The same consumers, but different

Consumers who experience periods of economic recession and market turbulence often revert to previous habits once the situation becomes more stable, incorporating behaviors acquired during difficult times as part of a process of maturation and development.

And what is happening in the United States right now is an excellent example of how this process manifests itself.

The average American consumer in the pre-housing, economic, and financial crisis period, emerging from the previous crisis, the bursting of the internet bubble, and the Nasdaq crash of 2000, experienced a new period of consumer euphoria until 2007, with some occasional setbacks.

Hit hard by the most serious recent crisis, which began with the "tsunami" in the real estate market in 2007, with repercussions in all economic and financial activities, purchasing and consumption habits changed dramatically.

Affected in the short term by the sharp drop in employment; pressured by the payment of his real estate investments; frightened by the loss of value of his retirement plans; and with a dramatic short, medium and long-term outlook, he adopted new behaviors, governed by an exacerbated pragmatism in the analysis of what, how much and where to buy.

Luxury brands and stores were banned from the list of alternatives, and carrying a bag from a store considered sophisticated became politically and socially incorrect behavior. President Obama's wife became a symbol of this new attitude, mixing designer pieces with clothes sold by mass-market retailers.

Visits to stores considered more expensive were dramatically reduced, and value-oriented chains, such as hypermarkets, supercenters, discount stores, outlet centers, and especially shopping clubs (such as Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's), began to receive customers who were not usually their patrons.

Supermarkets benefited from the return of customers who had become accustomed to eating out more, which had led to the share of food consumed outside the home reaching more than 50% of all food consumption in the country. However, upon their return, customers did not revert to the old habit of buying food to prepare at home, but instead began to buy, in greater proportion, ready-made or pre-prepared foods to be consumed at home or at work, instead of returning directly to restaurants and other forms of eating out.

The result is significant growth in the area of ​​ready-made or pre-prepared foods in supermarkets and hypermarkets, as well as in membership-based shopping clubs, with an ever-increasing supply in terms of quantity, variety, and quality. This is in addition to a redesign of the environment, lighting, and visual and personal communication to meet the new demand.

Undoubtedly, the retail format that best capitalized on the benefits of these new habits was the membership-based shopping club, which began to attract a customer much more focused on value, buying larger quantities of items, and making fewer visits to stores. This customer is especially sensitive to the rising cost of fuel. The average ticket price for a visit to a membership-based shopping club is around US$100, and visits are made twice a month. The American consumer, with their exponential pragmatism in shopping, takes these changes to the extreme.

As a result, the growth of this format is among the highest in the United States, surpassed only by the expansion of online sales, another channel that has strongly benefited from changing habits, due to the opportunity it offers for direct price comparison, convenience, and fewer visits to stores.

Similarly, the process of change involving drugstore chains accelerated, with them significantly expanding their food, health, beauty, and convenience areas and reducing their pharmaceutical sections due to new habits. The new, redesigned stores of a Duane Reade, Walgreens, or CVS are much closer to the established models of the English Boots, offering sandwiches, drinks, snacks, etc., and, at the back, the medicines and products that were the origin of the format.

But the economic recovery, improved employment, and a more relaxed business climate will not bring back old pre-crisis habits, because in the process of maturing, consumers will incorporate perceptions that will forever change their behavior, based on the realization that, in some aspects, "the world has changed" and there is no reason to return to the past.

Among the many changes being incorporated, perhaps the most significant are all those involving digital retail, with purchases, information, and comparison of products and prices through the internet and mobile phones. This includes the increased frequency of membership in shopping clubs; the growing use of ready-made or pre-prepared foods in supermarket and hypermarket purchases; and the use of drugstores as convenience stores.

Identifying some of these ingrained habits and their impact on the set of changes involving the evolution of formats, businesses, channels, and brands is one of the most fascinating elements of the structural and strategic transformation process in distribution. And it offers great opportunities for those who correctly and proactively interpret these movements.