Shopping behavior of digital consumers in 2021: Understand the right way for better consumer experience

While the Covid-19 pandemic has not ended and there are continuous bad changes in many countries, consumers are paying more and more attention to digital commerce platforms to serve shopping conveniently and quickly. When most brick-and-mortar stores were forced to close, governments worldwide ordered social distancing, and all operations had to move online. Obviously, the demand for shopping and ordering at home will also increase.

In 2021, it is expected that more than 2.14 billion people worldwide tend to be willing to pay more for goods and services online, according to statistics from Statista (2021). With such increased demand, consumers will also have a standard measure of satisfaction and different expectations for what they receive. This also means that the consumer behavior of customers has changed, and a new trend has formed. Even if brick-and-mortar stores can reopen, online shopping continues to be popular and favored. Businesses also rely on this new trend to understand their customers, engage them, excite them, and make the shopping journey more convenient than ever.

No longer restricting and forcing customers to only shop on an e-commerce platform like Lazada, Shopee, etc. Businesses and retailers have turned to social commerce sites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to make it possible for consumers to have multi-channel access and easily purchase goods or services through their favorite social platforms. To maximize convenience, businesses can also distribute the focus of customers across many different markets. Especially Millennials and Gen Z, in which 39% feel comfortable and confident when buying directly on the social networks they often use (Linnworks n.d). Vissan, one of the leading food companies in Vietnam, has been flexible in deploying the delivery order service right on the main fan page of the business when before that, Vissan also had its website and had a distribution network. Exclusive distribution at Shopee and Tiki. However, it is not just about posting pictures and prices and expecting to sell when it comes to' investing' in social commerce. Businesses and retailers also need to understand the customer segments they target to offer appropriate strategies and advice to bring about particular effectiveness.

Convenience and flexibility are also fully exploited by consumers in the entire purchasing process through many different payment methods. Once customers have an easy-to-setup payment plan and various popular payment methods, their purchasing power is also high, and decision-making is faster (Businesswire 2018). One of the concepts that retailers can still apply is "buy now, pay later," no need to fill out cumbersome receipt forms, and easy to check the quality of goods at home before purchase receive. Although the method is not too new, this trend is still chosen by customers. Of course, businesses/retailers should also comply with the wishes of consumers. On the other hand, to avoid contact because of the Covid-19 epidemic, many customers turn to online banking and internet banking for faster payment to shorten the transaction time. This also depends on different conditions and circumstances.

The above is just 2 of the online customer behaviors in 2021 that I found out. Ultimately, these are some behavioral changes that have resulted from the COVID-19 epidemic, and online shopping is highly recommended and convenient. So, what do you think about these trends and do not hesitate to add your opinion about the recent change in customer shopping behavior!