Covid has had a significant impact on the way consumers engage with digital technologies, according to Deloitte’s annual Digital Consumer Trends survey report, and a major catalyst when it comes to the adoption of digital technologies.
The most notable trends to emerge from the report were growth in the uptake of 5G; an increase in the use of touchless payment services; demand for new tech devices; concerns about fake news and privacy issues.
Australia’s 5G rollout has continued at full steam, with 33% making a change to their home internet services, mostly moving to higher speeds while 14% now have a 5G service, up from 6% in 2020. And while adoption is expected to continue to grow, the pace of growth will be determined by factors such as device compatibility, MVNO (mobile virtual network operators) availability and the relevance of 5G in smartphone purchase decisions.
Pandemic purchasing of tech devices in 2021 also moved into top gear, with 38% of respondents purchasing at least one tech device in 2021 up from 26% in 2020. Laptops, smartphones and TVs were the favourite devices with most device categories experiencing a bump.
“The spike has a potential flow-on impact to the uptake of new technologies such as 8K TVs and 5G smartphones. Consumers who purchased a 4K TV or 4G enabled smartphone in the last 12 months will likely wait a number of years before their next refresh, potentially impacting the mass adoption of the latest technologies,” Deloitte consulting partner and national telecommunications lead, Peter Corbett said.
“Ownership of wearable devices have also continued to grow, while purchasing has also broadened out into the long tail of consumer devices connected in the home, such as smart appliances, lighting and hub devices. On this front, there is clear potential for hardware providers to bundle services to support, for example, home security and energy monitoring via the likes of apps, cloud services, software upgrades, support and installation, and subscription business models,” Corbett said.
Interestingly while fitness and smartwatch access are highest in the 24 to 35 age bracket, as with mobile tap and go payments, older generations saw the most growth. Fitness bands and smartwatches are yet another demonstration of how the pandemic is encouraging older users to try technologies once thought to be out of reach.
The last 12 months have also seen a noticeable growth in the adoption of touchless and virtual payment services. Mobile digital wallets are now mainstream and being used by 85% of Australians, up from 58% in 2020, while 10% of respondents preferred payments using a wearable device.
Another digital payment trend to emerge from the pandemic are Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platforms with peer-to-peer payment apps and QR code (eQR) payments also spaces to watch.
When it comes to fake news, 79% of respondents regard it as a problem but 53% consider news from traditional sources as trustworthy, compared to just 18% for social media platforms.
Privacy concerns too were raised with many respondents unsure if the benefit they receive from sharing their data outweighs their data privacy concerns.
According to Corbett it is critical for business to find a balance while still capturing the data required to enable exceptional digital experiences. “Developing smarter consent strategies, allowing consumers to understand and maintain more opt-in control over data usage and user-friendly consent management will need to be considerations,” he said. “On this front, there is clear potential for hardware providers to bundle services to support, for example, home security and energy monitoring via the likes of apps, cloud services, software upgrades, support and installation, and subscription business models.”