Low touch, digitalisation and sharing data
There has been an acceleration in cashless and automated stores with the pandemic. Spending via digital wallets is expected to hit $10 trillion in 2025, up from $5.5 trillion in 2020, with 83% of that growth driven by increased take-up during the pandemic. Consumers are also more used to accessing online services, including in physical offline outlets, such as QR code-enabled digital menus in restaurants. And there has been a surge in digital activity generally – when we asked consumers which activities they had increased during the pandemic, the top four answers all related to digital activity.
There is an evolving trade-off between privacy and convenience, with less concern about privacy in some markets. Consumers have also become acclimatised to sharing new kinds of personal data due to the pandemic, including personal health information, through contact tracing and self-reporting apps. This has put greater scrutiny on data privacy and protection and companies are making a number of adjustments to ensure a balanced approach in the COVID-19 context. “Privacy budgets have increased over the last year, organizations have more resources focused on privacy, and privacy investments going above and beyond the law are translating into real business value,” according to the Cisco 2021 Data Privacy Benchmark Study.
Opportunity: Personalised shopping and digital product experiences
The use of “self-captured” personal data to improve products and services opens new opportunities, including personalised offers, health advice, category management based on geo-location, and competitions. For example, promotional campaigns that leverage Tetra Pak “Connected Packages”, which allow consumers to scan a unique QR code to access digital incentives, have proved extremely successful during the pandemic. Another example is augmented reality (AR) technology, which can be used to create digital experiences, such as virtual food tourism, providing an opportunity to engage with international food culture when travel remains restricted.
Case study: Postobón, Colombia
In March 2021 Postobón – a leading Colombian beverage producer – launched Hit Go, a unique still drink offering in terms of flavours, branding and digital promotion. Packaged in Tetra Brik® Aseptic 200 Slim Leaf as well as Tetra Prisma® Aseptic 1000, Hit Go plays with AR to encourage children to virtually visit the savannah, the jungle and the beaches of the Pacific coast in search of the origin of the flavours and fruits characterising each product.
