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COVID-19 is changing Australia’s buying behavior. Not only are more people choosing to shop online, they want to take inspiration from social media, faster delivery times, and more innovative technology for placing orders.
Australian buyers also agree with “the power of personalization,” according to research presented by international marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson Commerce.
For the uninitiated, this involves online retailers proactively sending samples to customers based on their purchase history and preferences.
More than 2,000 Australians who shop online at least once a month took part in the Future Shopper 2021 survey, which is part of a larger pandemic research project involving 28,000 consumers in 17 countries.
About 72% of Australian respondents said COVID-19 had changed their buying behaviors and they would keep some or all of those behaviors.
Sixty percent said they believe online shopping will be more important in 2021.
This belief is confirmed by new figures from Australia Post, which indicates that online shopping rates have jumped in recent weeks as much of the country has experienced lockdowns.
Almost four million households have bought something online in the past fortnight, up 6% from the same period last year.
NSW, the site of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions, accounted for more than a third (35.1%) of all online purchases.
The advent of a foreclosure is leading to a near doubling in the growth of online shopping, said Ben Franzi, managing director of Australia Post.
Fashion and clothing, home and garden, and variety stores are the most popular retailers for trapped Australians.
The Wunderman Thompson report shows consumers are screaming to get their hands on their purchases faster, with one in two wanting more brands and retailers to offer next day delivery.
Over 70 percent said they were happy to receive personalized samples.
Half said they were more comfortable with digital technology than they were before COVID, while 51% would like brands to be more innovative in using technology to improve their experience.
Wunderman Thompson’s chief strategy officer Angela Morris said the report showed expectations are rising rapidly as consumers’ familiarity and confidence in digital technology increases.
“In particular, Australians want more accurate descriptions, frictionless experiences and faster delivery,†she said.
“It is alarming that over a third of online shoppers believe they are more digitally advanced than most of the retailers and the business services they use.
“This should be a wake-up call for brands to be very aware of the changing expectations of online shopping and the need to constantly adapt to meet and exceed them.”
For ideas on what to buy, Australians are most likely to turn to search engines (43%), social media (36%), marketplaces (25%), retailers (23%), branded sites (22% percent) and in-store (21 percent).
Some 45% of those surveyed said they intended to shop more on social media platforms.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of shoppers said they wanted retailers and brands to offer less packaging, a reduced carbon footprint, and eco-delivery vehicles.
A significantly lower number of Australians surveyed (22%) said they were afraid to shop in-store as a result of COVID-19, compared to participants from other countries (41%).
Despite these changes in shopping habits, Ms Morris noted that offline shopping is far from dead.
“Not only are most Australians not afraid to go to the stores… two-thirds prefer to buy with a brand that has both a physical store and an online store,†she said.
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