2 minute read 7 Apr 2020
COVID-19 and the impact on Indian Customer

How the Indian consumer is evolving during COVID-19

By Mahesh Makhija

EY India Technology Consulting Leader

Technology evangelist, a facilitator of customer centricity and innovation

2 minute read 7 Apr 2020

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Consumer behaviour seems to have changed for good across dimensions posing unforeseen challenges for businesses across the nation.

Across the globe, COVID-19 has impacted us at a primal level. Individuals are left wondering about the basic questions of survival – How do I protect myself and my family? How do I protect my livelihood? How do I protect my way of life?

India is grappling with immediate ramifications of this outbreak as well, leaving individuals with experiences that probably they would have never experienced before - social distancing, lockdown living, panic buying and restricted services.

This black swan event has accelerated change on five key customer dimensions:

  • Digital customer journey
  • Hyperlocal and online communities
  • Healthy living
  • Digital content consumption, and
  • Consumers and the State

posing newer challenges for businesses across five key action areas -

  1. Re-baseline consumer insights
  2. Empathetic branding
  3. Digital Only
  4. Remote collaboration
  5. Virtualized sales and service

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This  document outlines key emerging consumer trends, associated impacts on consumer-facing businesses and how businesses can embark on a transformation journey to cater to an evolved consumer in the post-COVID era.

Summary

New epicentres of customer focus are posing unforeseen challenges for businesses across the nation. Planning the now, next and beyond scenarios is critical to ensure customer excellence.

About this article

By Mahesh Makhija

EY India Technology Consulting Leader

Technology evangelist, a facilitator of customer centricity and innovation