The impact of Covid-19 on consumer trends in Europe

The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way we shop online and offline. Food retailers have benefited from it, while omnichannel non-food retailers are just starting to recover. How has the coronavirus impacted consumer trends in Europe?

It seems that four in ten consumers in Europe have experienced a decrease in their household income because of the pandemic. This has led to 38 percent planning to reduce their spending over the next months.

Research from PWC shows that it’s mostly consumers in countries that have been affected the most by the pandemic who are determined to spend less. The share of people planning to reduce their spending is 56 percent in Spain, 43 percent in the United Kingdom and 42 percent in Italy.

Breakthrough for online grocery shopping

The pandemic outbreak has lead to a breakthrough for online grocery shopping. During the lockdown, 28 percent of Europeans living in urban areas used online shopping as the main channel for buying groceries. That’s an increase of 10 percentage compared to before the pandemic.

Another interesting finding is that 52 percent of German online grocery shoppers bought more during lockdown, while 70 percent of French, Spanish, and Italian consumers did so. And over 80 percent of European consumers who started buying groceries online during the pandemic are planning to continue to do so.

80% of Europeans who shopped groceries online during the pandemic will keep doing this.

‘Now is the time to learn from online grocery players’

PWC comments: “For food retailers who face the challenge of building a profitable online business, now is the time to learn from online grocery players, rethink operations and build additional analytics capabilities.”

They also state that fewer than 10 percent of European consumers expect free delivery when buying groceries online. “However, consumers are still very demanding. They are most willing to pay for grocery deliveries that arrive between one and six hours after they place their order.”