After a year of the pandemic, we’ve seen changes in consumer behavior, many of which we expect to continue throughout this year. However, gift-giving is one of the major changes that have occurred. It has been difficult to build or maintain relationships during COVID-19 because of the lockdowns and restrictions placed on a real-life world.
There is no surprise that holiday shoppers plan to buy more online than they did in 2019. This is not what we said; it is a shift in world events resulting from the pandemic, and so we altered our shopping patterns and gave gifts to our loved ones. Nowadays, most people want to give gifts to their loved ones on special occasions and holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and birthdays.
Due to vaccination being rolled out in 2021, it is reasonable to assume gifting will continue in an eCommerce store as well as online. According to eCommerce experts, people are eager to shop in physical stores and want to buy items instantly. Last year, people shopped online exclusively, but now they have both in-store and online options.
As a result, consumers have a wide variety of choices, since they can buy anything they like and give gifts. Nevertheless, in 2021, you need to understand what kind of consumer behaviour people have and what they expect to see.
In today’s article, we cover gift consumer’s behaviors 2021, and explain trends in gift consumer’s behaviors to ensure success in your holiday marketing. Simply comply with these guidelines while serving existing and potential customers, and implement them to your eCommerce or online store.
Consumers will move from Normal to Abnormal Ways of Living
The reason behind people’s abnormal lives is pandemic since certain restrictions and guidelines have been imposed on them. At the beginning of the epidemic, the world was living a public lifestyle defined primarily and increasingly by in-person interactions, which were shared with loved ones, friends, and strangers.
These days, people are so afraid to chill out in a public place. In this time, it is obvious that not only consumers but we as well should be thinking about the risk of being in between many people.
It would be wrong to say that we will live in a new normal soon, but yes, we can pray that things will change and we can have our good times again. This is why it is important for brands to think about how they can serve their customers in such a constrained environment. Here are some consumer behavior trends you should consider to meet your customers’ needs and wants.
Top Gift Consumers’ Behaviors to watch in 2021
Defining what customers want and how they approach brands to shop and gift is not easy. Based on their consumer behaviors, we can examine what they use and how they purchase.
Use social media to get gift ideas
The first and foremost thing that customers do is use social media to get gift ideas. As social media has a wide range of audiences from professional to personal, you can get an idea for almost anything by connecting.
It is no wonder that all social media platforms provide great visuals and are being used by businesses. People are also concerned about social media since it has become a trend, and that’s why you need to utilize it to locate consumer behavior.
You can use the following tips to promote gifts and products and drive sales.
- Make use of Instagram story and highlights to get in front of consumers who are looking for you
- Share your products all over the world with reels
- You can also sell your items on YouTube
- You should include a link to your site on every social media platform to make it easy for consumers to find you
- Create a social media campaign to attract customers
- Show some BTS and pack your gift attractively to attract customers
Convenience is the key
As an eCommerce store owner, you should also keep in mind that the second and most important thing consumers prefer is convenience. Consumer experience should always be great in order to make your store great and popular among consumers.
No matter what the price of a product is, free delivery is the first thing that people look for when shopping or gifting. As an eCommerce store, you should keep delivery costs as low as possible to serve customers and make them feel good about their purchases.
They are looking for more than just free shipping and delivery when it comes to convenience. Furthermore, you need to provide them with a great experience in order to meet their needs and wants. When it comes to serving customers, it is crucial that convenience is always at the top of the list. Make sure you keep it in mind.
You can enhance customer convenience by doing the following:
- By optimizing the search bar, you can improve site search experience
- Provide multiple delivery and payment options
- Use different social media channels to promote your deals
- Deliver a seamless customer experience
Personalized gifts
Next on the list is personalized gifts because customers love to give according to who they are giving to. The trend of personalized gifts has been here since the last few years since now store owners have the ability to customize.
Personalized gifts are more than just a gift since you can design the gift according to your choice and the recipient’s interests. Personalized gifts can be made in many ways as you can also include the name of the recipient along with the address.
Give customers different ways to personalize their purchases and make them happy. Additionally, you can add some little touches of your store to make the gift memorable and liked by the recipient. Giving is all about knowing what the receivers like, and it’s nothing more than a personalization. Therefore, this is another consumer behavior that has changed in 2021 as people like to customize and personalize gifts.
Winding Up
Now that you know what customers expect in 2021, you can impress them by providing them with what they enjoy. Make an efficient holiday marketing plan by integrating these tricks into your store.
Do you need help building an eCommerce store that provides what your customers want? We at M-connect Media have in-house eCommerce experts and Magento Certified Developers to build you a store that delivers value to your customers. For more information, please contact us.