From PaperCare to Coffee makers – Why Consumer Insights Research Is Going to Dominate 2021

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The year 2020 has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This development has changed the way people around the world do business and shop. Although the trend toward online shopping has been increasing over the last few years, the pandemic made this increase more dramatic. 

According to a survey presented at the UN Conference for Trade and Development, more than half of 3,700 consumers around the world said they shop online more frequently than they did before the crisis began. To reach these new online shoppers, updated marketing strategies driven by consumer insights can determine how they feel about brands and what they want to buy. 

How Covid Has Changed Shoppers

Not only are consumers around the world buying more frequently online, but their shopping behaviour has changed. Before the pandemic, discretionary items were purchased online, but because of lockdowns, factory closings, and local shortages, consumers turned online to buy necessities such as grocery, toilet paper, alcohol-based products, and cleaning supplies. 

As unemployment rose and job security became tenuous, shoppers turned online to find bargains. In addition, they often experimented with new brands because of supply chain delays. Some customers made the switch permanently to new brands. The pandemic has challenged brand loyalty and now companies need to find new ways to foster customer retention. 

What Are Consumer Insights? 

Given shifting consumer habits because of COVID and beyond, companies can no longer rest on their laurels and assume their customers are going to be loyal to their particular brand merely out of habit. From reviews, social media posts, and comments online, it is clear that the average consumer does due diligence and researches their options before making purchases.

This is where consumer insights come into play. A consumer insights tool examines reviews, social media posts, and other user-generated content and performs sentiment analysis. This involves assigning a score to each text based on the mood and attitude detected by the sentiment analysis software. There is a wide range from very positive to very negative and sentiments in between. 

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Sentiment analysis allows businesses to take qualitative information or subjective user-generated content, and transform it into actionable quantitative data. This data guides consumer insights and can update marketing strategies and product development. 

The following are industries that have changed dramatically during the pandemic and may continue to show changes in 2021. The examples also demonstrate how consumer insights can be incorporated into marketing. 

#1. Toilet Paper and Paper Goods

When lockdowns began and infections rose in 2020, one of the biggest concerns for consumers was getting enough toilet paper. The actual shortages that might have existed otherwise were exacerbated by hoarding and panic buying. The situation became so severe that many retailers limited the number of toilet paper that could be purchased each visit.

According to sentiment analysis conducted by Revuze, the sentiment for paper goods availability fell from 47% to 14% in the first week of March. The sentiment concerning how economical paper goods were fell from 91% in January to 79% in March.

This clearly reflects trends that were observable during the pandemic. It also demonstrates how consumer insights can keep business owners informed of customer trends that may not necessarily make the headlines. 

#2. Alcohol

There are two different stories concerning the alcohol industry in 2020. Alcohol sales online and in brick and mortar stores grew substantially. Stores sales increased 21% and online sales of alcohol grew an astounding 234%, and is the fasted growing online category among packaged goods, according to Nielson. 

Image: mckinsey.com

On-premise alcohol sales, however, have declined to low levels because of bar and restaurant closings. Alcohol is a high-margin item for restaurants, and the loss of business has been devastating in some cases. It is estimated that there will need to be a 22% growth in on-premise alcohol sales in 2021 to compensate for 2020 losses. 

Consumer insights can be a useful tool for online retailers to determine which categories and products (e.g alcohol) are preferred and how to stock inventory accordingly. In addition, restaurants and bars can use sentiment analysis on reviews and social media posts to determine how to encourage consumers to safely resume doing business with them with alcohol delivery in areas where it is legal. 

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Coffee Machines

Prior to COVID, many people purchased their coffee outside the home at their local cafe on the way to work. Starbucks had a slow quarter because as people stopped going to offices, they no longer purchased a latte on the way to work. By the same token, Newell, which sells a variety of products reported slow sales in every category except for appliances and coffee makers, which grew 6%. 

Although people are going to return to work in 2021, it is likely that sales of coffee makers and ground coffee will still be strong. When people realized how much money they saved making coffee at home rather than spending $5 for a coffee drink in a cafe, they may change their habits for the long term. 

Consumer sentiment on user-generated data can provide clues to companies about which coffee makers are the best sellers. Also, cafes can use consumer sentiment tools to determine customer pain points that are preventing them from buying coffee in cafes. They may consider selling coffee beans, grinders, and coffee makers in cafes. 

Consumer Insights is a Winning Strategy for 2021

Consumer insights software and tools are a solid investment for 2021. Many assumptions have forever changed, and businesses need to find new ways to tune into their customers’ thoughts, feelings, and needs concerning products and brands. Data mining and consumer sentiments provide data that enhances connection with customers. 

Alon Ghelber
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