Post-pandemic shopping habits: The increased importance of consumer budgeting

In the second piece of a two-part series looking at how the pandemic has changed consumer priorities when shopping for household items, we cast light on the extent to which people have become more mindful of their budgets with regards to household purchases.

The YouGov study, conducted across 17 markets in various parts of the world, reveals that almost two in five people globally (39%) appear to have become more careful about how much they spend on household items.

Consumers in Asia are more likely to say that the value of a product and their budget has become a more important factor when shopping for household items since the start of the pandemic.

Almost seven in ten urban Indians say they regard the value of products and their budgets as a more important factor (68%), and UAE (63%) follows closely behind. Scandinavian countries appear to be least impacted by the financial fall-out from the pandemic with Denmark (13%) and Sweden (18%) registering the lowest counts of people who say they place added importance on their budgets when shopping for household products.

Globally, people in older age groups appear to be less concerned about watching their budgets when shopping for household items. Three in ten 55+ consumers (31%) and four in ten consumers aged 45-54 (39%) say the value and budget is a more important factor since the start of the pandemic. That figure rises to 44% of consumers aged between 18-34.

Covid-19 has had a multi-faceted impact on the factors that consumers consider when purchasing household items. Our study finds that over two-fifths of consumers (44%) now consider the health and hygiene benefits of products as a more important factor when making household purchases.

Receive monthly topical insights about the FMCG/CPG industry, straight to your inbox. Sign up today.

Discover more FMCG content here

Start building a survey now with YouGov Direct

Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 508 and 2019 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in April 2021. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.