How do consumers use technology?

THE EVOLUTION OF THE INTERNET

How consumers use technology and the impact on their lives

VIDEO PITCH

SLIDE NOTES

Now more than ever consumers are integrating technology and the

internet in their lives. The advancements in technology is shaping our world and evolving consumer behaviour.

The need to stay connected with people, brands that we love is growing every day. The search for convenience and having everything at the touch of our fingertips or being voice-activated is now more popular than ever. Consistency is the biggest thing that consumers are looking for. We want to be able to do everything that we already know and more, using technology, every day in our lives. But wasn’t always like this. How did we get here?

 Let’s look at the evolution of the internet.

The need to be connected began in 1960’s, when the first computers where connected. Over the next decades, email communications was born and in the early 2000’s we were connected via the world wide web. This was the beginning of decades of evolution. The rise of Google brought a new way of knowing and doing things. The introduction of iPhone in 2007, open a new world of possibilities on the go. Fast forward to 2020 and there are 4.57 billion internet users worldwide. That’s half the world population with access to the internet! The biggest fuel for that growth is Social Media, with exciting apps like Tiktok and Instagram, we have seen a whopping 16.9% growth last year alone.

With advancements in internet speeds from basic to 2G to the innovative 5G, new technologies have arisen, and we are able to do some much with our devices.

 There are 26.6 million devices connected online and the most commonly used one is the smartphone, but we don’t stop there.

Did you know that 90% of us, use multiple devices to achieve a goal?  Example, finding an awesome Netflix series on my phone and casting it to my smart TV to watch it. Connected devices let’s do so much more. Another good example is the smartwatch, I can track my fitness, send text messages, check my emails and make payments, on the go! Devices have become essentially vital to our daily routines, so much so, that we spend on average 6 hours and 42 minutes every single day, online!

But how do consumers search for information?

Well, there is a reason why we say; “Just Google it!”. Google is the most used search engine running 94% of all our searches. 20% of them Google has never heard of. The most common searchers are “Near me” with a 34% search rate and then followed by 49% related to products or services. Another interesting fact is that 65% of us are engaging in voice search and there is an emerging movement for visual search, using lens search technology.

We have also started to search for information on social media. 86% of women say that they look for recommendations on a product or services on social media before making a purchase. With 63% of shopping occasions starting online, we have seen a rise in consumer interactions with chatbots, and 55% of them said they love instant response.

But what do consumers buy online? Research shows that the majority of our purchases are on clothing, travel and household goods. With eCommerce growing at 23% year-over-year, the online offering has expanded and has revolutionized the way we buy. The raise of pure-play companies like Amazon and Asos have shifted the need for physical stores. Uber and Lyft have transformed the modern vision of a taxi, and our entertainment has been diversified with the likes of Netflix and Spotify, all accessible at our fingertips.

We have also become big fans of video. Our online consumption has risen 100% every year, it is 15 times higher than it was in 2017. There are 1 billion hours of video viewed each day on YouTube, that 114 years of video in a day!  

Interestingly, half of the internet users, search for videos related to a product before visiting a store and 64% of them will make a purchase after watching a branded video. We have also become a bit impatient when it comes to watching video, with 45% of us dropping at just 1 min. However, video popularity continues to be trending, with 65% of people still using YouTube to help solve a problem.

 More consumer trends:

The integration of smart speaker. 1 in 4 adults using a smart speaker at home. We are also starting to except accept robots and artificial intelligence in our daily interactions. With the surge of COVID, we have also seen a positive shift in technologies like AR, VR & XR. The extended possibilities seem much more attractive with the lack of physical experiences available.

 Changes how consumers use social media, it has become a place to search, with 60% of users saying that they discover new products everyday social media.

Also, the rise of new social media platforms like TikTok, which is driving new behaviour of mass participation with a variety of new content, exciting and new.

 In summary, as technology has evolved so has the consumer and their behaviour. We have adapted and become more connected with our devices, they are now essentially an extension of us. With faster internet speeds and new technologies arising every day, we have quickly learnt that they bring convince to our lives. They have disrupted markets and the way that we live. We are no longer constrained, technology has brought knowledge to our fingertips. It has shaped the way we stay connected, search, consume, entertain and even the way we work. Technology keeps on evolving and so do we, consistency is now more important than ever, so brands must quickly adapt and evolve with technology to meet the modern consumer needs.

References available on SlideShare presentation at the top of the page.