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Social media enjoys high exposure in Africa

Of all the communication channels available today, social media is the channel that most people claim they have been exposed to in terms of brand and advertising messages, since Covid-19. This exposure to social media is particularly high in Africa, with South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria leading the pack in this regard. These African countries claim to be much more exposed to digital media in general than the rest of the world does, and less to physical magazines than their global counterparts.

Shops and stores have been mostly open across Germany and the UK since the last few months when lockdown measures were relaxed. However, it has not been business as usual for most shop owners. As per a report, there were “no lines” and “no crowds” when an Ikea branch in the Germany city of Cologne opened. According to experts, consumers’ mindsets have changed from a “gain” to a “maintain” mentality during the pandemic. In other words, people are avoiding stepping out of the house unless necessary to lower the risk of catching the virus.

In the United States, the response to the coronavirus has varied from state to state. Over the last 6 months, most stores and shops have opened up for businesses but subjected to change based on the situation, as explained in this report. At the same time, the pandemic has also had an impact on how people shop.

Seattle, Washington, USA, 7 Oct, 2020: Borderless Access, the digital market research products and solutions company, today announced the appointment of Ebere Barbara Egbule as Associate Director, Client Development for Nigeria and West Africa Region.

The words “job loss” have been used quite frequently with the word pandemic in 2020. The pandemic has also dramatically changed the way people work. Telecommuting has become the new normal and it is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. In this scenario, we conducted an online study in the US, and other parts of the world, to learn how the pandemic and the accompanying lockdown have affected the work-life of white-collar working professionals. The results of the study give us a good idea about the current state of work-life compared to the rest of the world.

In several European countries, the worst phase of the pandemic is over. But while for the society go back to pre-COVID normality will take a long time, across Europe lockdown measures are being lifted gradually. In Germany, businesses have started to gradually open up but with caution, with Chancellor Angela Merkel stating that in case of a surge, ''emergency brake' would be applied. Meanwhile, across the English Channel, in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced new rules about social gatherings and operation of businesses in a bid to keep the pandemic contained.

As the pandemic spread around the world has been upturning people’s lives, it also changed the way that people do things. Shopping habits are yet another example of a routine that has changed in a big way. We’ve taken a close look at how these practices have changed in the Middle East, focusing on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt.

From wearing masks and washing our hands more carefully than ever to working from home COVID, has changed our behaviour in dramatic and measurable ways. The virus has also had a versatile impact on consumer behaviour, with large swathes of the world’s population changing their well-worn habits within a few short weeks. Following on from our previous pieces about work-life post lockdown and how the pandemic has affected attitudes towards health, we have taken a deep dive into the altered shopping habits of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa and globally.

Globally 34% of people claim to be shopping online more than they did before the pandemic. Sub Saharan Africa hasn’t followed this trend to the same degree with only 16% of South Africans and 27% of Nigerians shopping online more than before. However, this does not mean that people in these countries are unafraid of the virus. Rather people appear to be buying in bulk and visiting physical stores less often than they did before, complementing this shopping with online buying. Only 15% of worldwide respondents say they have not altered their shopping habits. Nigeria (14%) mirrors this but a greater number of South Africans (21%) have not changed the way they shop. Of the three Sub-Saharan countries in question, the last amount of Kenyans (10%) have not changed the way they shop.