Criteo: Online Purchases Take a Leap during COVID-19

Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO), the advertising platform for the open Internet, today released survey on buying behaviour of consumer during COVID-19, titled How consumers adapt their behaviour to COVID-19. This virus has taken a toll over the world, including India. Given the current global situation with the Coronavirus, the shopping and purchasing trends have re-shaped completely. While it might be a slow period for the Indian economy in terms of retail sales, many consumers in this newly launched survey are willing to increase their spending on online purchases.

The pandemic has affected every industry in some way. However, the e-commerce industry has gained momentum in the Indian market and is not hit as hard as the other segments of the economy. With more than 1,085 respondents from India, the survey highlights that close to half of the consumers will prefer purchasing online because of Coronavirus.

While the retail survey results shows that online retail sales will supposedly drop after lockdown in India, it suggests that the sales will increase by 54 points in other South Asian countries as compared to 2019.

It highlights various aspects like the number of consumers willing to purchase online outweighing the number of those who are not as willing. It also points out that the two groups which will prefer online purchase the most are GenZ and millennials. Another interesting finding is that people are ready to cut their spending on wine and spirits.

Sharing his thoughts on the survey, Kenneth Pao, Executive Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, Criteo said, “It has been an interesting survey in such critical times to find out the changing patterns of consumers’ behaviour adapting to the Novel Coronavirus. This is one of its kind situations that is why every insight matters a lot for preparing us for an unforeseen future. The trends showcased will continue during the pandemic where more people are expected to turn to online shopping. Brands and retailers are now presented with a new frontier to help shoppers in maintaining their safety and security along with business continuity.”
It also reveals that groceries and household products were top purchase priorities, but at least 4 out of 10 shoppers plan to keep their spending stable in all other categories as well.

Additional considerations for Marketers

Attention to the needs: Marketers need to pay even closer attention than before to know what is happening and what would matter to consumers during this period. They should focus on expanding segments such as home-based learning, remote working, home fitness and entertainment

Drive conversations with today’s context: while customers are missing a lot in their lives, the marketers need to drive conversation around necessary products which carry the highest relevance in the market today

Engage the audience: Explore interactive formats socially to engage with key shoppers as people are spending all their time at home and are looking to be entertained