Consumer Behavior: understand your customers
Every year, consumer trends change or evolve. This year, the main protagonist is still the consumer. However, this year, brands take these experiences to the extreme of the sensory.
1. Consumer experience
In the past years we have seen, how brands invested in luxurious spaces for their target. We also remember how the particular aromas of each brand are fixed in our memory and encourage us to buy. However, in 2019 consumers will live real experiences when buying. An example of this consumer trend is the Canada Goose brand. The brand has created cold rooms where customers can try their products. This way, the user can test them in real conditions.
Another example is the English sofa company The Burrow House. In his showroom in London, their clients are invited to try the comfort of the brand. Lying on a couch, with a cup of coffee, and watching Netflix all day long. This is how your customers enjoy the experience created.
Experiential retail is booming. Now we just need to see how other great brands fascinate their clients with unique experiences.
2. Artificial intelligence
According to the Deloitte study, more than 80% of companies that have invested in artificial intelligence have already recovered the initial investment. These are a few trends for this year:
Chatbots
For example, chatbots will have a very important role from now on. On the one hand, they collect valuable information about the brand’s target audience. On the other hand, these virtual assistants facilitate the process of purchasing or obtaining information for the user. The use of these systems for customer service grows more and more. This year, an increase in voice commands was expected.
Autonomous driving
Another consumer trend is the start-up of autonomous driving. Companies around the world are already testing their projects. An example is the Kroger supermarket company. They have created an autonomous car for delivering customer’s groceries.
In the same way, Amazon’s e-Palette delivery vehicle predicts that its service will be available in 2020.
Photo by AP Photo/Brian Skoloff
Machine learning
There are already applications that predict changes in consumer habits or consumer trends. Its objective is to increase the benefits. An example is the real-time personalization of Amazon Personalize which recommends products to the app users. Today, it represents 55% of Amazon’s sales.
Another example of machine learning is supply chain prediction software. Consumer behavior has always been an arduous task to predict. Thanks to these technological applications, destocking, and loss of sales are avoided.
Similarly, the intelligence location recalculates company delivery routes. Real-time data allows routes to be optimized based on traffic, weather conditions, and delivery addresses.
3. Consumer Consciousness
Another trend that will continue to increase is consumer consciousness. The customer decision-making process doesn’t revolve anymore just around the price. Companies must have greater purposes to contribute to a better world.
For this reason, the outdoor equipment company Patagonia is aware of its ecological responsibility. For this reason, they have created repair centers for their products all over the world. This way, they can reduce carbon emissions.
4. Faster and free e-commerce shipping
Digital commerce has grown 11% during the past year. Consumers are the ones that determine how and when they want to receive their products. Consequently, the delivery time has had to be reduced. Similarly, consumers have become accustomed to getting free shipping costs. Therefore, to continue advancing in digital sales, these services will be necessary in the large digital spectrum.
5. Multi-channel
Despite the increase in online sales, physical stores continue to play a key role in the purchase process. However, the retail strategy for interacting with the customers evolves. It extends the contact points with clients. Statistics show that only 11% of Generation Z buys through social platforms. Similarly, the Baby Boomers do it a 25%. Nevertheless, Millennials prefer to discover new products through social networks like Instagram or Snapchat.
Therefore, retailers must be active in all the channels where they are present. This way, they will keep consumers engaged, from the first impacts until the final conversion.
6. UGC, a marketing must
User-generated content is an imperative consumer trend for this year. Studies show that authenticity is very important when deciding what brands to support. These days, consumers don’t believe the content released by brands. The travel company Busabout has changed the way they promote their trips on their website. In fact, they have changed the 99% of it. Instead, they have only used UGC. The success is clear. They have experienced a 33% boost in sales. So put aside traditional visual campaigns and work with your customers’ experiences.
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