2019 and the second half of 2020. Aggregate in-store grocery shopping trends changed even less, Nielsen notes, even as online grocery shopping activity increased.
Nielsen found that 98.5 percent of US households had gone grocery shopping in-store in the week prior to responding to the survey in the second half of 2019. That figure remained largely unchanged through the second half of 2020.
Mall shopping, on the other hand, has been decreasing steadily since the survey was released, from 83.6 percent of US households having gone mall shopping within three months of responding to the survey in the second half of 2019, to 75.6 percent in the second half of 2020.
Online shopping at any store and for any service within three months, however, grew from 71.9 percent to 76.2 percent while online grocery shopping done within the past seven days grew from 1.7 percent to 2.1 percent during the same periods.
Retailers should continue to focus on delivering convenience especially as more people start to leave their homes. A study conducted by Nielsen Audio found that in June, 90 percent of respondents said they’re ready to resume pre-COVID activities, and several indicated that they’re increasing their weekly activities.
For example, grocery store shopping went from 70 percent in April 2020 to 84 percent in June 2021 while driving went from 67 percent to 77 percent. Hanging out with others and dining out witnessed the most drastic increases of 41 percentage points for each, while spending time indoors and ordering take-out remained roughly the same. Non-grocery shopping jumped from 27 percent to 48 percent and clothing shopping went from 6 percent to 30 percent. Café visits and planning or booking a vacation rose from 7 percent to 25 percent and 3 percent to 15 percent, respectively.
Essential retailers that have had frequent interactions with consumers will likely remain top-of-mind among consumers. But as Nielsen notes, now is the time for many retailers to re-engage with consumers, especially those that pulled back on their marketing and ad spend last year. These retailers should think about ways to re-introduce themselves and build brand awareness.
