The cost-of-living crisis is driving a return to pandemic-style shopping behaviors

In the face of inflation, some consumers have reverted back to a scarcity mindset, as Alex Van Gestel of EPAM Continuum finds.

At EPAM Continuum, we launched our Consumers Unmasked study to map the changing attitudes and behaviors of consumers during the pandemic, across four stages. Yet, as our study suggests (and the International Monetary Fund agrees), consumers will return to their well-trodden pandemic behaviors, as a third of the global economy will be in recession in 2023.

In stage four of the study, we explore trends that receded and returned to prominence. We ask industry experts how retailers should respond and consider how the past has left them better able to respond to rapidly changing consumer needs.

Once again, value is all about price

Price was always one of the most important factors in how consumers calculate value, yet it was far from the only factor. At times during our study (most notably in the early days of lockdown uncertainty) consumers perceived value as a combination of price, quality, availability and choice.

Read the full article here.

Read EPAM’s Consumers Unmasked stage 4 report here.