Understanding your customer dynamics in post-COVID-19

In recent times, most of my clients have often asked when the current pandemic would be over and everything would return to normal. My answer is: NEVER.

What are the new routines and values that guide your consumers’ behaviour and how are your market segments, targets and positioning strategies affected by the current changing phenomenon?

As Ghana cautiously emerges from the restrictions caused by COVID-19, it is worth considering what lasting changes consumers may have to learn to live with in the future.

Consumer behaviours

Consumer attitudes, purchasing habits, taste and preferences and behaviours are changing, posing new challenges to businesses and marketers. The crisis has caused them to change their beliefs about a wide range of everyday activities, such as going to the salon, market and place of worship.

This provides a unique opportunity for businesses to reinforce and shape behavioural shifts to position their products and brands for the next normal.

Companies can influence the behaviour of their customers through new product development and innovation. For example, the pandemic has spurred consumers on to become more health-conscious and increase their intake of vitamins and minerals.

Read: How entrepreneurs can rebuild stronger businesses post covid-19

The current customer behaviour can be referred to as the behaviours, experiences and expectations consumers adopt and keep after the pandemic lockdowns and social distance restrictions. Some strategies that businesses should consider for the new customer dynamics in post-pandemic era are:

Developing digital content strategy: Many consumers in Ghana have engaged with more digital content since the pandemic outbreak than they did before. There have been less face-to-face activities and more time either seeking out digital content for entertainment, information or both, and the overall consumption of the new media is projected to continue to increase.

Video content elicits deep, memorable emotions from viewers. Some mobile telecommunication companies in Ghana are starting to run promotions for specific data usage on videos.

Most consumers in Ghana are filming themselves and uploading to social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.

Businesses have the opportunity to reach younger audiences with less distractions through video content advertisement.

Price-sensitive customers: Due to the volatility of demand during this pandemic, a lot of businesses are experiencing pricing challenges.

Most customers are more than ever interested in promotions and offers, looking for cheaper brands, as well as local brands, while competitors are making aggressive pricing decisions.  

While sectors such as air travel to durable goods are experiencing sharp drops in demand, other sectors from shipping and groceries to medical supplies have risen demand levels which were not anticipated before the start of 2020, leading to the upward pressure on prices.

Businesses should research into the effect of the pandemic on the customers’ purchasing behaviour and adopt a pricing and revenue model that best suits the market trends.

Changes in customers’ spending plan: Many consumers in Ghana are still spending and sometimes spending more especially on food, household supplies and personal care items, as well as an increase in home entertainment. There is also an increase in online buying, especially with regard to grocery and household items. With regard to services, demand for delivery services have also increased, especially in the take-away food market.

Consumers are beginning to keep a safety stock of staple items. Businesses should develop better and more effective infection prevention strategies that will enable them to better prepare for future crises and understand changes in customers’ spending habit.


Sanitation is key: The Ghanaian consumer has adopted a new level of cleanliness for all elements of products and services.

Personal products for self-sanitation will continue to be a usual behaviour, with an extension of expectation to all shops to provide hand sanitiser and cleanliness-guaranteed packaging.

Having personal space and touchless self-service could emerge to be a new shopping experience. Customers will demand the stamp of hygiene before they use any point-of-sale device and this is the reason why most banks have installed hand sanitisers near their Automated Teller Machines (ATM).