When the current crisis ends, will your customers spend as much money as they did before it began? Will they buy the same products, or have their tastes changed?
Some answers to those questions can be found in “New US Shopper to Emerge from Crisis,” an article by Jonathan Birchall in Financial Times. Let’s take a closer look at Birchall’s findings:
- More upscale customers have gotten hooked on coupons. Consumers who earn $100,000+ have gotten into the habit of using coupons – and they will continue to do so when the hard times end, according to a TNS survey.
- People will spend about 14% less on discretionary items. Customers will only spend about 86% of what they spent before the recession, according to a survey conducted by Alix Partners.
- The use of credit cards and credit lines will diminish. Birchall notes that cash and cash cards have become preferred payment vehicles – and he predicts that they will remain so. Also: Store brands, which have built a larger market share in their categories, will continue to attract more consumers.
- We are entering the age of thriftiness. Even affluent consumers will continue to be more oriented toward value – and less inclined to buy “aspirationally.”
Those findings support an opinion that I have written about before. It is my view that the companies that succeed after the recession will be those that viewed it as an opportunity to improve their marketing, selling and systems.
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