There have been a lot of changes over the past three months, and one thing that’s currently top of mind for brands and marketers is how to safely and strategically reopen its doors to customers. As stay-at-home restrictions begin to lift across the U.S., though, it isn’t quite business as usual.
Driven by the urgent need for essential goods, but also stymied by social distancing regulations, consumers aren’t making purchases the way they used to. They’re trying new shopping methods and reassessing their past shopping behavior.
Media consumption behavior is changing, too. Overall, daily time spent with all forms of media has increased by almost an hour from November of 2019 to April of this year, according to eMarketer. Mobile usage among American adults has risen by 70% a day, while daily time spent on social media this year is expected to top 2019 by 7 minutes.
The New Normal and Consumer Intent
In general, consumers are approaching formerly “normal” activities like shopping and dining out with a different point of view. But Deloitte, which has been measuring consumer anxiety via biweekly surveys, reports that more people are “feeling safe going to the store.” That bodes well for business revenue.
In April and May, the focus was still on necessities like everyday household goods, groceries, healthcare, and housing, while categories like apparel and travel saw a drop in overall spending. In addition to changes in purchase intent, consumers also adapted to new shopping channels. 35% of shoppers tried Click-and-Collect for either the first time ever or the first time in 6 months during the pandemic.
In its May update, though, Numerator noted shopping in stores that were previously closed was a top-four activity in terms of desire and likelihood. Restaurant pick-up or delivery topped the list of most highly-anticipated activities, with 71% of consumers saying they were “extremely likely” or “very likely” to do so in the next two weeks.
New Habits Require New Strategies
These shifts in behavior, intent, and action require that businesses reassess their strategy for positioning themselves to meet their customers’ evolving needs. That process starts with behavioral data. GroundTruth’s Products and Targeting methods can help connect brands with the right audiences based on real-time location trends.
Our newest audience segments, which were built specifically to understand current consumer visitation trends compared to pre-shelter-in-place movement behavior, allow marketers to connect with audiences based on their current movement patterns. Consumers’ devices can show you whether they’re at pre-stay-at-home activity levels; just beginning to reemerge, or still limiting their activity. When you know their foot traffic patterns, you can tailor your messaging and creative ads for these High Movement, Moderate Movement, and Low Movement shoppers.
Another solution is to create a Custom Audience is by layering Location Audiences with Shelter-in-Place Movement Audience Segments. That way, you can reach the loyal customers who are most likely to shop at your store during this time, while also offering services like curbside pickup to Moderate Movement shoppers, and delivery options to Low Movement customers who would want your products brought directly to them. According to Numerator, “online delivery and click-and-collect services continue to attract new users.”
When it comes to channels, don’t overlook the importance of mobile apps. Since the week of March 17th, in-app consumer spend has increased by 78%. GroundTruth’s Location Audiences can help your brand boost its number of installs, as well as improve conversion performance by increasing post-install events and activity.
Behaviors are changing quickly. Lean on location data to help guide your marketing efforts, and leverage GroundTruth’s suite of offerings to connect you with customers at the right moments.
Want to learn more about how to make data-driven marketing decisions during this time? Complete the form below to download the full guide. To stay up to date on the latest foot traffic trends, check out GroundTruth’s COVID-19 Daily Foot Traffic Tracker, which is updated daily, for more data and insights into business foot traffic.
