Covid-19 and the physical encounter with your customers
Category: Customer Journey, Covid-19, strategy
Category: Customer Journey, Covid-19, strategy
COVID19 has changed almost everything we know about the consumer. After the period of confinement, the strategy at the point of sale is key to face the return to the new normality because the street has become the place of the permanent threat of contagion.
This generates attitudes and behaviours that affect shopping, turning physical contact with brands into a broken experience. The new attitudes will be marked by a sense of lack of control over the risk of contagion that coexists with an increasingly intense desire to regain normal life.
The lack of efficient online channels (in terms of time, distribution locations or user experience) has forced some consumers to go to the physical point of sale. However, the risk of contagion turns the visit into a moment of lack of enjoyment.
The obligatory exposure to risk generates defensive responses from consumers, who plan their purchases in an exhaustive way in order to reduce risks under more preventive strategies characterised by:
The decision tree has changed dramatically:
In planning, it is important to communicate good practices and reassure your customer: point of sale sanitised to the maximum, in aisles, staff, products... Online shopping will be increasingly relevant for your customer in home shopping, so have a presence from your digital channels at the time of planning.
At the checkout it becomes relevant to offer information on the current occupancy of the establishment and a time system that allows the consumer to be aware of the wait in the store: queue for the entrance, for each of the sections, etc.
At the physical point of sale, good practices in the establishment are those that give signs and evidence of hygiene and sanitation in the establishment: with sanitary products available, signposting of the social distance, clear messages to reduce risks.
Finally, on the way home the consumer needs help. Doubts about the correct measures are constant. There is an opportunity for brands to educate and contribute to relaxation by providing information on packaging about proper hygiene and partnerships between shops and cleaning brands, which provide single doses of disinfectant products free of charge.
For more information, download the full report.