We will have to get used to shortages or even shortages on the shelves, according to Pascale Hebel, associate director at C-Ways, a consulting firm on consumer trends.
Accustomed for a long time to finding everything, immediately, on the shelves, how can the consumer manage this “lack”?
PASCALE HEBEL. Consumers’ ability to adapt is great, they make do with what they have. There is no panic, as was the case during the Covid period, and in particular during the first confinement when customers rushed to buy certain products for fear of running out. If some will certainly do a little storage as soon as they find one or two jars of mustard, they are above all flexible and find other tricks. If there is no mustard, they make do with other condiments. If their favorite brand of cake is missing from the shelves, they choose another. These are not essential products. They adapt. Especially since everyone understood that these were lasting changes, whether in relation to inflation or climatic conditions.
Are we moving towards more restraint in our way of consuming?
This is already the case, and has always been, for those who have economic constraints. And in this inflationary context, many more households have to restrict themselves and therefore have no choice but to change their consumption habits. This is the case with every economic crisis. But during previous crises, as soon as the economy restarted, we forgot and we started consuming again as before. Not this time, I think.
Why ?
Because in recent months there has been an awareness of climate change and its consequences. We are at a turning point. It’s the end of the consumer society — or overconsumption — as we know it. We are moving towards a society of sobriety. This phenomenon also goes hand in hand with the aging of society, with age groups for whom it is easier to adapt and who agree not to find everything right away.