Taking stock of the pandemic

The reduced mobility brought about by pandemic lockdowns has driven structural shifts, as consumers have switched to e-commerce and altered media consumption habits; a new study from Enders Analysis (Living with the pandemic in October 2021) finds most people in the UK aren’t expecting a return to normal any time soon.

Key findings

• The pandemic has created a two-tier recovery, divided between large cities which have retained income levels and accumulated savings, but have ongoing reduced mobility, and smaller cities and rural areas, which have seen a bounce back in mobility. The part reversal of WFH will, however, perk up mobility in city centres in the coming year.

• Those households able to leverage WFH for all days of the week are saving on average 25-30% of their weekly disposable income on expenditure on transportation and out of home service activities.

• There was a structural increase in the online channel, contributing 25.5% of retail sales (excluding fuels), in both July and August 2021 (up from 18.1% in August 2019) thanks to a doubling of food and drink sales. This could be a new baseline for the online channel, and thus associated marketing mechanisms.

• At 96%, engagement with mail was higher than ever as more people have worked from home. But the gulf between the media touchpoints of the “young” (25-34) and those of “older” (50+) audiences, centred on live broadcast TV, has never been larger.

Key quote

“The UK’s journey through the pandemic continues to wreak profound changes to the way people live, work, shop and consume media, with the majority of consumers expecting the old normal to be postponed for at least six months to a year, perhaps never to return” – Janet Hull, Director of Marketing Strategy, IPA.

Sourced from Enders Analysis, IPA