Retailers and brand managers need to remain vigilant and innovate new ideas on how to survive the everchanging new normal
Omicron is hitting Morocco hard
7 in every 10 Moroccans are aware of the Omicron variant
Consumers expect a mild impact of Omicron which is good news for brands
Omicron is hitting Morocco hard
The Covid19 pandemic is becoming a nuisance across the globe. The virus seems to have several variants with the latest identified as Omicron detected in South Africa on 24th November 2021. Internationally, the variant has spread fast and as early as December 14, 2021, records from World Health Organization show that 77 countries had already reported cases of the variant. The variant has more than 50 mutations and existing vaccines are becoming less effective. With the increase of infections within a short period, experts are concerned that health systems globally will soon be overwhelmed.
In Morocco, the first case of the Omicron variant was detected on 15th December 2021. The situation rapidly changed as the strain spread fast among Moroccans with more than 6,000 cases per day. In early January, the Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb affirmed that 70% of the infections were due to the Omicron variant. If the trend continues, the country expects a peak in the number of cases.
Our Kasi Insight Tracker: Health in Morocco - Omicron variant spread assessed 250 urban dwellers in Morocco in December 2021. The main aim of the tracker was to assess the spread of the variant in the country.
7 in every 10 Moroccans are aware of the Omicron variant
The tracker assessed if consumers in Morocco were aware of the Omicron variant. The awareness was quite high as 72% of them were well-informed while 28% had no idea of the strain.
Of the respondents who are aware of the variants, 87% of them have attained University degrees therefore well informed. Across various income levels; 75% of the low and middle-income earners (Consumers who earn under USD500 to USD1,800) were more aware of the variant compared to 44% of high-income earners (Consumers who earn between USD1,801 and over USD4,500).
Consumers expect a mild impact of Omicron which is good news for brands
The pandemic affected several Moroccans however, things were looking up and people started returning to their jobs. The tracker assessed consumers’ expectations of the effects of the variant; 62% of consumers believe the variant will be similar to the initial variants, 28% believe that the variant will have a worse effect while 10% are optimistic that the variant will have a better effect than the initial variants.
Based on the expected income levels, more than half of the consumers (55%) expected their household income levels to stay the same, 39% of them expected it to improve while 6% expected it to worsen. With these household income expectations and the effect of Omicron variant effect expectations, consumers look hopeful and unhinged with the variant. This informs brands to look out for consumers who are optimistic (those that think the variant has no surprises) as they can make a large profit out of them.
Though the variant has not had any drastic impact on retail like its predecessor, the situation is likely to change at any moment with governments introducing new restrictions. These restrictions are likely to bring up supply bottlenecks that may hinder the movement of products. Retailers and brand managers need to remain vigilant and innovate new ideas on how to survive the ever-changing new normal. In 2022 we are expecting continuous fluctuations in consumer behavior as they adapt to these new restrictions. For this reason, there is a need for brand managers and retailers to understand consumer behavior.
Our data intelligence platform can help you track these trends in consumer behaviors in Africa over time. This provides you with valuable insights that can help you or your business make fast data-driven decisions.
Contact our team today to explore how our consumer intelligence and retail intelligence, can empower your decision-making process. Win with confidence with Kasi insights https://www.kasiinsight.com/thehub
Opmerkingen