The pandemic accelerated mobile trends by years, and these changes should stick even as the pandemic wanes. Many people were forced to use apps for food delivery, finance, fitness, and shopping, and they’ve become accustomed to these new behaviors. Even app categories that were hurt during the pandemic, such as travel or dating apps, have been resilient. People have acclimated to new forms of mobile shopping and activities, and they’ll be more willing to try mobile interfaces for other activities going forward.

Grocery ecommerce is having a moment. Already at an inflection point prior to the pandemic, the migration of essential goods to online has accelerated this trend by three or four years in the span of three or four months.

Consumers are always on the hunt for a great deal, and that’s even more true because of the pandemic—especially if it yields a serious recession. Knowing that value is top-of-mind for many, General Mills recently launched a national rebates program that lets shoppers receive cash back to their PayPal account by submitting an itemized receipt via the Coupons.com app.

Scott Braun, CMO of Drizly, speaks with eMarketer vice president of business development Marissa Coslov about trends in consumer spending behavior and ecommerce sales of alcoholic beverages during the coronavirus pandemic.

But which major trends narrowly missed the cut? Here’s our fifth in a series of additional transformative developments that ought to be on your radar throughout 2021. Read about the fourth runner-up, nostalgia marketing, in our recent article. In online grocery, first-time adoption evolves into consumer habit.

“The pandemic simply accelerated these trends as consumers adapted to fitness experiences without gyms as the focal point,” he said. All of that digital fitness probably isn’t hurt by the growth of food delivery apps, which are making caloric intake easier than ever for many.

Food and grocery delivery has spiked during the pandemic. Apps like SkipTheDishes, Uber Eats, and Instacart have gained new users who turned to delivery out of necessity. For marketers, these apps present a new opportunity to reach consumers with ad products rich in intent and location data.

With inflation on the rise and supply chains in disarray, consumers are checking their grocery lists twice. In the US, 38% of adults are cutting down on how often they buy meat, poultry, or fish, while about one-quarter are purchasing snacks, dessert foods, or prepared foods less.

eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Paul Briggs discusses what he's paying attention to in 2021 and why: online grocery shopping, food delivery apps, and more 2021 trends to watch out for in Canada.

The trend: US consumer spending on luxury retail shows no sign of slowing, even as inflation and price increases cause many shoppers to trade down and cut back on discretionary purchases.

After accounting for increased labor and raw material costs, Tyson Foods’ price increases helped boost the company’s margin by roughly $500 million in Q1, said CFO Stewart Glendinning. Kimberly-Clark aims to use price increases to improve its margins, said CEO Mike Hsu during the company’s earnings call.

The recent COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai shone a spotlight on community group buying—a digital shopping trend that leverages the collective purchasing power within a community—resulting in bulk orders that yield steep discounts.

Amazon’s store footprint: Amazon operates over 600 physical stores in North America—more than 500 of which are locations of Whole Foods Market, per its latest filing.

“These factors have only jump-started the food shortage that climate change will inevitably bring,” said Blake Droesch, analyst at Insider Intelligence. More like this:. Report: The Era of Uncertainty. Article: CPG brands lose market share to private labels as consumers focus on the price tag. Article: The top reasons consumers switch brands.

Showing similar trends, NetElixir reported that online food sales surged 183% between March 1 and 25, vs. the same period last year. In a CivicScience poll of US adults and their digital grocery shopping habits, the percentage of those who said they increased their online grocery shopping jumped from 11% to 37% from March 1 to 22.

McDonalds' shareholders voted in favor of a proposal to have the fast-food chain undergo its first companywide racial equity audit, while activist investor Carl Icahn’s attempt to force the company to adopt more humane animal treatment policies failed.

The trend: As more shoppers prioritize value over name recognition by choosing private label brands, national consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands are looking to boost their appeal without lowering prices.

Insider Intelligence spoke with Kate Lubenesky, president at W&P, a food and beverage essentials brand that sells sustainable packaging for everyday food items.

The trend: Prices increased by 7.5% over the past 12 months, the highest growth rate since 1982, per the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI). Inflation was a common complaint in companies’ earnings calls, with Coca-Cola, Kellogg Company, Unilever, and many others citing high rates as a reason for decreased profits. Food prices alone rose 0.9% in January, more than every category but energy.