The Covid consumer trends that shifted spending habits

IT ALMOST seems a parallel universe now, but this time three years ago the British public were rapidly having to get used to the most dramatic change in lifestyles since the Second World War.

It was a time of toilet roll stampedes, Joe Wicks fitness videos, and Zoom weddings and it stretched out for many months. Indeed it was two years before the last of the Covid restrictions were lifted.

But with the worst of the pandemic now thankfully behind us, which consumer trends from those unsettling early months have survived?

When activities outside the home were limited to essentials such as medical appointments, food shopping and exercise, many took to cycling for the first time; sales of bikes and associated clothing and accessories soared.

But a report this week from the Bicycle Association suggested that this boom might have played itself out.

Pedal bike sales fell 22% to 1.88 million units last year — down more than a quarter on pre-Covid levels and the lowest in two decades, the report found.

And sales of children’s bikes slumped even faster, falling by 28% compared with 2019, to 700,000, although demand for electric bikes has remained more stable in the past three years.

Even in London, where cycling has remained 40% higher than before the pandemic, according to Transport for London figures, the numbers are not necessarily translating into spending.

That is because buying a bike tends to be a one-time event, so retailers aren’t necessarily seeing repeat business.

It is a similar story with home office and home gym equipment. Eleanor Scott, leisure director at consultants PwC, said: “There was a lot of investment in desks and treadmills, although much of that was a one-off spend.

“That means the trend has unwound somewhat recently, but ‘home’ is still an area of priority, and we’re still seeing it as an important area for people’s spending.”

Outside of the home, Londoners have largely drifted back to their workplaces — albeit rarely five days a week — which has impacted what we are wearing on a day-to-day basis. Although predictions that we would all be living in jogging bottoms for the foreseeable haven’t come to pass, retailers are stocking “hybrid” workwear that can be used in a variety of environments.

M&S’s latest womenswear collection, for example, has a focus on short suits, as shoppers favour workwear that is as comfortable for working from the pub as in the boardroom.

Separates also appeal to those customers who have become more cautious about spending and sustainability, because the blazer and shorts can be paired with items they may already own.

“Offices are more casual than they used to be but I think as things have opened up, and people have gone back out, there’s definitely been a return to buying clothes, make-up and hair products,” Scott said.

Last month, Primark owner Associated British Foods said annual profits would be higher than previously expected after Britons started shopping early for the summer, snapping up clothes for socialising and travel. Sales of high heels returned to pre-Covid levels at Christmas.

Even as trends have come and gone, the pandemic accelerated some of the changes in the market which may well have happened anyway. Meal deliveries were the only way to “eat out” during lockdowns and the market boomed. Although restaurants are open again and often full, it is a habit we cannot entirely kick.

“The amount of spending on meal deliveries and takeaways has now normalised, but at a much higher level than we were expecting to see at this stage,” Scott said. “The forecasting we did just ahead of Covid suggested a point that the market would reach in 10 years, but it has reached it in five.”

So while consumers are not buying Covid-era comfy leggings, jigsaw puzzles and kettlebells on the industrial scale they were it is fair to say that patterns of spending have been changed — probably forever.