Observer: Online and offline shopping beginning to balance
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Public shopping patterns are entering a phase of balance between online and offline channels following the behavioural shifts that have occurred in recent years.
Marketing expert and Managing Partner of Inventure Indonesia, Yuswolarhady, stated that the shift in shopping behaviour from offline to online, which was already occurring before the pandemic, accelerated significantly when COVID-19 restrictions limited direct public activities.
“Before the pandemic, a natural shift from offline to online was already taking place. The pandemic then accelerated and almost forced this, resulting in a boom,” Yuswohady said when contacted by ANTARA in conjunction with National Customer Day on Saturday.
According to him, the surge in the use of online channels continued for several years. However, more than five years after the pandemic, this pattern is beginning to change, and the public is no longer moving in a single direction towards digital channels.
“I believe that now, because it has been over five years, the offline and online channels are starting to meet at a point of equilibrium,” he remarked.
Yuswohady assessed that this condition demonstrates that changes in consumer behaviour do not always occur linearly. While the development of digital channels has indeed altered public shopping habits, the use of offline channels remains an integral part of consumption patterns.
He noted that the current situation differs from the period when the public appeared to be switching entirely to online channels. After undergoing the phase of accelerated digitalisation during the pandemic, the use of online and offline channels is beginning to form more naturally.
This equilibrium, according to Yuswohady, illustrates that both online and offline channels will continue to exist within public shopping behaviour. Consumers no longer have to choose one channel exclusively, as evolving shopping behaviours show there is space for both to operate side-by-side.
This shift also marks a new phase following the digital acceleration experienced during the pandemic. Whereas online channels were the primary choice due to physical activity limitations during that period, the post-pandemic era reveals a more balanced pattern between the use of digital and physical channels.
Consequently, current developments in public shopping are no longer solely characterised by a migration from offline to online, but are instead showing the formation of a balanced use of both channels.