Future Returns: Investing in a New Consumer Behavior Era
Anticipating fiscal reactions to the shifts in consumer behavior caused by the Covid-19 crisis isn’t easy. But careful observers can find plenty of indicators for how people live and spend money in the new normal.
It’s important to keep in mind many changes, despite the circumstances, aren’t from left field. Nathan
Cockrell
, co-director of global research at Lazard Asset Management characterizes what we’re seeing as a fast-forward of shifts that were already underway.
“On the offline-to-online transition, this looks like it has created a step change, but the direction of travel was already established,” he says. “The longer that Covid has gone on, the more likely it is that enforced changes in consumer habits become learned and persistent. I definitely subscribe to the idea that something’s changed that is somewhat irreversible.”
He uses the example of China’s consumption, which has largely recovered back to 2019 levels. There, online channels