Consumers, data and digital transformation – a year in review at CPRC

A message from Andrew Thomsen, Senior Research and Policy Manager, CPRC
2020 has been a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated health measures have affected us all, be it directly or through our families and friends and across our communities.

COVID-19 has also affected our experiences as consumers in some way, shape or form – be it the impacts of product shortages, higher prices and cancellations; increased reliance on essential services like energy and telco; being forced to take on debt to manage losses of income; or the increased use of online and data-driven technologies, products and services. CPRC’s Consumers and COVID-19 from crisis to recovery foundational report released in June, and our consumer survey research program (running from May to December 2020) explores many of these issues by asking consumers about their experiences across a range of markets during 2020.

The increased use of online and data-driven technologies, products and services promises to have a lasting effect on consumer policy into the future. Lockdowns and health restrictions have seen Australian consumers participating online at record levels. This shift is shown in a host of consumer research released throughout 2020[1], including CPRC’s own COVID-19 survey data. For example, our research shows that around 1 in 4 Australian consumers have been spending more shopping online for discretionary personal items (e.g. clothing, cosmetics, electronics, etc) than they were before COVID-19 began in late March, and that this continued even once in-store shopping restrictions eased around Australia.

A message from Andrew Thomsen, Senior Research and Policy Manager, CPRC
2020 has been a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated health measures have affected us all, be it directly or through our families and friends and across our communities.

COVID-19 has also affected our experiences as consumers in some way, shape or form – be it the impacts of product shortages, higher prices and cancellations; increased reliance on essential services like energy and telco; being forced to take on debt to manage losses of income; or the increased use of online and data-driven technologies, products and services. CPRC’s Consumers and COVID-19 from crisis to recovery foundational report released in June, and our consumer survey research program (running from May to December 2020) explores many of these issues by asking consumers about their experiences across a range of markets during 2020.

The increased use of online and data-driven technologies, products and services promises to have a lasting effect on consumer policy into the future. Lockdowns and health restrictions have seen Australian consumers participating online at record levels. This shift is shown in a host of consumer research released throughout 2020[1], including CPRC’s own COVID-19 survey data. For example, our research shows that around 1 in 4 Australian consumers have been spending more shopping online for discretionary personal items (e.g. clothing, cosmetics, electronics, etc) than they were before COVID-19 began in late March, and that this continued even once in-store shopping restrictions eased around Australia.

Many businesses have also responded to COVID-19 restrictions by seeking to adjust their business models so they can better reach, and continue to serve, customers through online channels. Governments have sought to support and accelerate this trend of digitisation, to help increase both business resilience and drive economic growth. Initiatives to accelerate this shift to digitisation form a key part of the federal government’s goal for Australia to be a leading digital economy and society by 2030.[2]

Our research and policy focus during 2020
In parallel to the broader consumer policy landscape changes caused by COVID-19, CPRC has been producing valuable research and evidence relevant to data and technology policy, in collaboration with others.

Highlights from 2020 include:

Our 2020 Data and Technology Consumer Survey report – produced with Roy Morgan Research – explores Australians’ experiences and attitudes toward data, technology and digital marketplaces. This research confirms that Australians expect more from industry and government when it comes to protecting them from the risks posed by the collection, sharing and use of their personal information.
We were proud to support a ground-breaking new technical paper that explores how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for business decision-making can result in unfair outcomes for consumers. This research demonstrates how businesses can identify algorithmic bias in AI, and proposes steps they can take to address this problem. The paper was a first-of-its-kind in Australia, and is the result of a collaboration between the Australian Human Rights Commission, Gradient Institute, CHOICE, CSIRO’s Data61 and CPRC.