Whether you’re thinking about starting a business, already running or working steadily in an established business, or are just looking for pointers, it’s important to know the current buying trends of today.
Some entrepreneurs may have thought they knew what was coming for the age of buying trends of 2020 back in 2019, but no one anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic that swept across the world and changed everything. Buying trends was no exception to the change in trends.
1: Ecommerce: World of Online Shopping
While online shopping has become exceedingly popular the last several years, the current pandemic that left so many people in quarantine, homebound for work, or just overall cautious about going out in public, further increased the traffic of online retailers.
On average, about half of the retail purchases being made are over the interest. This year, we’ve seen, for the first time, people of all age groups using online grocery delivery services.
Though some people are hoping, when the pandemic comes to a close, we’ll eventually go back to traditional brick and mortar retail, the reliance on online shopping and the large increase in bankrupt claims through established retailers tells us the world of online shopping going to continue to grow.
2: Social Commerce
In relation to online retail, there has been an increase in sales through social media platforms. Sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have made it possible for people to shop right on their site or over their app without even having to click to a third-party website.
In 2020, the internet witnessed major advances in this buying trend. Facebook established their Shops feature, TikTok partnered with Shopify, and Snapshot expanded their Native Stores.
Just as online shipping has, social commerce has shown promising opportunities for buying in the future.
3: Health-Conscious Buying
This trend may be in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, or is just general mindset shift, but people are looking for products focused on health and wellness.
People are often now looking for products that are advertised as organic, healthy. It’s even more promising when these products can be compared to more popular, commonly used products, are proven safer and healthier for you.
4: Stockpiled Products
There was a craze, when COVID-19 first made people panic, that caused some to stockpile on certain products. Some of these products included toiletries, preserved food, hand sanitizer.
These products sold well in the first weeks of the pandemic, are continuing to sell well, and are probably not going to drop in popularity any time soon. Though it may seem like a small thing, businesses, if possible, should consider supplying these products through their business.
5: Dangerous Businesses to Get Into
Things on a need-to-know basis aren’t always good. Some businesses that took a hit, possibly had to file bankruptcy, and certainly aren’t going to be a good investment until the end of the pandemic are:
- Restaurants
- Apparel
- Travel (Hospitality)
- Entertainment (Movie theaters, movie venues)
These are just some of the buying trends to look keep in mind when exiting 2020 and going into 2021.
