Evaluating Changing Customer Habits During Uncertain Times

The Coronavirus proved to be no exception to that concept as it completely changed the world. Although behaviors and shopping habits dramatically changed in an instant, overall the concept of adapting to stay afloat remained the same. No matter the time, the economic environment, or even the business, it will always remain true that with time customers change, and so too must businesses.

With that said, the question remains - how do businesses evaluate and change their strategies in order to remain relevant to customers, especially in uncertain times?

The key piece to remember is your customers. Try not to get stuck on the nitty gritty details at the beginning. Instead, evaluate your customers from more of a top-level mindset. That means diving deep into the overall customer behaviors which do not change over time, then using and applying that information to the current environment. After all, the principle of buying and selling will always remain the same.

1. Examine where your customers shop

   How customers shop has changed dramatically over the years. Think about when the catalog first came out and how big of a disruption that was to the typical method of going into a store to buy everything. Today, customers expect to be able to review potential purchases online, and that doesn’t mean just the internet. They expect to find information on social media, too. That doesn’t eliminate the need for brick and mortar stores. No matter if we are in an uncertain time, businesses must adapt in order to meet the customers’ needs.
   
   

2. Consider where your customers see your business

   This lines up with how customers shop. The traditional concept of advertising where the customers’ eyes are will never change. Rather, the place from which customers view and take action from an advertisement will. People are spending more time online and not just to shop. Think about where you personally get your news, entertainment, and other information. The same is true with how your potential customers see the message, and how you promote your business.
   
   

3. How your customers want to be treated

   Today’s customers want instant gratification when they purchase something. That means deliveries have to be faster and in-store stock has to be accurate. For example, one of these major changes is customers wanting purchases dropped off at their front door. COVID-19 is a great example of businesses changing quickly to reflect how customers want to be treated. In order to remain relevant, some businesses quickly adapted to offer personal delivery services, or contactless pickup for products.
   
   

4. Evaluate what entices customers to act

   Once you’ve figured out how to get customers in either the physical or virtual door, then you have to determine what grabs their attention to make a purchase. Consider tweaking your incentives to experiment with what customers really want, such as bundling products together, offering rewards programs and discounts, or even changing how you offer the original product. Lots of businesses did this to the extreme during the global pandemic, and it worked. If customers can’t come in to your restaurant, offer the meals to take and bake; or if you run a salon, consider offering customers hair and nail products with a coupon to come back later. Either way, the small changes still cater to a customer’s needs, and allows them to make the necessary purchases they want, all while keeping money rolling into your business.