Wooing The Post-Covid Shopper: What's The Game Plan?

Let’s face it, the days of retail therapy when shoppers simply browsed around the store space, indulging their senses and adding products to their basket, maybe over or at least may have been put on pause till the specter of the virus is eliminated from our horizon. COVID -19 virus has ensured that shoppers today are more cautious, anxious, hurried - wanting to spend less time at the store, essentials driven, and prudent in their spending. So what does all this mean for brands and retailers? How can they win their shoppers back to a more relaxed, reassured, and happy state and get the economy going with greater spending? What role does shopper marketing, in-store communication, and technology play here? Let’s take a look.

- Mohit Manghani

There’s a new TVC, conceptualized by Mondelez India and Ogilvy India for Dairy Milk Silk, which tenderly captures the spirit of romance in the era of social distancing. Woven around the proposition, ‘How far will you go for love?’, the narrative depicts a boy hopping from the terrace to terrace holding an umbrella to offer shade to his girl walking below on a sunny street. He then drops the Dairy Milk Silk chocolate bar to her which she gladly laps up.

Now this ad is a classic example of dream merchants adding that dash of extra something to make a brand story resonate with our times and emotions. And today in the pandemic ridden times that we live in, when almost all activities including shopping and buying have been redefined by caution and prudence, brands may have to go that extra mile to win back consumer trust and confidence. In fact, they now have to be seen as ambassadors of goodwill, safety, and health in order to reiterate their positioning in the consumer mind space. The above-mentioned ad, besides touching a chord, also takes the brand positioning a notch above, an imperative during times of altered lifestyles and consumer choices.

New Patterns in Consumer Behaviour

A recent EY Future Consumer Index Survey reported by media shows that 60 per cent of buyers in the country believe that the pandemic would alter the way they shop. Also, according to the EY Future Consumer Index, five new segments may emerge as consumers move beyond the pandemic – ‘back with a bang’ (constituting 38 %, ‘stay frugal’ (29 %), ‘keep cutting’ (19 %), ‘cautiously extravagant’ (11 %) and ‘get to normal’ (2 %)”.