Consumer behavior can change rapidly. Taking the obvious example of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way in which people buy and use goods and services has been disrupted on a global scale. Lockdowns, social-distancing measures, and serious safety concerns, while restricting our everyday lives and movement, have given rise to massive growth in ecommerce and striking changes in consumption patterns. As the world slowly emerges from the shadow of the pandemic, many of these trends will remain embedded for the long term, shaped and reinforced by the new expectations of consumers.

This report is the first installment in what will be an annual research series designed to report on and measure the dynamic trends and evolving consumer behaviors, year on year. While the specific topics we investigate each year will inevitably be dictated by changing market conditions and consumer trends, we will have core measures that we will apply annually, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer preferences for in-store versus online shopping.

In this first report of our new annual series, we explore the topic of product versus services. Specifically, we want to investigate how central and significant the product and its characteristics are to the customer’s buying decision and how much importance consumers place on the services they are offered and the customer experience they receive when deciding which products to purchase and which retailers to patronize. Additionally, we explore consumer trends related to delivery and fulfillment and direct-to-consumer models, including buying directly from brands.