5 in 5: Loyalty, commerce & the new consumer

So during the pandemic, we completely redefined how we shop and where we shop. One of the biggest challenges that we faced were supply chain issues, which still remain today. Over sixty percent of consumers in the last three months faced a supply chain challenge, and only thirteen percent of those consumers waited until that product or brand were in stock. So we're seeing people completely ship brands, not just for convenience, but also availability.

And omnichannel is a huge theme.

Many of the behaviors that we established during pandemic restrictions are actually going to stay with us and redefine what omnichannel means in post COVID or endemic trends. So as a brand, you really need to pay attention to what your new omnichannel means as people are taking their, COVID restriction behavior is impairing them with pre COVID and creating this new normal.

What we're talking about here is really direct to consumer and subscription trends. And what's driving both of those is that consumers have really taken control over the way they buy. Right? It's moved from kind of brand power to consumer power, everything from data to how consumers discover and purchase.

So what do they want from a business? How do we support that? What we've seen is huge shift to subscription. People love the idea of, experience versus owning a product. They want access to exclusivity.

They really want, to be able to purchase as they want, how they want. So it's this whole shift into consumer driven demand and consumer driven commercial models. Another huge disruption is direct to consumer. Many brands are kind of disrupting their go to market, whether it's razors or restaurants. People are going straight to consumers, and really offering unique models on how to buy and engage with their brands.

We saw really bullish economic trends of the pandemic.

Unemployment was at all time lows. The markets were going great.

Consumer spending was really buoyed by a lot of DIY projects and people really reinvesting in themselves and in their homes. And now as we enter the endemic phase, we see spending shifting to out of home. We also see overall macro trends such as inflation, geopolitical challenges, but some overall strong foundations, which are but, you know, paired with some interesting potential headwinds that are causing some hesitancy. So consumers are are reevaluating where they purchase and how they purchase. So engaging with them on more of a, usership, approach like a subscription is much stronger and much preferred by consumers today.

Over the last few years, consumers have really reacted strongly to the pandemic. All of our motivations shifted. Many people reevaluated what was important, what brands were important, how they wanted to shop. Fifty percent of people that were surveyed said that they completely revised their personal purpose and what was important in life.

So you've got stronger priorities and motivations amongst these reimagined consumers, a lower emphasis on quality and price, and a higher emphasis on things like trust and reputation of the brand they buy from, health and safety, product origins. We're seeing a huge drive to ethical, sustainable, community oriented businesses as people have really reevaluated what's most important to them. A little bit of a move away from kind of vanity consumerism and really more towards this ethical consumer or community oriented approach. And when you think about new habits, nothing's bigger than this work from home or work from anywhere concept.

Over ninety seven percent of people that were surveyed said they prefer preferred flexibility in working remotely, or working from the office. People want choice. We've seen consumer driven behavior, and now we're really looking at employee driven behavior. As we move forward, hopefully, into an endemic or even post pandemic phase, consumers want to live a hybrid lifestyle that focuses on the things that are important to them.

And, again, people have really changed what their priorities are. Almost fifty percent of consumers are engaging in these normal out of home activities, but investment in home really continues. People have definitely nested and that's going to continue and they're looking to move additional dollars or spend incrementally out of home embracing experiences, things like travel and dining and entertainment.

Pandemic trends are still going strong, but consumers want this combination of life. So you see a lot of omnichannel and kind of omni experience. This hybrid concept is going to be very resonant as we move forward. Subscription businesses must consider the needs and wants of this reimagined consumer, thinking ethically and with a community focus as you build out your brand and your offering, providing real value and the ability to personalize purchasing decision, whether that's on consumption based or that's really the concept of subscribership, right, versus ownership.

Consumers haven't fully abandoned their normal motivations or their traditional motivations, but they're finding new ways. So omnichannel, really this hybrid concept is going to be critically important as you think about your consumers and move forward. I'm gonna as you think about your consumers and move forward.