Preparing for the Post-Covid-19 World
There is little doubt that we will look back and see the Covid-19 pandemic as a genuine driver for change, and the Post-Covid-19 world will be a very different place for us all, whether this is financially, environmentally, emotionally or physically.
There is a lot of chatter online about what these changes will be, with sweeping statements being made about new consumer behaviours in the aftermath of the crisis, ranging from how we will structure our working day through to how we will buy our groceries in the future.
The truth is it’s far too early to know what our new behaviours will be.
Many of us are currently living in fear and under lock-down, with very little control over our day-to-day life. The new habits we are having to adopt are a reaction to how we feel right now, which is likely to be very different to how we will feel when our freedom is returned, and we have greater peace of mind and personal control.
Behavioural research shows that what people say they will do is very different from what they actually do, and never more so than behind the closed door of their own home.
At Trend-Monitor, we spend our time analysing a wide range of trends, from global megatrends to industry microtrends. We observe social, demographic, consumer, retail, environmental and economic, as well as design and innovation trends.
Our role within the KBB industry is to filter out the noise, highlighting those trends that are having the biggest impact on what the UK homeowner will purchase for their home.
We are in the unique position in that we have already benchmarked the pre-Covid-19 consumer purchasing trends for kitchen and bathrooms, as well as kitchen and bathroom product usage, and as a result we will be able to accurately pinpoint any post-Covid-19 behavioural changes via our ongoing programme of consumer research and trend analysis.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will be reviewing and updating our generic trend map with observations and analysis in order to identify which trends are changing and how, or indeed if, they are driving new patterns of consumer behaviours.
Alongside this we are running a series of mini-polls which will survey concerns and attitudes to our homes and household behaviours during lock-down so that we can understand where homeowners are likely to focus their efforts and spending when restrictions are lifted.
As always, we will continue to keep you updated with our findings and look forward to working with our clients and industry colleagues to understand the New Normal, whatever that might be.