Changes in habits over the last year and the digitalization of establishments and society have led consumers to make different types of purchases through apps
The last two years have brought transformations to several sectors, such as commerce, which had to reinvent itself to continue offering products and services to Brazilians. On the other hand, society also underwent changes to adapt to the period at home during the most critical periods of the pandemic.
One of the great transformations was digitalization – or the intensification of digitalization. This is because the migration to digital environments – whether to communicate, work, pay bills or shop – had already been observed for some years. However, the year 2020 made consumers and entrepreneurs also discover new possibilities of relating to each other – given the growth in the search for online shopping for supermarket items.
The study “New digital habits in times of Covid-19”, carried out by the Brazilian Society of Retail and Consumption (SBVC) in 2020, showed that Brazilians changed their shopping habits in physical stores and started to do so online. line. According to the data, 61% of customers who purchased online during the quarantine increased their purchase volume due to social isolation. In 46% of cases this increase was greater than 50%.
The research carried out by EY Parthenon shows that, among the new habits acquired, there was greater awareness about personal hygiene and cleaning (71%), preparing one's own meals (69%), fewer visits to physical stores (62%), reduction in spending on non-essential products (60%) and intention to take better care of the home (59%).
As a result, delivery apps, such as iFood, began to observe a transformation in customer consumption habits. Previously, delivery was synonymous with pizza and fast food on weekends, but it became considered an essential service during the pandemic and ended up consolidating itself in the daily lives of Brazilians.
In this same year of changes in consumption behavior and digital transformation, iFood Mercado achieved growth of more than 193% in the number of orders between July 2020 and July 2021. The state of São Paulo achieved leadership in the grocery shopping category online and won consumer preference, tied with Pão de Açúcar, according to Datafolha research (April 2021).
With the digital transformation of retail, large chains and the industry have definitively embraced online commerce, which is revealed, for example, in the extensive portfolio of market products that iFood now offers to consumers.
“We are optimistic about the advancement of iFood in the Market category. We have evolved a lot with new solutions and possibilities for the segment, such as shopping lists and express deliveries, for example. We have built an extensive portfolio with partners, following the strong change in consumption habits observed in recent years. Increasingly connected and looking for new shopping opportunities, consumers want their favorite establishments on the app, both to make small and emergency purchases and for larger, planned purchases, in the most diverse segments – Market, Pet, Pharmacy or even Beverages and Convenience . We continue to search for the best solutions for our customers and for the thousands of establishments registered on the platform, with capillarity, national presence and expertise in delivery logistics. It is an important strategic step in the expansion planned for the coming months”, highlights Antonio Mello, Director of iFood Mercado.
Among the partners in the iFood hyper and supermarket category are Pão de Açúcar, Extra, Carrefour, Dia, BIG, Quitanda, Muffato, Angeloni, Barbosa, Oba Hortifruti, Lopes, Hirota, Hortifruti, Natural da Terra, Eataly, among others.
