Corona and sustainability: Switzerland has become more attentive

The Corona pandemic has had a lasting impact on both the purchasing and nutrition of Swiss consumers. This is the result of a study by the shopping app Bring! on shopping planning and consumption behavior in Switzerland. The study was based on a survey of around 1,000 Bring! users. According to the study, many consumers have changed their shopping plans, the products they buy and their shopping priorities, as well as their eating habits.

More planning, more regionality, more organic

For example, the pandemic had a significant impact on how weekly shopping is planned: 35 percent of respondents said they plan their shopping more intensively than before Corona. 30 percent create more shopping lists, 21 percent now plan in great detail and 17 percent use more time to plan their shopping than before. This is also reflected in the shopping itself: only for 24 percent has nothing changed, while 22 percent now go to the supermarket less often and 18 percent buy more in stock.

However, there are not only significant shifts in the how, but also in the what: A good one in eight (13 percent) buys different products than before. When asked what consumers pay particular attention to when selecting a product, origin is the most important criterion: For 79 percent, it is a key criterion - and thus much more important than price (47 percent). Production is also important, for example whether the food is organic (47 percent), as are the ingredients (46 percent). Shelf life is also very important for the purchase decision (52 percent).

Swiss: eat healthier and more consciously since the start of the pandemic

This is also reflected in eating habits: Swiss consumers are eating more consciously and sustainably than before the pandemic. Almost half of those surveyed (47 percent) said they were eating healthier than before, 43 percent were eating less meat or none at all, and eight percent were eating more vegan. In contrast, only one in three (33 percent) had no change in their diet, and just two percent were eating less healthily than before - a clear contradiction to the assumption that many had survived the pandemic mainly on snacks and sweets.

The consumers surveyed want to continue the trend toward sustainable purchasing and healthier eating. For 2022, they intend to buy more regionally (58 percent) and less wastefully (52 percent) and to buy less meat (27 percent). But they also want to go easy on their wallets and spend less when shopping (33 percent).

Consumers:inside: Trend toward greater sustainability will continue

Most consumers see the changes as a lasting development: When asked which trends will influence their purchasing behavior in the long term, more than four out of five respondents (83 percent) named regionality, followed by seasonality (77 percent), sustainability (61 percent) and organic products (47 percent). Purchasing vegetarian and vegan foods will also become increasingly important for respondents in the future (24 percent).

"The results of our analysis clearly show that people in Switzerland are shopping more consciously than before the pandemic," says Nadine Müller, Head of Sales Switzerland at Bring! "The Corona pandemic has led to people shopping less frequently, but in a more planned way, also in order to spend as little time as possible in the supermarket. One result of this - and our study clearly proves this - is that consumers are thinking more carefully about what ends up in their shopping carts and thus also on their plates. This trend will continue, and with it the increased role of shopping planning."

The entire study is available for download here available.

About the company: Bring! offers branded goods and retail companies the opportunity to reach consumers at the time when it really matters: during the planning and execution of the purchase. The advertising formats offered include sponsored products (the advertised products are natively integrated into the shopping list with the look and feel of the Bring! app), personalized local retailer offers, recipe recommendations in the inspiration section, and many more.