The current state of Covid-19 has changed the way we do things in many ways. One of the sectors that has been reaping the advantage of the movement control orders are on-line shopping; be it for food, goods or services. Most of us will now have at least one app in our smartphone for online shopping, be it Shopee, Lazada, Food Panda, Tesco online and many more.
If you see on some on-line grocery platform, there is even proposed bundle for groceries; like for single, good for 3-4 pax, budget or mega bundle. It is like ordering for fast food at McD or KFC. It consists of estimated consumption for a week worth of meals for chicken, fish, vegetables and fruits or if you opted for the seafood where it will be fish, prawns, squid and mussel. It will not be long before they add recipes together with these bundles. Oh well, we already have ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook package for that.
The important thing is, how the marketing has change to provide options for consumers. Then, you will not be spending too much time scrolling up and down the menu for your meal of the week plans. In terms of vendor selection, some prefer to get it from their local grocer, via delivery app or from that wet market seller who is now providing online delivery. The choice is yours, though I must say, it requires planning skill as it takes a longer time to deliver nowadays.
Did these options help you to plan for your family meal? Or if you are single, does it motivate you to plan for a week’s meal? Or you will still order in and having the groceries stored in the refrigerator. I must say, after one year of experiencing lockdown, total or not, most of us has seen too many YouTube channels, TikTok and many other outlets on how-to-cook too many things. It did provide an alternative and comfort to try new things, and at the same time promoting brands that were used in the recipe. Hence, you will always add in this cube or that stock in your on-line grocery list. Is it overly ambitious of you? You tell me, everyone is coping with the pandemic in their own ways. Yours could be trying new recipes or order new food from a new outlet like me.
In the end, the variation of demand pattern has shaped you to become the consumers you are today. And since we are more digitally connected than ever, it could be the smart algorithm pointing out you need to try to cook this recipe or need to top-up your half full refrigerator. Not long before the pressure cooker and bread maker advertisements will follow on your browser. We all can become a smart consumer, or we become the consumers that the pattern wants us to be. There will be some originals, and there will be someone like me who only see this much information overload on cooking during the lockdown period.
The choice is yours.
Stay safe and stay healthy!
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