It is an understatement if we say that the turnaround caused by the COVID-19 crisis on consumer behavior is 360%. Countless restaurants, bars, many stores were shut down right into the face of customers. Suddenly, they weren’t allowed to stay out as much as they did before. Though this pandemic failed to completely shatter humanity, It left us lost and confused about how we should move forward.
After everything that’s happened, our tummies rumble all the same. But since people are forced to stay indoors while businesses continue to close, there’s only one place left for everyone to depend on—grocery stores. People now spend more time at home and eat out less. With three meals a day, some of their needs to explore their kitchens and try creating new dishes. This pushes them to need ingredients such as fresh produce, meat, seafood, and dairy more. But since these were sold on areas in the groceries that have high risks of COVID-19 contamination, supplies and availability direly fell.
Due to enforced lockdowns, people have a small chance of going to buy. Aside from that, customers are also hesitant because of the threat that the virus poses to their health and safety. This is an opportunity for sellers to attract buyers by offering them quick, easy, and safe solutions
Aside from providing safety, convenience, and comfort, retailers must also find new ways to cut costs due to the overwhelming increase in the price of meat and seafood in particular. The immediate and effective answer according to experts is to look for local suppliers of these ingredients. This will ensure that you will meet the growing demands of consumers but with minimized costs and less risk of delayed supplies.
Good thing that producers found a way to quickly adapt and get back in service. Through pre-packaging, meals and other fresh produce can now be sold in great numbers once again. This pre-packaged and prepared food will greatly benefit people who are looking for easy and safe meal options on fresh food sections. These can be incorporated with communication materials such as circulars containing meal plans or ideas. This is also effective to market supplementary products and goods available in a store. All of these combined will encourage customers to consistently patronize the grocery store leading to a lasting relationship between them and the brands.
This also gives the grocery store a fresher and better perception from the consumers. Shoppers will now see the grocery as one of the most essential places at the time of a pandemic. Behavior and habits will be formed involving groceries and once again, it will be part of the routine of many people both young and old.
Now it is being seen that even after the COVID-19 crisis ends, e-commerce and options such as curbside pickup will grow and remain patronized by consumers. So grocery stores must also integrate them into their systems to provide seamless transactions. If they succeed in doing this, digital grocery sales will surely give them skyrocketing increase in sales. This is significantly more compared to plain brick-and-mortar sales.