As a result of the COVID-19, dynamic shifts are taking place in consuming across various regions and industries, which have positive, negative and unexpected effects on business, state and citizens. In the case of Peru, this context was going to be the boost that e-commerce needed to increase the number of digital users. On the contrary, it resulted in a revaluation of offline. It has become the channel, to which Peruvians are already accustomed.
This article explains how this process is being experienced locally and highlights the role of market research to understand how people are adapting and consuming. Likewise, it allows us to detect opportunities for improvement in consumer experience and health protection.
On March 6, the first case of COVID-19 in Peru was confirmed. In less than ten days, President Martín Vizcarra declared the country in a state of emergency and a mandatory quarantine. Among the main measures, a curfew was implemented, restricting the movement of people, the closure of borders and transport. Also, the closure of the face-to-face channel of all businesses that was not essential like medicines, medical emergency, press, banks and basic services (energy, gas, water and telecommunications) was introduced.
Due to these strict measures, citizens had no choice but to consume digitally. Consequently, the demand of e-commerce has grown exponentially. It is estimated that by the end of this year, 10 million Peruvians will buy online, which would be an increase of between 50% to 80% of digital users. (Lima Chamber of Commerce & RPP News: 2020)
The over demand in this channel and the suspension of non-essential commercial logistical operations until May, caused a serious crisis in the Peruvian e-commerce system. This scenario brought about mistrust towards the retail business, as they did not maintain the commitment to give memorable shopping experiences to their new digital consumers
Neither did the companies timely resolved the deficiencies in the service they offered. In these circumstances, the clients were unable to generate claims to the stores because they were not physically open, the telephone helplines were closed, and there were no clear processes about how to submit claims virtually. The dissatisfaction is reflected in more than 67 thousand complaints registered during the quarantine at INDECOPI (the organization in charge of protecting the consumers’ rights in Peru). Only in June, claims grew by 445% compared to previous months. Among the most common complaints, the supplier never delivered the product, did not refund the money to their customers, delivery was delayed, or delivered products were incomplete or damaged. Given this situation, INDECOPI prepares legal changes that aim to add standards to regulate e-commerce. Also, this organization ordered Peruvian companies to deliver the products or refund the money in a maximum of 10 days to their affected customers (RPP News, INDECOPI & Gestión Newspaper: 2020).
Since the online channel is not working on its own, and it is still in a regulatory process, it has lost a great opportunity to generate a greater stickiness! Indeed, on June 22 the government opened the most prestigious shopping centres in the country and thus summoned multitudes of Peruvians who hoped to make their purchases or claims under the health security protocols (RPP News 2020).
Currently, everything is reactivating from malls to more traditional channels such as markets and restaurants. Consumers are asking themselves: How is the shopping experience adapting or improving in this context? Is it really safe to keep going to stores?
Market research becomes essential, not only to generate information for businesses to understand their clients, but also as a tool for the state for the protection of their citizens. If we provide relevant insights that contribute to increasing confidence in face-to-face attention, we will lower the saturation of the online channel and accelerate the economic recovery.
The world is no longer what it was before COVID-19, and it continues to change rapidly. As researchers, we must not only detect these shifts promptly, but also we have to adapt our methodological approaches to this context. We need innovations that allow us to collect the consumer experience at the right moment, based on real-time interactions during their journey in the store. In this way, we do not depend on the consumer’s memory. The client must register their own experiences directly, which will help to avoid contagion and variability often present when being surveyed after the purchase.
My contribution as a researcher is to design more effective solutions to measure the compliance of health protocols and customer satisfaction.
I, therefore, would like to invite you to discover a new tool that can record the purchase journey in real-time, that I will present during my virtual YES pitch at ESOMAR LATAM Insights Festival in October.
If you want to find out how the Young ESOMAR Society (YES) can support young researchers, visit yes.esomar.org (ed.)
