The New Customer
Patterns and Personas
“Forever altered.”
“Beyond return.”
“Nothing will ever be the same again.”*
If anything justified such dramatic proclamations from executives, it was the COVID-19 pandemic—a truly global, simultaneous shock. Long-consistent customer behaviors shifted in days or even hours.
How people spent their time and what they valued took a radical turn.
Three years later, it’s time to assess:
- Which changes actually stuck, and which reverted to pre-crisis norms?
- Who is this New Customer, and how does that customer behave?
World 50 conducted interviews with 20 senior executives to examine these questions, gathering cross-functional insights on their customers’ spending, technology, and preferences.
What is clear is that they feel that the landscape has changed, with 90% of respondents to a World 50 poll agreeing that consumer behaviors had changed either significantly or moderately.
N = 59
In this multimedia report, we highlight the preferences and patterns that define this New Customer. We also share best-practice examples of how companies are responding.
*The Pandemic Altered Shopping Habits Beyond Return (The Wall Street Journal, June 2021)
6 ways the coronavirus pandemic has forever altered the retail landscape (CNBC, September 2020)
These eight charts show how COVID-19 has changed B2B sales forever (McKinsey, October 2020)