原标题：透过疫情看消费需求：零售商转危为机之道

新冠肺炎疫情提高了人们线上消费的频率。随着线上消费人群的不断扩大，各行业零售商应该如何抓住机遇，应对挑战，正确谋局呢？且听市场营销学助理教授蒋阳阳博士如是说。

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蒋阳阳 博士

Dr Yangyang Jiang

市场营销学助理教授

Assistant Professor in Marketing,

NUBS China

随着数字技术的发展和电子商务的普及，消费者的生活方式和购物习惯正在发生变革。此次新冠肺炎疫情期间，数字技术的应用帮助广大消费者及时了解疫情信息，宣传了防护知识，为云社交、在线教学、在线问诊、远程办公和居家娱乐健身创造了条件。与此同时，数字技术的应用在稳定居民消费和发展网络消费方面发挥了重要的作用。受此次新冠肺炎疫情的影响，消费者普遍增加了网上购物的频率和在线消费的金额。疫情期间与在线零售商的互动经历，加深了消费者对于在线零售商服务水平的认知，加速了各零售商在消费者心目中的更新迭代，并且培养了消费者对于某些在线零售商的偏好。而对于此前没有网购经历的消费者来说，疫情期间养成的线上消费习惯很可能会延续到疫情结束之后，这种纯线下消费群体购物习惯的本质性改变，将推动线上消费人群规模的扩大。聚焦受疫情影响的消费者心理与行为变化，满足消费者需求，改善消费体验，是各行业零售商抓住机遇、应对挑战的关键。本文将对新冠肺炎疫情期间消费者的四大消费需求和各行业零售商转危为机的举措进行探讨。

消费需求之一：便利性

突如其来的疫情，使足不出户成为常态，消费者对于购物的便利性需求凸显。由于“宅经济”的崛起，线上与线下联动的O2O商业模式在疫情期间逆势发展。大润发、家乐福等大型超市的自有线上渠道为消费者提供了在线下单、送货上门（小区门口）的便捷服务。盒马、超级物种等线上线下一体化的新零售业态充分发挥了网店与实体店的协同效应。借助饿了么、京东到家等生活服务平台，小型超市、餐饮店等也拓展了业务辐射范围。另外，此次疫情还加速了O2O模式向基层社区的下沉和渗透。例如，借力微信小程序和微信群，社区果蔬店和农产品种植、养殖户开辟了在线零售业务，保障了疫情期间居民生活的“菜篮子”供给。显然，互联网已经成为零售商全渠道分销不可或缺的组成部分。通过线上与线下的渠道融合，不少零售商在战“疫”过程中提升了品牌知名度、增强了客户粘性。此次疫情，是实体零售商进行数字化转型的催化剂，零售经营的数字化革新势在必行。

消费需求之二：时效性

疫情期间，消费者多通过互联网采购生鲜产品，对于物流时效性的需求增加。商家能否及时发货、产品能否被及时送达，成为影响消费者购买决策的决定性因素。物流是线上零售的核心环节，是连接在线零售商和消费者的枢纽。然而，运力瓶颈却成为了大多数零售商在疫情之下面临的严峻挑战。春节期间，快递人员本就紧缺；加上疫情影响，线上消费迅猛增长，确保物流及时、高效的难度更大。在此特殊时期，网络零售商的一些做法值得借鉴。其一，京东自营电商+自营物流模式的优势显著，在发货和配送速度方面满足了消费者对于时效性的需求。其二，盒马与餐饮企业以共享用工的方式互助合作，保障了盒马在非常时期的配送服务。共享用工这一创新举措满足了网络零售商在疫情期间的紧急用工需求，缓解了餐饮企业的用工压力，优化了人力资源配置，创造了多赢的局面。这一灵活用工模式的实际操作固然存在一定的复杂性；然而，线上与线下企业之间对人力资源进行灵活调配、互济共享所产生的潜在社会经济效益不容小觑。

消费需求之三：安全性

受疫情影响，消费者对商品和配送安全性愈加重视，“外卖安心卡”和“安心送”服务应运而生。疫情期间的餐饮外卖安心卡注明了食品制作员、打包员和送餐员的姓名及其当日体温。有的外卖安心卡还融合了二维码技术。消费者通过扫描二维码便可以观看食品制作过程的短视频，而商家则以多媒体的方式传达了食品安全、可靠、可追踪的信息。方寸卡片，温馨服务，让消费者更放心。

此外，智能快递柜为无接触配送的实现提供了解决方案，预计疫情结束之后将得到进一步推广。更前沿的且看疫情防控一线，在多家医院上岗的智能机器人高效地完成了物资的点对点配送。无人快递车、无人机送货等技术在疫情期间的应用和研发升级亦加速了人工智能向民用快递领域的延伸。

疫情期间，消费者对于产品包装的安全性也提出了更高的要求。在线零售商因此加强了产品包装，比如用塑料薄膜将食品按种类、重量分开包装。更有商家以“包装”为卖点，推出了诸如包装青椒、包装土豆之类的产品。这些措施一方面从一定程度上令消费者放心，另一方面却增加了包装垃圾、加剧了环境污染。建议在线零售商在重视产品包装的同时避免过度包装，并且尽量使用可降解材料进行包装。

消费需求之四：趣味性

消费者在疫情期间对于“宅”乐趣的热衷，可以从任天堂推出的体感类游戏Switch健身环的畅销窥见一斑。大众对于趣味性的追求，为疫情期间表现低迷的行业提供了机遇。例如，旅游业在线零售商可以通过网络直播平台展示旅游线路和度假产品的特色，也可以利用数字技术打造沉浸式的线上旅游体验，诉诸消费者对于“宅”乐趣的需求。这类营销方式容易引起消费者的情感共鸣，让消费者在心中对旅游度假产品“种草”。旅游零售商还可以通过在线咨询提供旅游线路规划建议，挖掘个性化需求，设计定制化产品。这将提高消费者在疫情结束之后的旅游消费决策效率，促进疫情结束之后旅游业的复苏。

此次新冠肺炎疫情期间消费者心理与行为的变化将对各行业零售商在疫情结束之后的营销战略产生深远的影响。零售企业的可持续发展来源于对消费者心理与行为的精准洞悉。各行业零售商应当以多元化的营销策略满足多样化的消费需求，加速数字化转型，加强内功修炼，并在此过程中锐意创新、精耕细作，不断提升消费体验。

Fighting COVID-19: How innovative Chinese retailers turned adversity into opportunity

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the application of digital technology has enabled consumers to get up-to-date information about the pandemic and made it possible for telecommuting, online teaching, and online medical consultations. Meanwhile, digital technology is also playing an important role in the growth of online consumption. Affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, consumers have increased their frequency of online shopping and the amount of money spent on online consumption. Through interacting with online retailers, consumers have gained valuable knowledge about the service capability of online retailers. These interactions and experiences have led to consumers favouring certain online retailers over others.

For consumers who have never purchased online before, online shopping became a habit during the pandemic period and is likely to continue even after it ends. This fundamental change in the shopping habits of former offline only consumers will lead to an expansion of the online market. It is essential for retailers to focus on the psychological and behavioural changes of consumers during this period, in order to meet consumer needs and expectations, and improve the consumption experience. This article presents a discussion of four major consumption needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding measures undertaken by retailers that turn adversity into opportunity.

Slide up for more details .

1. Convenience

Following the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, staying at home on a daily basis has become normal life for most residents in China. Consequently, consumer demand for the convenience of shopping without going out is prominent. With the rise of the ‘housing economy’, the O2O (online to offline) business model has been developing rapidly. Online platforms owned by large supermarkets such as RT-Mart and Carrefour have enabled consumers to make orders online and receive deliveries on their doorstep. Alibaba’s innovative supermarket, Hema, has integrated online (the mobile app) and offline (the physical store) channels to create synergy. With the help of Ele.me, Meituan.com and other online platforms, mini-malls, bakeries, cafes, and restaurants have expanded their geographical scope of business. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the penetration of the O2O model into local communities. For example, with the help of WeChat mini-programs and WeChat groups, community-based grocery stores have opened up and expanded their online retail business, which has ensured the supply of daily necessities for residents during the crisis.

Obviously, the Internet has become an indispensable part of the retailer’s omnichannel distribution. Through the integration of online and offline channels, many retailers have enhanced their brand image and improved customer stickiness in the process of fighting the pandemic. In short, the COVID-19 outbreak has been the catalyst for the digital transformation of traditional retailers. There is no doubt that the digital innovation of retail operations is imperative.

2. Timeliness

During the pandemic period, consumers mostly purchase fresh food online. As fresh food deteriorates easily, there has been increasing consumer demand for logistics that ensure the timeliness of deliveries. Whether online retailers can send goods in time and whether products can be quickly delivered have become determining factors in the purchase decisions of consumers. As the pivot that connects online retailers with consumers, logistics is essential for online retailing. However, limited logistics capacity has posed a serious threat for most retailers since the COVID-19 outbreak. During the Chinese Spring Festival, shortages in delivery personnel were common. Now, the impact of the pandemic has added to the challenges, making it even more difficult to ensure efficient logistics.

In the face of these difficulties, online retailers have been setting good examples. First, the logistics owned and operated by JD.com have demonstrated significant advantages in terms of delivery speed to meet consumer demands for timeliness. Second, Hema and other catering enterprises cooperate with each other by ‘labour sharing’, yielding social and economic benefits. Labour sharing refers to when Organisation A has idle employees but Organisation B needs extra staff, Organisation A will lease staff to Organisation B on a short-term basis. The COVID-19 outbreak has left many employees in the catering industry unemployed. Whereas online retailers like Hema are in urgent need of more staff to handle soaring online orders. Through labour sharing, restaurant employees have temporarily joined Hema to help with product distribution, which has ensured Hema’s service quality. This innovative model of collaborative employment has created a ‘win-win-win’ situation by meeting the emergency employment needs of online retailers, alleviating the unemployment pressures of catering enterprises, motivating idle staff, and optimising the allocation of human resources.

3. Security

Due to the pandemic, consumers now pay more attention to product hygiene and personal safety when receiving deliveries. To meet this consumer requirement, takeaway platforms, such as Ele.me, have offered ‘contactless delivery’ services. Contactless delivery refers to couriers placing goods at designated locations such as at the gate of community residences during the COVID-19 pandemic period. This measure has proved to be effective in protecting the consumer and courier from making close contact, reducing the possibility of transmission and infection.

Meanwhile, catering enterprises have been providing a special ‘takeaway information card’ attached to the takeaway package. This little card indicates the name and the temperature of the chef, the packager, and the courier. Some of these cards even incorporate QR code technology. By scanning the QR code, the consumer can watch a short video about the production and packaging process. Using this multimedia approach, catering enterprises seek to convey that the food production process was safe, reliable, and traceable. These approaches have enhanced brand warmth, allowing consumers to feel more at ease.

In addition, the self-service package lockers, such as Hive-Box, have provided the last-mile solution to logistics. As this locker system enables contactless delivery, it has been favoured by consumers, especially since the COVID-19 outbreak. This business will likely continue to grow after the end of the crisis. Even more advanced, delivery robots have efficiently accomplished tasks related to the point-to-point distribution of materials in hospitals at the frontlines of fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. The application and upgrading of technologies such as automated delivery vehicles and drone deliveries during the pandemic will accelerate the penetration of artificial intelligence into the civil logistics industry.

For hygiene and safety reasons, consumers now hold higher expectations for product packaging because of the COVID-19 pandemic period. As a result, online retailers have enhanced product packaging, for example, by using a plastic film to separate food into smaller quantities. Some online retailers even use ‘packaging’ as their selling point and launch products such as ‘packaged chilli’ and ‘packaged potatoes’. To a certain extent, this measure reassures consumers of food hygiene. Nonetheless, it has increased packaging waste and may lead to future environmental problems. Online retailers should avoid excessive packaging and use biodegradable materials.

4. Fun

Consumer enthusiasm for fun at home has manifested itself into the popular game console, Nintendo Switch, during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The consumers’ pursuit of fun provides an opportunity for industries that have suffered heavy losses due to the outbreak of COVID-19. For example, online tourism retailers can show videos of tourist attractions and vacation product highlights on webcast platforms. They can also use digital technologies, such as virtual reality, to create immersive travel experiences online. These approaches would appeal to the consumers’ demand for fun. In this way, marketers can arouse the emotional resonance of consumers and raise the awareness of travel products in the consumer’s mind. Following this, online tourism retailers should design customised travel products and offer personalised travel itinerary advice via online consultations. This will improve the efficiency of decision-making by potential tourists and promote the recovery of the tourism industry post-pandemic.

In conclusion, the changes in consumer psychology and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic will profoundly influence the marketing strategies of retailers in various industries after the end of the pandemic. The sustainable development of retail businesses derives from insights into consumer needs and the efforts made to meet diversified consumption needs. To accommodate this, retailers should accelerate their digital transformation and embrace innovation.

文字: Yangyang Jiang

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