Consumer insights:
FANFINDERS
Mums & Moms
insights from the pandemic How has COVID-19 shaped mums’ buying habits and behaviours? FanFinders provide some insight.
The lowdown
With over a third of mums in both the UK (35%) and U.S. (33%) making between 4 - 7 online purchases over the past month, where they’ve been shopping makes for quite the contrast. Sure, Amazon may still be the dominant destination, garnering 58% and 73% of mums in the respective countries, but mums in the UK have been devoting more of their spend to smaller high-street retailers (28%) and local independents (13%). Meanwhile, U.S. mums are 71% more likely to purchase products from somewhere like Facebook than their UK counterparts. Whether these trends are indicative of the longer term picture or the result of current circumstances is still to be determined. After all, more than a quarter of mums in both countries said that they would buy from an unfamiliar brand during this uncertain period. As far as what makes mums buy, it’s familiar ground - 75% in both countries rated price/value as the most important factor, while recommendations (49% of UK mums) and online reviews (53% of U.S. mums) were the biggest influences. More interesting is the ranking of priority purchases during this time. In a market that has seen huge
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investment in children’s streaming services and platforms over recent years, U.S. mums ranked toys as more important than TV/entertainment; and a whole third of U.S. mums admitted to buying more toys during this period. U.S. mums are also significantly more likely to buy ‘gender-specific’ toys and clothing for their babies. In the UK, over 35% of mums have been buying unisex/gender neutral items.
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Sure, Amazon may still be the dominant destination, garnering 58% and 73% of mums in the respective countries, but mums in the UK have been devoting more of their spend to smaller highstreet retailers (28%) and local independents (13%).
Going digital
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etween May and June, FanFinders surveyed over 7,000 mums in the Your Baby Club UK and Your Baby Club US networks. Devised as a way to support our industry, they wanted to learn more about mums’ changing lives, behaviours and buying habits since the pandemic started, comparing perspectives in the UK and the United States. Given the well-documented spike in e-commerce and buzz around using direct-to-consumer channels over the past few months, a lot of the survey data came back with expected trends. But it also revealed a few surprises.
Mums haven’t just been forced into the digital realm to make purchases, it has been an ally in the most important battle of all: keeping their little ones occupied during lengthy lockdown days. While over 50% of mums in the UK and over 65% in the U.S. have been playing games as family, streaming through the likes of Netflix and YouTube has been popular with mums in both locations.
Digital has been the star when it comes to replicating classroom learning too. Almost 2/3 of mums in the U.S. have used learning games, quizzes, tests, videos for teaching and over 40% of UK mums have followed suit. When looking for support and information on COVID-19, digital platforms have again been in focus. Brand websites featured heavily in UK responses, while across the Atlantic, personalised app experiences and a large number of social platforms have been key sources during lockdown. “While our survey results show lots of similarities in the habits of mums during the pandemic, there has been a divide in how the industry has reacted in the UK and U.S.,” says Adam Gillett, CCO at FanFinders. “We’ve seen a lot of companies in the U.S. looking to evaluate their
marketing efficiencies, analysing where they can drive more sales and scaling up programmes. “A few consumer companies have even diversified and moved into other sectors, focussing on promoting apps and driving engagement towards their direct-to-consumer channels or content. Whereas initially, at least, some companies in the UK were content to rely on the traditional website and club sign-ups route. “The situation now is that some brands have seen uplifts of over 300% in their e-commerce sales and the challenge is how to maintain that growth as things return to some definition of ‘normal’. “No-one can say with certainty what the best approach is for every company in the market, but as far as using customer data to drive sales, an in-depth and proactive approach is always better.”
For more information on FanFinders and the consumer insight they can offer, call: 0203 808 3011 or visit www.fanfinders.com