New consumption habits, new ways to buy

The emergence of COVID-19 has modified people's lifestyle.Many of the changes that have occurred have become new habits both in work, leisure and consumption.The experts consulted agree that there has been a revolution in the ways of buying due to the pandemic and that, far from decaying with the gradual advance towards normality, old premises have been displaced and concepts have been updated."There has been a real quantitative leap.The world is changing at a vertiginous speed.It has been and is being a full -fledged explosion.Historical records have been marked ”, summary.

“Ha sido el empujón definitivo para que muchos consumidores perdieran el miedo a la compra digital”, sostiene Paco Lorente, profesor de ESIC Business & Marketing School y director creativo de Sinaia Marketing."The fact of not moving and the ease and speed in delivery have been key for many users to have loyalty through the online channel," he explains.Mainly, in the age strip from 34 to 45, but “it has been seen in that of over 54 years, who have taken a qualitative leap in the last year with their first shopping experiences through the network".

This has been thanks to the fact that the new scenario has brought with it “more digital purchase methods, allowing orders to the carnage of the neighborhood through WhatsApp, for example.It is not strictly about online transactions, but in more senior age profiles the push for this type of purchases promoted by strict confinement, ”he adds.

Mel Solé, Professor of the Company Department of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona (UB), coincides with this analysis.“Before the pandemic, electronic commerce and digital communication were being implemented and, with its arrival, they have been confirmed and multiplied.There has been an acceleration and I would say that it has been advanced in five years.And it has been thanks to the ‘jubilonauts’.If the regular users were previously millennials, it has now extended among the oldest, among the so -called Gray Market, ”he says, referring to the also known as Silver Economy.

The EAE Business School teacher, Alejandro Alegret, says that the e-commerce has grown in all categories and age stripes."A deeper and detailed look at the food sector indicates that online supermarkets have doubled their market share up to 3.6%," he says.In the fresco category, and according to the Electronic Commerce Observatory of the Spanish Association of Distributors, Self-Services and Supermarkets (ASEDAS), prepared recently highlights that a “27% of consumers declare that, following the COVID-19, started buying online ”.In addition, fashion and luxury brands "have made their way to impulsive purchases through social networks, managing to strengthen the omnichannel strategies of the big brands".

However, as Borja Martín, director of the consultant We Are Kale, states in the Banco Sabadell podcast, in addition to the change in consumer behavior for digitalization, which had already been giving and that has been intensified intensifiedAnd accelerated with pandemia, there are trends such as focusing more on life at home, which is linked to do things for oneself, which seems to settle.Similarly, local preference has also been given around the buyer.

Cards and other payment methods

While virtual sales increased, payment methods were also adapted to the growing digital ecosystem.“Everything that is contactless, that is, what avoids or limits physical contact, has been imposed.Payment through transfers, especially through the mobile phone, with applications such as Bizum, have had an outstanding growth, ”explains Carles Torrecilla, head of the ESADE Marketing Department."Bizum has come to stay.It is a simple method for paying relatively small amounts among individuals, but also among shops, ”says Solé.This tool is, in fact, the most mentioned by experts.

Paco Lorente adds payment methods through smart watches and smartphones, such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, "in which the Spanish consumer is experiencing greater confidence", and the most incipient and even to explore, such as those based on codesQR, and futures, like Bitcoin.

For its part, Alegot indicates that, although customers prefer card payment by 60%, the payment through the mobile phone has increased from the outbreak of the COVID-19 to reach a penetration greater than 35%, and tells thatThe implementation of Payment Services Directive measures (PSD2) “has been key to maintaining purchases and online payments in historical minimums.Trust is key to the development of omnicanal strategies and this goes through payments ”.

No ties and consumption by use

Some of the new purchase habits had already emerged before pandemic, but it has been the particular circumstances caused by restrictions that have generalized the new forms of consumer behavior.

Torrecilla considers that consumption by use will be consolidated in the long term.“It is still preferred to buy and the payment for use is used when it is a financial need, but it is still missing until it is paid for conviction and not by obligation, which is when this modality will really grow.Although in companies and in the Business to Business (B2B) it is already entering strongly into the most rational purchases ”, especially through methods such as leasing and renting.

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El profesor de ESIC Business & Marketing School cree que es una de las grandes tendencias de consumo."There are factors that condition the purchase of a good: instability, changing measures, new regulations and restrictions ... that make you think of not wanting long -term ties because the short and the medium is too uncertain".In any case, it admits that it is a recent movement in Spain that coincides with a very digital generation change linked to content subscription models, although the trend grows in other sectors and products (clothing, cars, office furniture…) They are becoming services.

Solé gives the example of the Swedish decoration giant."Now rent furniture," he says about the IKEA Rental service, something unthinkable years ago about a sale based on sale.Because, as Alegot argues, to compromise money in a long -term good “prevents consuming more.And this is spreading unlimitedly to all categories of consumption ”.

The value of immediacy

“The consumer goes faster than the industry and pulls business models.Therefore, the digitalization of companies becomes a critical successful factor for the next five years, ”continues the professor of EAE Business School.“But we don't talk only about large companies or large retailers, all this begins in proximity trade.Which are the new protagonists of the Q-Commerce ".That is, online purchases, “in some compulsive cases, of products that arrive at the house in less than an hour.And this is only possible if proximity trade is digitized and enters industry 4.0 quickly, ”adds.

Lorente defends that this way of buying can be one of the great winners of this whole period.“Many convenience products have been needed and they have wanted to quickly, so it has been the perfect germ for a model that will lead to immediacy.Delivery (home food) was the first major sector in this system, which is still very alive and that advances with new options, such as ghost, or Dark Stores supermarkets, in big cities ”.

However, Torrecilla is more prudent and considers that "the Q-Commerce still has to evolve its business model so that it is profitable and sustainable".Its proposal is a “periodic distribution that includes subscription products or propositions capable of diluting specific shipments thanks to more full routes that can only be possible in certain neighborhoods”.

For its part, the UB teacher explains that it is happening “the opposite of what was happening in 2000.So, the concept of service was avoided because little wanted to be paid.Now, consumers are willing to pay Glovo, Deliveroo or Uber Eats to take food home, even if it is a Dark Kitchen ”.That is why he proposes to articulate collection systems in the cities to minimize the logistics of the last mile, because "they are required to go by bicycle and the number of vans to deliver orders is multiplying".

Most sustainable consumers

This would link with sustainability, a rising criterion among consumers although with a lot of growth margin."Users want companies to be sustainable, but they prefer to take home the items they have bought instead of collecting them in the retail store," criticizes Solé, which also misss a greater commitment from companies with the criteria of the criteria ofThe United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

"Internationally it is practically essential, but Spain is late," argues the professor of ESADE."The general population prefers a sustainable product or service, but is not willing to pay more for it unless it affects their health" because, according to Torrecilla, "it costs more to react to what has indirect or derived consequences".

El profesor de ESIC Business & Marketing School y director creativo de Sinaia Marketing es más optimista.Understand that, although “it cannot be said yet a key and decisive concept, it becomes increasingly weight.The sustainable attribute provides a certain competitive advantage and, very soon, the brands that are not part of this system will be penalized by a large majority of consumers because the full transition to a cleaner model is being experienced ”.

Alegot mentions the research study of the Capgemini consultant published in 2020, according to which 79% of consumers consider the 'green' criteria within their purchase drivers and 72% of people between 25 and 35 years old claim to feelharsh if your purchases are sustainable.Therefore, according to EAE Business School professor, "it is imperative for companies to start incorporating this strategy in the short and medium term".

DIY's boom or do it yourself

As Martín announces in the Banco Sabadell podcast, the strict confinement also meant a rediscovery of citizens who, following the tendency of the DIY (do It Yourself, for its acronym in English) or do it yourself, has openeda new business field that connects with sustainability."The FAB Labs World Network is serving with spearhead so that more traditional companies can develop competitive advantages that allow them to compensate for the comparative advantage of other countries," says Torrecilla.This goes through the evolution of business models for all types of companies, “because it goes from the production or custom termination, the fast series, the prototype, the production of the spare parts, the spare parts and the accessories or the solutions of thestock breaks ”, details.

Un antes y un después

“The television platforms would never have imagined the boom they have had with the pandemic.Netflix, Filmin, HBO ... The business of the future is the branded content (sponsored content).Programs, series ... Digital consumption will multiply, ”says Mel Solé, professor of the Company Department of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona (UB).

Regarding other trends driven by Pandemia, Alejandro Alegret, professor at EAE Business School, highlights data -based decision -making.Borja Martín, director of the consultant we are Kale, agrees to value the importance of collecting the data that are relevant and highlights that interpreting them is available to large companies, but also of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with tools with toolssimple.

Paco Lorente, profesor de ESIC Business & Marketing School y director creativo de Sinaia Marketing, refiere el caso de Scalpers."I would highlight the advance of marketplaces to bring together diverse products and brands".Some of them, he warns, "are experiencing on their own website to convert their e-commerce into this type of platform with related products", as is the case of this fashion firm.

For his part, Carles Torrecilla, head of the Marketing Department of ESAD, the most important is an increase in the collective consciousness of companies as actors that must contribute and have a meaning in the common objectives, beyond being part of the shopping basket or supplier pool, ”he concludes.