The news is good for this industry as people and organisations rely more on technology than ever before; the sector should seize the day, while also making sure that it’s accessible across the whole community.
The optimism for the consumer in this sector is driven by the realisation that consumer technology has been helpful in the pandemic, and further, that technology can help sustain or enhance wellbeing. People typically viewed technology as communication and connection focussed, rather than say gaming or gadgets, which in itself shows a healthy perception for the industry.
The industry is seen to have performed well in the pandemic, and is emerging from it with an enhanced reputation. This is perhaps to do with the combination of product development, availability and support.
This optimism has a very specific manifestation - in contrast to most other sectors, respondents commenting as consumers of technology goods viewed organisations as being more resilient than themselves. This does not mean they see themselves as less resilient than others, just that they see the impact of the pandemic as aligning with the interests of these organisations.
The key areas where assistance is sought from people interacting with the sector, other than the needing to stay economically active, are extra support and availability. There are also strong verbatims for other ideas, such a simplification of services/user experience, more accessibility for lower incomes and educational packages.
It is of significance that the profile of respondents commenting as users of consumer technology differs from the overall B2C data set. It is younger and has a household status that indexes higher for households without children. This demographic analysis may be as expected but it is important for organisations in this sector to note that the 25-35 group is the age group most open to support from organisations both overall and in this sector. This could indicate an opportunity for engagement strategies to create loyalty in this group.
So what should the sector make of this? Build on the progress made as a result of the pandemic. As with many sectors, business should keep listening to customers and their experience needs, and in particular, seek to make changes if COVID-19 plays a part in products and services - make the offering ‘covid-aware’. It’s also crucial to make sure that those products and services are accessible across the board, so that the left-behind don’t stay left-behind.
It is basically a good news story for this industry.
