With much of the United States locked down for parts of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many schools and offices still closed, it comes as no surprise that how shoppers find and receive goods has changed radically. In reviewing the trend predictions for 2021, we hypothesize that many of these changes are predicted to remain and expand even after the immediate threat of COVID-19 passes. While shoppers’ changing behaviors were in the works before 2020, the pandemic triggered a mass acceleration in this change—and shoppers liked the new experiences.

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Read about how 50 million Americans are struggling with food insecurity and learn about how many shoppers reported paying more for food items as USA TODAY shares stats from C+R's report: Changes in Grocery Shopping Habits During COVID-19.

Brands have been facing uncertainties since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; and for many of them, this has led to tightening budgets, primarily spending less on advertising. So, what was the marketplace impact of these cuts in ad spending that most brands instituted during March and August of this year? More than likely, those brands lost some ground in brand equity and are probably facing a decline in brand awareness. And, as we all know, a decline in awareness is never good for sales.

Grocery shopping is one of the many everyday activities that 2020 has made more difficult, and although most stores are well-stocked these days, you may notice your bill creeping up due to a lack of in-store promotions. Learn about this trend in this article by Readers Digest, which uses data from C+R's research report, “COVID-19 The Impact on Consumers’ Wallets.”

I know I speak for many of my colleagues when I say that we’d love our work life to go back to the “status quo” – pre-pandemic conditions. We don’t need anything crazy or exciting – all we need is to just have a "normal" day in the office.  So, is it OK if you think about market research the same way? Or, does market research always need to be “revolutionary” to be worthwhile?

So, shopping has been crazy for families this year, trying to stay on top of having enough hand sanitizer and snacks. Back to School season was so strange that we wrote three blogs about it—and it all started with Amazon Prime Days being postponed indefinitely in July.

Let’s all take a deep breath together (seriously…one, two, three, in, and exhale), and buckle up for holiday shopping for families in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the more obvious trends playing out in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was consumers eating more at home than usual. And this made perfect sense, as restaurants were mostly limited to take-out, delivery or drive-thru — or closed altogether.  Read more in this article and as they provided data from Terrie Wendricks: "Data from the U.S. The Department of Agriculture showed that consumers spent around 51% of their food and drink budget away-from-home in 2019, Terrie Wendricks, vice president of consumer and shopper insights at C+R Research, told Benzinga in an email.