Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte

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Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
Digital Consumer
Trends 2020
The Nordic cut
A study on Nordic digital
consumer behaviour
Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
Contents
     Introduction                                         03

     Section 1                                            05

      Have smartphones become our worst best friends?     06

      Industry Spotlight: Public Sector                   10

      Are the Nordics ready for a home office environment? 12

     Section 2                                            19

      5G: Is misinformation messing with our minds?       20

      Industry Spotlight: Telecom                         24

      Will smartphones replace the need for human         26
      interaction in the financial sector?

      Industry Spotlight: Financial Services              30

     Section 3                                            33

      The Nordic streaming war intensifies while audio    34
      consumption is growing

      Industry Spotlight: Retail                          38

     Endnotes                                             40

     About the research & contacts                        41

02
Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
Introduction
                     Welcome to the Nordic Cut of Deloitte’s 2020 Digital Consumer Trends (previously known as the Global
                     Mobile Consumer Survey), a multi-country survey of digital service users in Sweden, Norway, Denmark
                     and Finland. The 2020 study comprises 5000 respondents across the Nordics.

                     This year marks 10 years of Deloitte releasing these insights. With a decade of research under our belt,
                     we thought it fitting to rebrand the survey in line with today’s trends. With consumers having access to
                     a plethora of devices and no longer limited to just mobile phones, Digital Consumer Trends seems like a
                     more fitting title for the survey – we hope you agree.

                     To incite you to dive further into the report findings, we would like to provide a sneak peek of what
                     awaits in this year’s report.

                     Lockdown digital behaviours and satisfaction with working from home
                     As the world entered various levels of lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19, the smartphone
                     became a social lifeline for people. In fact, more than one third of the Nordic respondents believe
                     their smartphones have helped them feel less isolated during the pandemic. Another consequence
                     of COVID-19 is the increased use of home offices. It appears that the Nordic respondents are divided
                     on whether they find working from home easier or more difficult than working from the office. You can
                     learn more about all of this in section one.

                     Consumer appetite for 5G and how smartphones could change the financial sector
                     The 5G network is being deployed across the Nordics, but the Nordic consumers’ adoption of 5G
                     may be influenced by misleading information and lack of knowledge. This may have led to a growing
                     hesitance to switch to 5G among the Nordic respondents. While it is certain that 5G will increase speed
                     compared to 4G, it is uncertain whether smartphones will replace the need for human interaction in
                     the financial sector. Even though smartphones combine all the capabilities needed to manage personal
                     finances, the Nordic respondents indicate that human interaction is still very much preferred in some
                     situations related to financial matters. You can read more about this in section two.

                     Smartphone usage to consume audio, video, games, news and social media
                     As COVID-19 kept people from leaving their homes, they seem to have increased their overall media
                     consumption. This is also true in the Nordics, where streaming service providers seem to have
                     especially benefitted from this. Furthermore, we are witnessing the first punches in the Nordic video
                     streaming war as new entrants are challenging the current Nordic frontrunner, Netflix. Visit the third
                     and final sections to get all the details.

                     Like last year, the report includes four interesting industry spotlights (Retail, Telecom, Public Sector, and
                     Financial Services) that dive into industry-specific digital trends.

                     We hope that you find the insights interesting. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us for further
                     conversations based on the content.

                     Jonas Malmlund                                 Joachim Gullaksen
                     Head of Technology, Media &                    Head of Technology, Media &
                     Telecommunications in Sweden                   Telecommunications in Norway
                     and in the Nordics

                     Frederik Behnk                                 Jukka-Petteri Suortti
                     Head of Technology, Media &                    Head of Technology, Media &
                     Telecommunications in Denmark                  Telecommunications in Finland

Digital Consumer Trends | Introduction                                                                                              03
Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
04
Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
Section 1

How have Nordic
consumers used
their smartphones
during the COVID-19
pandemic, and are
the Nordics ready for
working remotely?

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 1   05
Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
Key
                                                                                                                                   t    ak
                                                                                                                            Dur          e aw
                                                                                                                                 ing t          ay
                                                                                                                           has         he p
                                                                                                                                incre       and
                                                                                                                          Mor          ased      emi
                                                                                                                               e th         , inc c, media
                                                                                                                                    a            ludin
                                                                                                                         thei
                                                                                                                             rs
                                                                                                                                      n one
                                                                                                                                             third      g sm consum
                                                                                                                        isola mar tph              o            a
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                                                                                                                                                                             ptio
                                                                                                                                                                                  n
                                                                                                                             ted          one                c            e  u
                                                                                                                        man       d u          s have          o nsum         sag
                                                                                                                            y fee ring the              help            ers b e.
                                                                                                                                  l the         pan             e              eliev
                                                                                                                                        y us        dem d them                      e

Have smartphones
                                                                                                                                             e th          ic , whil      feel
                                                                                                                                                 eir p              e           less
                                                                                                                                                       hon            ju s t as
                                                                                                                                                             es to
                                                                                                                                                                   om
                                                                                                                                                                         uch.

become our worst                                                              30%
                                                                                          31%

best friends?
                                                                                                                                       28%
                                                     26% 25%            25%         25%
                                               23%             23%

                               17%                                                                 16%                      17% 17%          17%
                         16%             15%
                                 12  %

                                                                                                                  11%
During the pandemic, the smartphone has become less                 8 8 of a phone and more of a          %   %

friend for many consumers. Young people especially feel that their smartphones
have helped them     feel
                Strongly agreeless isolated.
                                   Tend to agree Neither agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree
                                                                         nor disagree

In early 2020, countries around the world                 Figure 1
entered various levels of lockdowns to stop               I have used my smartphone a lot more during the coronavirus pandemic
the spread of COVID-19. With minimal physical
                                                          Finland
human contact, the smartphone became a
social lifeline for people that helped them to             16   %
                                                                              23%                         25%                           16%              17%
feel less isolated from family and friends. If
                                                          Norway
the smartphone was an indispensable part of
people’s lives before COVID-19, this has only              17%                 26%                            30%                                  8% 17%
become more evident during the pandemic.                  Sweden

The questions are how consumers have used                  12%           25%                              25%                           8% 28%
their smartphones during the pandemic and                 Denmark
whether permanent changes in usage can be
expected or if everything goes back to normal,             15%                23%                         31%                                  11% 17%
once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted?
                                                                Strongly agree            Tend to agree       Neither agree nor disagree
The smartphone usage has increased in                           Tend to disagree           Strongly disagree

the Nordics                                               Base: All adults 18-75 who have a smartphone (Half sample).
In general, media consumption has grown in                Weighted base (2340), Finland (499), Norway (465), Sweden (879),
                                                          Denmark (496). Note: each stacked bar do not equal 100% as ‘don’t
popularity during the coronavirus pandemic1.              know’ answers have not been included.
As most of the world was in lockdown, people
increased their media consumption, which                  smartphone usage that were stimulated by
included their usage of smartphones.                      lockdowns and isolation were bigger factors
                                                          for young people than older people (i.e., social
According to Deloitte’s 2020 Digital Consumer             media and video consumption).
Trends survey, 39% of Nordic consumers agree
or tend to agree that they have used their                Assessing the smartphone usage across the
smartphones much more than normal during                  four Nordic countries during the pandemic,
the pandemic.                                             it seems that Norwegians in particular have
                                                          used their smartphones considerably more
Our survey also indicates that the increase in            (43%) (Figure 1). Meanwhile, 33% of the
smartphone usage greatly varies by age groups.            Finnish respondents and 36% of the Swedish
18-24 year olds report the highest increase in            respondents say that they have not used their
smartphone usage (59%) during the pandemic.               smartphones more. A possible explanation of                              1
                                                                                                                                    Nielsen, COVID-19: Tracking the Impact
Meanwhile, 41% of 65-75 year olds disagree that           the country differences in smartphone usage                              on Media Consumption, 2020. URL: www.
                                                                                                                                   nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/
they have used their smartphones considerably             may be the differences in approaches that each                           covid-19-tracking-the-impact-on-media-
more. It seems probable that the kinds of                 Nordic country has taken to combat the spread                            consumption/

06
Digital Consumer Trends 2020 - The Nordic cut A study on Nordic digital consumer behaviour - Deloitte
of the coronavirus. It seems, however, that the   Figure 2
exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19      I have bought a new device as a result of
have affected most Nordic citizens.               being more at home during the pandemic

                                                  29%
Finally, our survey shows that women across
the Nordics (44%) said they were using their                        21%                21%                21%
smartphones more during the pandemic
compared to men (33%).
                                                     12% %
                                                        11
                                                               8%                            8%                  7% 7%
The Finns and the youngest generations                                    6% 6% 6%                6% 6%
                                                                                                                          4%
have bought more media devices during
COVID-19                                             Finland            Norway             Sweden               Denmark
On average, 86% of the Nordic respondents
                                                     Any device          Smartphone           Television          Laptop
said that they have spent more time at home
due to the coronavirus. Finnish consumers         Base: All adults 18-75 (half sample). Weighted base (2503),
                                                  Finland (534), Norway (487), Sweden (934), Denmark (548).
appear to exemplify this pattern of spending
more time at home (91%), while 86% of             age of 55 and 75 years indicate that they have
Norwegians and 83% of Swedes and Danes            bought a new device.
said they spent more time at home due to
the pandemic. Again, this is rather interesting   According to the respondents in the 18-24
considering that Denmark and Sweden have          age group, the single most popular devices
had completely different lockdown strategies.     purchased have been smartphones (17%),
                                                  laptops (15%), televisions (13%) and gaming
Perhaps as a result of staying at home            consoles (13%). In addition, in this age group,
more than others, the Finns have been the         23% state that they have bought either a new
most active shoppers during the pandemic          laptop or a new desktop pc – more than double
compared to the rest of the Nordic countries.     of the average Nordic level (10%).
29% of Finnish consumers have purchased a
new device, and 23% of them have acquired         How have Nordic consumers spent their
a new smartphone or a television – almost         time at home during the pandemic?
double the levels in the other three Nordic       As the Nordic respondents have stayed at
countries (Figure 2).                             home more often, the level of some activities
                                                  has increased. 26% have spent more time
On average, more than one out of every five       reading news online, while another 26% of the
respondents (23%) have purchased a new            respondents have spent more time streaming
device as a result of staying at home more        movies or TV series. Other popular activities
during the pandemic. Smartphones have been        include more reading (19%) and spending more
the most common purchase in Finland (12%),        time with the family (19%).
Sweden (8%) and Denmark (7%). In Norway,
laptops (6%) and televisions (6%) have been       It also seems that as the level of physical social
equally as popular purchases as smartphones       contact decreased, the level of social media
(Figure 2). Across the four Nordic countries,     consumption across the Nordics increased.
10% have purchased a new computer (laptops        According to our survey, an average of 27% of
and desktop pcs).                                 the Nordic respondents indicate that they have
                                                  checked their social networks more often during
Finally, the youngest Nordic consumers seem       the pandemic. Female consumers (34% versus
to have shopped for new devices more often        20% male) and young people aged 18-24 (42%
than others. 47% of the consumers in the age      versus 27% Nordic average) especially have
group of 18-24 year olds state that they have     spent more time on social media networks.
purchased a new device during the pandemic.
Nearly one third (31%) of the respondents in      When comparing the general social media
the age group of 25-34 year olds have done        usage across the different Nordic countries, it
so as well. On average, slightly more than one    seems that the Norwegian respondents check
tenth of the consumers (11%) between the          their social media networks more often than

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 1                                                                                            07
others. 76% of Norwegian consumers state that        Figure 3
     they use social networks on their mobile phone       Which, if any, of the following do you
     at least once a day. This is 13 percentage points    do more of now as a result of staying
     higher than the Nordic average of 63%.               at home more during the coronavirus
                                                          pandemic?
     The consumption frequency of social media
     varies greatly among age groups. 82% of the          Check my social networks
     youngest age group (18-24 year olds) use social                                                             27%
                                                                                                                  28%
     media networks at least once a day, while 43%                                                                      32%
     of the oldest age group (65-75 year olds) do so.                                                            27%
                                                                                                     22%
     News consumption on the rise                         Read the news online
     As mentioned, our survey indicates that Nordic                                                          26%
     consumers have read more online news during                                                                           35%
     the pandemic. It seems that this behaviour                                                                         32%
                                                                                                    21%
     has increased in particular in Finland (35%)
                                                                                                    22%
     and Norway (32%) compared to a 26% average
     increase across the four Nordic countries.           Stream film and/or TV series
                                                                                                            26%
                                                                                                            26%
     Furthermore, in Finland, watching more TV
                                                                                                                          34%
     programmes via catch-up services (28%)                                                                25%
     increased compared to other Nordic countries                                                20%
     (18% on average). While Finnish consumers
                                                          Reading
     indicate a greater increase in watching more TV
                                                                                               19%
     compared to other Nordic consumers, they also                                                   22%
     seem to have a smaller increase in quality time                                                       24%
     with their families (16%) compared to the Nordic                                   16%
                                                                                          17%
     average (19%) (Figure 3).
                                                          Spending (quality) time with my family
     In Norway, streaming movies or TV series                                                 19%
     increased by 34%, which is 8 percentage points                                     16%
                                                                                                     22%
     more than the Nordic average (26%). The                                                   19%
     percentage of Norwegians (32%) who checked                                               18%
     their social networks more often during the
                                                          Watch TV programmes via catch-up services
     pandemic was also higher than the Nordic
                                                                                             18%
     average of 27% (Figure 3). Of the four Nordic                                                                28%
     countries, the Norwegian respondents indicate                                             19%
     the greatest increase in quality time spent with                                  15%
                                                                               11%
     their families during the pandemic (22%).
                                                          Online banking
     The Swedish respondents indicate that they                                     14%
     have spent more of their time during the                                          16%
                                                                                   13%
     pandemic on checking social media networks                                   12%
     (27%), streaming movies or TV series (25%) and                                 14%
     reading news online (21%) (Figure 3). In addition,
     Sweden appears to have experienced a higher             Total        Finland         Norway
     increase of people who have shopped for                 Sweden           Denmark
     groceries online (12%) compared to any of the        Base: All adults 18-75 (half sample). Weighted base (2503),
     other Nordic countries (9% Nordic average).          Finland (534), Norway (487), Sweden (934), Denmark (548).

     In Denmark, 22% of consumers indicate that           Back to normality or will everything change?
     they spent more time reading online news             Nordic consumers were also asked about
     and checking social media networks during            which, if any, of the activities they would
     the pandemic, while 20% spent more time on           continue to do as frequently as they do now,
     streaming movies or TV series (Figure 3).            once social distancing restrictions are lifted.

08
While 26% of the Nordic respondents state                                            isolated from family and friends during the
that they have been reading more news                                                coronavirus pandemic. 55% of the 18-24 year
online due to the pandemic, 18% say that they                                        olds agree that their smartphone has helped
will continue this behaviour post-pandemic.                                          them feel less isolated and only 16% disagreed
Similarly, 26% said that they were streaming                                         with this statement. We see the same tendency
more movies or TV series during the pandemic,                                        among the 25-34 year olds (56% agree versus
while 17% indicate that they would continue                                          18% disagree). In contrast, 27% of 65-75 year
this after the pandemic. In addition, 27% of the                                     olds agree that their smartphone has helped them
Nordic respondents have increased their social                                       feel less isolated and 31% disagree (Figure 4).
media consumption due to the pandemic, and
16% of the respondents said that they would                                          Interestingly, 46% of the female respondents
continue this behaviour. Finally, 19% have spent                                     agree that their smartphones have helped them
more quality time with the family because of                                         feel less isolated while only 22% disagreed.
the pandemic, and 14% will continue to do so                                         Meanwhile, 31% of the Nordic males feel that
once the pandemic is over.                                                           their smartphones have helped ease isolation,
                                                                                     and 29% disagrees. This indicates that females,
These results indicate that at least some of the                                     to a larger degree than males, believe that their
Nordic citizens will continue their behaviour                                        smartphones have helped them feel less isolated
developed during the pandemic even after the                                         from friends and family during the pandemic.
virus has been contained.
                                                                                     Meanwhile, 38% of the Nordic respondents
When assessing the differences between the                                           feel that they use their smartphones too much.
age groups in the Nordics, 30% of 65-75 year                                         According to the respondents, 44% of the
olds indicate that they have read the news                                           Nordic female consumers believe they use their
online more during the pandemic, and 26%                                             smartphones too much compared to 33% of
indicate that they will continue to do so after                                      their male counterparts. The 18-24 year olds
the pandemic. This is 9 percentage points                                            – the age group that has the greatest usage of
more than the Nordic average (17%). 16% of the                                       smartphones – clearly feels that they are also
respondents in the 65-75 age group have used                                         using their smartphones too much (63%).
online banking more during the pandemic, and
14% will continue to do so after the pandemic.                                       For the respondents that feel they use their
This is 5 percentage points higher than the                                          smartphones too much, the most common
Nordic average of 9%.                                                                situation for doing so is in the evenings (42%).
                                                                                     On average, a quarter of the respondents
A friend in need is a friend indeed                                                  (25%) feel that they use their smartphones too
As consumers spend more time on their                                                much when spending time with their family. Of
smartphones, the device has become more                                              the 65-75 year olds who believe they use their
of a friend than a phone. On average, 38% of                                         smartphones too much, 52% of them believe
all the Nordic respondents seem to feel that                                         that they are using their smartphones too much
their smartphones have helped them feel less                                         all the time regardless of the situation.

Figure 4
My smartphone has helped me to feel a lot less isolated from family and friends during
the coronavirus pandemic
                                                                                                                                35%                          36%
                                 34%                                35%                           35%
      31%
                                                                                                                                            27%
24%                                    24%                                                                                                                                25%
            23%                                               22%                                             23%
                            22
                             %

                                                                                           19%                           19%                            19
                                                                                                                                                         %
                                                                               18%
                                                        15%
                                                                                     12%
                                                  10%                                                               9%
                       9%                    8%                                                                                                    8%
                  7%                                                                                     7%                            7%
                                                                          6%                                                                                         6%

        18-24                      25-34                        35-44                            45-54                         55-64                         65-75

      Strongly agree             Tend to agree           Neither agree nor disagree                           Tend to disagree                Strongly disagree
Base: All adults 18-75 who have a smartphone (Half sample). Weighted base (2340), 18-24 (274), 25-34 (447), 35-44 (412), 45-54 (439), 55-64
(406), 65-75 (362). Note: each cluster do not equal 100% as ‘don’t know’ answers have not been included.

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 1                                                                                                                                             09
Industry Spotlight: Public Sector

App hiccup for Nordic public
sector
Citizens and regulators remain worried that Nordic coronavirus surveillance
technologies are a slippery slope towards a reduction of privacy.

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority shut
down “Smittestopp” – Norway’s coronavirus              Deloitte expert take
tracking app – only two months after its launch        These results underline the great dilemma of our
due to a disproportionate interference in user         technological era. As digitalisation revamps the public sector,
privacy2, and Denmark’s “Smittestop” has received      an abundance of previously unavailable data becomes available –
criticism for not working appropriately3. Our survey   but where do we draw the line? Allowing the public sector access to
shows a mixed view among Nordic citizens towards       greater, real time datasets about its citizens – such as locational data
governmental use of technology to monitor the          and activity data – will enable the development of improved “next
spread of COVID-19. This raises the question where     generation” public services, although this will come at the expense of
to draw the line between data privacy and pursuing     the individual’s data privacy.
“the greater good”.
                                                       “The utilization of individual’s
Five key stats from the public sector:                 private data in public services
                                                       has huge potential, but should be
1. Almost two thirds (65%) of the Nordic
   citizens actively restrict general apps’            carefully regulated, rooted in trust
   access to information.                              and structured around the idea of
2. Two thirds (66%) of the Nordic citizens             creating a better service for the end
   are concerned about how private                     user”.
   companies use their private data, and
                                                       – Carsten Jørgensen, Nordic Public Industry Leader.
   one third (33%) is against governmental
   location tracking for coronavirus                   Grasping the tech-enabled potential
   purposes.                                           First, the public sector must take wisdom from the “dos and don’ts”
                                                       of the private sector in relation to handling individuals’ private data.
3. More than two fifths (41%) of the                   Although we are in the midst of a pandemic, it seems that neither
   Nordic citizens support governmental                regulators nor citizens will lower their expectations towards the
   location tracking – Finns being the most            management of private data.
   supportive at 55%. Meanwhile, Sweden
   has more people against location                    From there, adopting a user-centric mindset, which focuses on the key
   tracking (35%) than supportive of if                needs of the citizen, both in the development and the communication
                                                       of new public services, will likely allow for an easier roll-out of new
   (34%).
                                                       innovative public services enabled by technology. An example of
4. Nordic 55-75 year olds are the most                 this are thriving e-consultations – secure online video medical
   supportive of governmental location                 consultations – with doctors during the coronavirus pandemic.
   tracking (48%).
                                                       In summary, with the right approach, the public sector can enable a
5. Almost half of the Nordic respondents               massive positive impact by developing and using public sector data
   (47%) support thermal cameras to track              much more aggressively than today. There is unutilised potential here.
   fevers to enforce quarantine rules.
   Meanwhile, there is a consensus that
   governments should not be able to                   2
                                                        Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NIPH stops collection of personal data in Smittestopp, 2020.
                                                       www.fhi.no/en/news/2020/niph-stops-collection-of-personal-data-in-smittestopp/
   monitor people’s health data.                       3
                                                         Meremobil.dk, 1,6 millioner danskere har downloadet udskældt app, 2020.
                                                       meremobil.dk/2020/10/16-millioner-danskere-har-downloadet-udskaeldt-app

10                                                                                                         Industry Spotlight | Digital Consumer Trends
11
Key
                                                                                                         t   ak
                                                                                                 Peo           e aw
                                                                                                      ple i          ay
                                                                                                they        n th
                                                                                                      fi         e N o
                                                                                               diffi nd work rdics a
                                                                                                    cult           ing f        re d
                                                                                              effe       . T             ro         ivid
                                                                                                   ctive hey poin m hom ed on
                                                                                             whe          ness         t ou          e ea       whe
                                                                                                  n wo         to b         t            si         th
                                                                                                         rkin        e th issues r er or m er
                                                                                                             g fro        e bigg       elat        o re
                                                                                                                    mh                      ed t
                                                                                                                         ome est chal           o
                                                                                                                                          leng

Are the Nordics
                                                                                                                              .
                                                                                                                                                es

ready for a home
office environment?
Until recently, working from home was a flexible benefit associated
particularly with employees in desk-based office roles. However,
COVID-19 changed this, and necessitated an increase in the use of
home offices. This has had, and will continue to have, significant
implications for the way companies organise work.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the             38% of the respondents having a desk-based
subsequent lockdowns around the world, many        job and mainly worked in an office environment
have been forced to work from home. Not only       pre-pandemic are now working from home,
have people worked remotely, but they have         while 44% of them are still going to the office.
also had to rely on technology and digital tools   As our survey was conducted in June and
to a greater extent than ever before.              July, these numbers may be a result of the
                                                   different COVID-19 strategies across the Nordic
While the emergence of new technologies            countries. Nevertheless, these figures show
has pushed employers gradually toward              that a substantial number of respondents with
more digital workplaces for the past several       desk-based jobs still chose or had to go to the
years, COVID-19 has helped to accelerate           office instead of working from home.
this development significantly. Thus, it will be
interesting to see whether we will return to       In general, our survey underlines that people
business as usual, or if our ways of working       working in the Nordic countries to a larger
have been transformed permanently marked           degree than ever before have been working
by a movement away from traditional office-        from home. This finding is further supported
based work towards a fully digital home (or        by market data such as IKEA’s sales figures
anywhere) workplace.                               for office furniture that indicates a strong
                                                   performance in 20205. In our opinion6, this may
Are the Nordics ready for a digital                result in more people working from home post-
workplace?                                         pandemic – partly due to practicality but also
Our survey indicates that 47% of the               because of their wishes.
respondents work in desk-based office roles                                                              4
                                                                                                          The remaining 14% of respondents are
while 39% of the respondents have non-             Considering these findings, the obvious               either unemployed or have answered
                                                                                                         “Don’t know” or “None of these”.
desk-based jobs 4. More than half (51%) of the     questions seem to be whether people in the
                                                                                                         5
                                                                                                           CNN Business, Ikea’s online sales surged
respondents in a desk-based role have either       Nordics are ready to work in a more digital and       as people turned homes into offices and
before or during the pandemic worked from          remote manner and whether their sentiment             schools, 2020.
                                                                                                         edition.cnn.com/2020/10/06/business/
home at least some time compared to only           towards working from home affect the overall          ikea-coronavirus-sales/index.html
17% of the respondents in a non-desk-based         job satisfaction.                                     6
                                                                                                           Deloitte, How COVID-19 contributes to a
role. This contrast is not surprising given that                                                         long-term boost in remote working, 2020.
non-desk jobs are more difficult to move and/or                                                          www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/human-
                                                                                                         capital/articles/how-covid-19-contributes-to-
often cannot be done from one’s home.                                                                    a-long-term-boost-in-remote-working.html

12
Digital Consumer Trends | Section 1   13
Figure 5
     Apps used on mobile phone (at least once a day)

                                  54%
                                                                             46%

       43%                                                                                                 40%

                                         Wo
                                           rk
                                              em
                                                ail

                                           Sky
                                              pe                                 om
                              5    %                                           Zo
                                                                               2%
                              6%                                               3%
                                4%                                            4%

                                                4%                         5%
        Finland         Norway         Sweden          Denmark
     Base: All adults 18-75 who have a smartphone. Weighted base (2300), Finland (496), Norway (461), Sweden (867), Denmark (475).

     Nordic consumers have the devices                                      almost half of the respondents who work (46%)
     needed to work remotely                                                use work email apps on their smartphones at
     In recent years, little has changed in terms of                        least once a day.
     the devices we use. In 2020, 93% of the Nordic
     consumers own a smartphone, making it the                              In general, it seems that Nordic people have
     most used device among the respondents                                 become more accustomed to using their
     that are employed (92% in 2019). 93% of the                            smartphones as a working tool. From 2017 to
     respondents who are employed also own a                                2020, the daily usage of work apps like Skype
     laptop and/or a desktop (93% in 2019). Hence,                          has increased from 5% to 6%, while the daily
     it appears that people have the devices needed                         usage of email apps has increased from 38%
     to work effectively away from the office.                              to 46%. More recently, Zoom has entered
                                                                            the picture with an average of 4% of the
     Smartphone apps pave the way for                                       respondents indicating that they use the Zoom
     communication                                                          app at least once a day. 54% of the Norwegian
     When it comes to apps, it seems that people                            respondents indicate that they use work email
     are increasingly using work-related apps                               apps on their smartphones at least once a day.
     on their smartphones, which allow them to                              This is 8 percentage points higher than the
     conduct work from anywhere. For instance,                              Nordic average of 46%.

14
“No internet connection detected”                           that require higher bandwidth. Therefore, they           Figure 7
      While most of the Nordic respondents have                   rely much more on a stable internet connection.          Easier to work from home
      the technological devices/hardware needed to                                                                         than in the office?
      conduct their work in a more digital and remote             Overall, the above data indicates that
      manner, almost half of the respondents (49%)                connectivity issues when working from home                              3%                                 6%
      indicate that they have experienced internet                are happening rather frequently. One may
                                                                                                                                                         35% 19%
      connectivity issues with their home broadband.              therefore assume that this negatively affects            31%
      Furthermore, 25% of those experienced such                  people’s perception of working from home.
                                                                                                                                        Nordic                              Finla
      issues at least once a week. This indicates                 It seems that there is an opportunity to
      that connectivity issues are happening rather               improve connectivity to improve the perceived
      frequently. Issues with the internet connection             experience of the digital workplaces.                                                               24%
      have negative implications when working                                                                                             31%
      from home – it brings instability to the digital            Nevertheless, it is evident that most Nordic
      workplace and can cause a significant amount                                                     3%are
                                                                  people, including connectivity issues,                                 6%                                   2%
      of frustration.                                             in a position that allows them to work from
                                                                                                                       35% 19%                                    28%
                                                                  home. The question then  31is% whether Nordic
      The respondents from Denmark seem to                        consumers want to or not?          Nordic           Finland                                               Norw
      experience internet issues slightly more often                                                                                                       51%
      (29%) than the other Nordic countries on a          It may be more convenient to work from
      weekly basis (25% average), while the Norwegian     home, but there are challenges                          24%                                       3%
      respondents seem to have slightly fewer issues      Our survey reveals that people across  31 the
                                                                                                    %                                                                          41
                                                          Nordic3countries are roughly evenly  6%split when             2% %                                                  2%%
                                                                    %
      with their internet connection at home (22%)
                                                                                                                          31                                                 35
      (Figure 6). In addition, the youngest age group     it comes to how they%feel about    working from
                                                                             35      19  %
                                                                                                                 28 %                                    30%
      of respondents, 18-24 year olds, seems to       31% home. As a general Nordic average, 35% find                                                            34%
                                                                                                                                                          Nordic
      experience issues with home broadband most          it easier, while 31% find it more difficult. Most
                                                               Nordic                        Finland                  Norway                                                Swed
      frequently (44%), while the oldest age group,       of the Finnish respondents (51%) indicate that 51%
      65-75 year olds, experiences connectivity issues    working from home is easier for them while
      with the least frequency (14%).                     only 19% of the Finns find24 it more
                                                                                           %   difficult
                                                                                                              3%
                                                          (Figure317).%                                                  41%                                  31%              3
      An explanation of this may be that the younger
                                       3% when it
      age groups have higher expectations                        6% of the Norwegian respondents
                                                          Two fifths                              2% % (41%)             2%                                                  5%
                                                                                                  31                  35%
      comes to internet connectivity and use services
                                                 35% 19%indicate that working from      home has made no30%
                                                                                      28%                                                                33%
                           31%                            difference to them. This indicates that a rather       34%
                                                                                                             Nordic
      Figure 6
                                     Nordic               substantial
                                                               Finland  proportion of the respondents
                                                                                              Norway from             Sweden                                   38%          Denm
      Issues connecting to home broadband
                                                                               51% from home as being
                                                          Norway perceive working
      once a week or more often                           as no different to being at work (Figure 7).
                                                               24%                       3%
                                            25%              29%     As for the remaining two Nordic 41                31
                                            31%                                                            countries,
                                                                                                                %          %
                                                                                                                                              31%
                        22   %
                                                                    it seems    that there are only minor
      243% %
                                            6%                             31
                                                                           2 %%                         35%2%
                                                                      differences between the Swedish and
                                                                                                                                         5%
                       35% 19%                                28% Danish respondents,   30% but     in both countries33%                                 32%
31%                                                                                     Nordic34 %
                                                                  the net perception was negative, with more
       Nordic                           Finland                 findingNorway                           Sweden
                                                                          it difficult than easier to work   from       38%          Denmark
                                                        51%     home. Approximately 33% indicate that working
                                                                from home is easier while 34% of the Swedes
                                 24%                    3%      and 38% of the Danes      31indicate
                                                                                             %
                                                                                                      that it is more
         31    %                                                           41  %
                                                                difficult (Figure 7).                         31%                               26%
                                                                                                                               Easier
                                             31%                       35%                                                     No difference
                                                                         Moreover, data indicates that a greater
                                                                                                                               More difficult
                                                                         proportion of people in the youngest age
                                                                  Nordic                                                       Dont' know
                                                                         groups finds it easier to work from home than
         Finland           Norway         Sweden           Denmark       those in the same groups that find it more        Base: All adults 18-75 who are working
                                                                                                                           from home. Weighted base (494), Finland
      Base: All adults 18-75 with home broadband (Half sample).          difficult to work from home. Slightly more than   (90), Norway (98), Sweden (184), Denmark
      Weighted base (2322), Finland  (468), Norway (459), Sweden (870),  two fifths (42%) of the respondents between       (122). Percentages may not total 100 due
      Denmark (524).     3      %
                                                         31%                                                               to rounding.

      Digital Consumer Trends | Section 1                                                                                                                15
           31%                          35%
the age of 18-44 state that working from home                           Issues related to effectiveness seem to be the
                                             is easier compared to 31% of the same cohort                            biggest problem when working from home
                                             finding it more difficult.                                              among all four Nordic countries (53% on
                                                                                                                     average). This also seems to be true across all
                                             As mentioned initially, the respondents from                            the age groups. Our survey further reveals that
                                             Finland seem to find working from home                                  it is the youngest age group, 18-24 year olds,
                                             easier than working from the office. Compared                           that has the most problems with effectiveness
                                             to other countries in the Nordics, the Finns                            when working from home (70%). Meanwhile,
                                             also report fewer issues related to access to                           we see that the respondents between 25
                                             technology (27%), reliability of technology (19%),                      and 34 struggle with disturbances from the
                                             effectiveness (47%) and disturbances from the                           environment more than any other age group
                                             environment (31%) (Figure 8). This is likely part                       (53%). This is likely due to people in this age
                                             of why the respondents from Finland seem to                             group typically having small children.
                                             find working from home easier.
                                                                                                                     When exploring some of the different
                                             Besides the above-mentioned parameters,                                 challenges that the respondents have
                                             cultural differences across the Nordic countries                        experienced when working from home, our
                                             could also influence why only 19% of the Finnish                        survey indicates that 26% of the respondents
                                             respondents say that they find it more difficult                        report that they are used to working on larger
                                             to work from home than in the office compared                           or more monitors at the office, which is an
                                             to 38% of the Danes.                                                    issue for them when working remotely. This

                                             Figure 8
                                             Characteristics of working from home during the corona pandemic

                                                                                                                                           63%
                                                               53% 53%                                                              54%
                                                                                                                              50%                                                 48%
                                                       46  %                                                          47  %

                                                                                                                                                                       43     %

                                                                                                        33  %
                                                                                                                                                         31% 30%
                                                27%
                                                                                          24% 23%
                                                                                   19%

                                                     Issues with                         Issues with                        Issues with                    Disturbances from
7
 CNBC, Working from home? You might be              Access to Tech                     Tech Reliability                    Effectiveness                       Environment
able to expense a new desk, 2020.
www.cnbc.com/2020/06/03/companies-              Finland         Norway          Sweden          Denmark
are-paying-for-their-workers-home-offices.
html                                         Base: All adults 18-75 who are working from home. Weighted base (494), Finland (90), Norway (98), Sweden (184), Denmark (122).

16
Figure 9
                                                                                                                                                                    60%
Easier to work from home than in the office?

 42%                              41%                              43%                                                                    42%
                                              34 %                                                        35%
                                                                               31%                  30%         32%
             28%                                                                                                                                   29%
       25%                                                                                                                          26%
                                        22%                              22%                                                                                              21%
                                                                                                                                                              16%
                    5%
                                                     3%                              4%                               3%                                 3%                     3%

         18-24                           25-34                            35-44                            45-54                            55-64                    65-75

   Easier          No difference          More difficult          Don't know
Base: All adults 18-75 who are working from home. Weighted base (494), 18-24 (38), 25-34 (113), 35-44 (127), 45-54 (96), 55-64 (85), 65-75 (34).

implies that Nordic companies may want to                                 The art of procrastination – are we using
offer employees money (up to US$1,000) to buy                             our phones more while working from home?
home monitors/bigger monitors or other home                               Many consider smartphones to be a distraction
office equipment, as is being done elsewhere7.                            in various settings and situations, including
                                                                          while at work. Our survey reveals that around
However, the challenge of screen size is closely                          15% think they use their smartphones too
followed by not being able to talk to colleagues                          much while working, while only 6% among
(24%) and working longer hours at home (25%).                             those working from home think that they are on
This begs the question whether longer working                             their smartphones too much. This implies that
hours at home also equals getting more work                               when working from home people perceive their
done.                                                                     phones to be less of a distraction. Meanwhile,
                                                                          it also implies that when working from home,
More time spent working equals more                                       people are using their smartphones more for
results, right?                                                           work-related tasks, or that people are allowing
Our survey reveals that an average of 25%                                 themselves more breaks when working from
of the Nordic respondents report longer                                   home, also allowing themselves to use their
working hours when working from home. Since                               smartphones more.
effectiveness has been reported as one of the
challenges of working from home for slightly                              Ready for the digital workplace, but …
more than half of the Nordic respondents                                  To sum up, it seems that people across the
(53%), it seems unlikely that they are getting                            Nordic countries have the devices they need
more work done at the home office. Instead,                               to work from home, but that there are mixed
people may work longer hours just to complete                             opinions about whether it is easier (35%) or
the same amount of work as they do at the                                 more difficult to do so (31%). Part of this reason
office. Another explanation may be that                                   may be that people are used to working on
respondents perceive their working hours as                               larger/more monitors, but the respondents
longer when working from home, because                                    also seem to experience technical issues with
there may not be a natural switch between                                 internet connectivity frequently across all
being at work and being at home. Finally, a                               Nordic countries. Furthermore, issues related
third explanation of the perceived increase in                            to effectiveness stands out as the biggest
working hours may be that the respondents,                                challenge for the Nordic respondents while
when working from home, use the time saved                                working from home (53% on average). Further,
on commuting to put in extra working hours.                               the respondents reported that they found it
                                                                          difficult not being able to talk to colleagues and
In terms of country comparisons, more                                     clients face-to-face (24%) as well as working
respondents from Finland (31%) and Denmark                                longer hours when working from home (25%).
(28%) report longer working hours when working
from home, compared to fewer respondents
from Norway (21%) and Sweden (20%).

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 1                                                                                                                                             17
18
Section 2

What will the
effects of 5G be in
the Nordics, and
will smartphones
replace the need for
human interaction in
the financial sector?

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 2   19
Key
                                                                                                                          t     ak
                                                                                                                    The         e aw
                                                                                                                         rollo         ay
                                                                                                                   How         ut
                                                                                                                        ever of 5G is
                                                                                                                  kno        , mis          the
                                                                                                                      wl           info          t
                                                                                                                 to d edge m             rma alk of th
                                                                                                                     istin        ake         tion         e to
                                                                                                                          guis          it ha      an          wn.
                                                                                                                               h be          rd fo d a lack
                                                                                                                                     t we          r No        of
                                                                                                                                           en f        rdic
                                                                                                                                               acts         cons
                                                                                                                                                     and
                                                                                                                                                         fake umers

5G: Is misinformation
                                                                                                                                                              new
                                                                                                                                                                  s.

messing with our minds?
More than half of the Nordic consumers are not familiar with the
most fundamental aspects of 5G. Furthermore, unsubstantiated
conspiracy theories about health risks are spreading like wildfire.

Right now, telecom operators from all over the         Figure 10
world are investing in the fifth generation of         5G: Knowledge and perceptions.
the mobile telecommunications network: 5G.             Do you know enough about 5G? (left)
Despite the fact that 5G promises to deliver           Do you think that 5G will lead to better
faster speeds and help businesses accelerate           mobile connectivity? (right)
digital and sustainable transformations, the
share of Nordic consumers willing to switch to           61%                                                               44%
5G is decreasing during the current early stages
of the Nordic 5G rollout.                                   54%                                                                 51%

5G in the Nordics                                        60%                                                               44%
Assessing the current usage level of 5G across         65%                                                             37%
the Nordic countries, it becomes evident
that the new mobile network is still in its              60%                                                                    49%
early phases. On average, 6% of the Nordic                         Do not know enough              Better mobile connectivity
respondents state that they are using the
5G network. 7% of the Finnish respondents                 Nordic average           Finland         Norway          Sweden            Denmark
are using the 5G network, while only 3%
                                                       Base: All adults 18-75 who have a phone or smartphone. Weighted
of the Danish respondents are using the                base (2417), Finland (520), Norway (475), Sweden (903), Denmark (518).
newer, faster network. 6% of the Swedes and
Norwegians use 5G today. Surprisingly, 37% of          half (61%) of the Nordic respondents state that
the respondents state that they are using 5G           they think they do not know enough about 5G
on their Apple smartphones – but there were            (Figure 10 left). Furthermore, while it seems
no 5G compatible iPhone on the market when             natural to assume that 5G is an improvement
our survey was conducted. This may indicate            in terms of speed and connectivity compared
that Nordic consumers may have a hard time             to the current 4G technology, our Nordic
understanding what 5G really is.                       respondents do not seem to be convinced.
                                                       Data indicates that less than half (44%) of
Who is advocating for 5G?                              the Nordic consumers think that 5G will lead
As mentioned, even though some Nordic                  to improved mobile connectivity (Figure 10
telecom operators have already activated their         right). The Swedish respondents are the most
5G networks, many Nordic consumers do not              sceptical ones, as only slightly more than one
seem to understand the technology or how               third (37%) believe that 5G will lead to better
it will fully affect their lives. In fact, more than   mobile connectivity.

20
It is not directly clear why there is not a better    Figure 11
     understanding of 5G. Even though many                 Which of the following best describes your
     people have voiced their opinions about 5G,           attitude towards 5G networks?
     an explanation may be that very few have

                                                          2020
     taken the time to thoroughly explain it. Several            59%                                  19%          22%
     Nordic telecom operators remain to put 5G
     on their communications agenda, and Nordic

                                                          2019
          22% operators could do more to educate
     telecom
                                                                 63%                                     18%         19%
     consumers about the benefits of 5G.                  2018
                                                                 67%                                        13% 20%
     One could assume that some of the telecom
             2020
19%operators are waiting to share their expertise                Would switch (eventually/if available/if recommended)
     until 5G has been completely rolled out.                    Would switch if forced to
                                59% clear:
     Nevertheless, one thing remains                             Don't know

     equipping consumers with knowledge of 5G              Base for 2020: All adults 18-75 who have a phone or smartphone.
                                                           Weighted base (2417), Finland (520), Norway (475), Sweden (903),
     seems to be a great opportunity for telecom           Denmark (518). Base for 2019: All adults 18-75 who have a phone
     operators to contribute to the 5G debate with         or smartphone. Sweden (1775), Norway (942), Denmark (1042),
                                                           Finland (1035). Base for 2018: All adults 18-75 who have a phone or
        19%knowledge that demystifies some of the
     expert                                                smartphone. Sweden (1798), Norway (947), Denmark (1051), Finland
     widespread misconceptions.                            (1050).

  A toxic mixture of misinformation                        in 2019 and 59% in 2020. Furthermore, the
  Even though 2019
               5G has the potential to redefine
17the social and business landscape, various
  %
                                                           percentage of consumers who do not know if
                                                           they want  to move to 5G has increased from
                                                                592018
                                                           20% in
                                                                    %
                                                                         to 22% in 2020. This growing
                             63% have been
  rumours and conspiracy theories
                                                           hesitance to switch to 5G may be caused by the
  spreading rapidly on social media and news
  sites. Some of the conspiracy theories argue,            above-mentioned misplaced health concerns.
                                                           It may also be caused by other factors,
  for example, that 5G8:                                                                    19% such 22%
                                                           as perceived lack of benefits of 5G over 4G for
        20%
     • leads to cancer;                                    most consumer applications.
                                                                 63%                                     17%         19%
     • weakens the immune system;
                                                           The data also reveals another trend among
   • has harmful environmental impacts,                    Nordic
               2018
   % particularly on wildlife; and                             67%consumers: the higher the perceived
                                                                                               13% 20%
13                                                         level of knowledge about 5G, the greater the
     • acts as an accelerator for the spread of            proportion of consumers who disagree with
       coronavirus.               67%                      the claim that 5G leads to increased health risks
                                                           (Figure 12).
     The overall concern is that more antennas will
     lead to more exposure to electromagnetic              Among Nordic consumers with a low level
     radiation. According to the World Health              of 5G knowledge, 39% believe that there are
     Organization (WHO) though, exposure to                no health risks associated with 5G. When
     wireless technologies has not been causally           the question is posed to those among the
     linked to any human health issues9, and the           respondents who perceive themselves as well-
     European Commission states that even though           informed consumers, the number increases
     the overall level of exposure will modestly           to 73%. Interestingly, there is little difference
     increase with 5G, it will remain well within safe     between those with high and low knowledge
     limits10.                                             in terms of believing that there are health risks
                                                           associated with 5G: 15% and 17%, respectively.                        8
                                                                                                                                  Telecoms.com, 5G conspiracy theories;
                                                                                                                                 what they are, why they are wrong and
     Nonetheless, it looks like 5G has raised              This has some important public policy                                 what can be done, 2020. www.telecoms.
     concerns and elicited scepticism among Nordic         implications. Although it is a minority view                          com/503845/5g-conspiracy-theories-what-
                                                                                                                                 they-are-why-they-are-wrong-and-what-
     consumers. First of all, consumer expectations        (about one sixth of people in the Nordics), it is                     can-be-done/
     for 5G have been trending downward between            one that does not vary by perceived knowledge,                        9
                                                                                                                                  WHO, 5G mobile networks and health,
     2018 and 2020 (Figure 11). In 2018, 67% would         which suggests that trying to educate this                            2020. www.who.int/news-room/q-a-
                                                                                                                                 detail/5g-mobile-networks-and-health
     switch to 5G eventually, if it was recommended        portion of the population into accepting 5G                           10
                                                                                                                                   European Commission. 5G FAQ. 2020.
     or when available. That figure dropped to 63%         may be more difficult than first thought.                             ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/
                                                                                                                                 faq/5g-faq

     Digital Consumer Trends | Section 2                                                                                                                       21
Figure 12
                                                           I believe there are health risks associated                            I think I'll have better mobile connectivity
                                                           with 5G                                                                if I move to 5G
                                                                             High knowledge High
                                                                                            level knowledge level                  High knowledge High
                                                                                                                                                  level knowledge level

                                                                                     3% 15% 3% 15%                                       4%                4%
wledge lH
        evigeh knowledge level
             l

                                                                                                      9%              30
                                                                                                                      9%
                                                                                                                        %                30%
wledge levow knowledge leve
         L el              l
                                                                                                                                                                  46%               46%

                                                                  73%                73%                                            20%               20%

                31%              31%                                                         Low knowledge level
                                                                              Low knowledge level                                                 Low knowledge level
                                                                                                                                   Low knowledge level

                                                                                                                 16%
                                                                                       28%16
                                                                                                    %
                                                                     28%                                                      24%               24%
                                                                                                                                                                 43%                43%
                                                                                                      17     %          17%
                                                                                                                         11%                 11%

                                                                                                                                      22%               22%
               31%                                                               39    %           39    %
 1%
                                                              Agree        Neither agree nor disagree            Disagree         Don't know
                                                           Base: All adults 18-75 who have a phone or smartphone. Weighted base (2417), Finland (520), Norway (475), Sweden (903), Denmark (518).

                                                           Additionally, data indicates that a higher                             the fear of 5G has already taken root in
                                                           level of knowledge leads to less uncertainty                           some consumers’ minds. This can make it
                                                           about whether 5G will in fact result in better                         hard, or even impossible, to change these
                                                           connectivity. Among Nordic consumers with                              consumers’ perception of 5G. Although this
                                                           a low level of knowledge, 24% do not know                              only seems to be a minority problem among
                                                           whether 5G will lead to better connectivity,                           Nordic consumers, it indicates that it may
                                                           whereas only 4% of consumers with a high                               already be too late to dispel the conspiracy
                                                           level of knowledge doubt that 5G will lead to an                       theories among some Nordic consumers.
                                                           improvement of connectivity.                                           This underlines the importance of being more
                                                                                                                                  proactive in repudiating the misconceptions
                                                           Meanwhile, data indicates that 11% of the                              about 5G and more clearly articulate the
                                                           Nordic consumers with low knowledge state                              obvious benefits of 5G.
                                                           that 5G will not lead to better connectivity, while
                                                           30% of the consumers with high knowledge                               5G will replace 4G, but what about the
                                                           state the same. This is interesting, as one                            fibre-optic networks?
                                                           would expect higher knowledge to equal a                               5G not only promises greater speed on the
                                                           better understanding of the benefits 5G brings.                        go, but it will also deliver faster home internet
                                                           An assumption may be that respondents                                  speeds and do so at a lower cost than 4G ever
                                                           with higher knowledge understand that 5G                               could. The question is whether the 5G mobile
                                                           will provide faster download speed, but not                            network will replace the need for the fibre-optic
                                                           necessarily better mobile connectivity11.                              networks (broadband). At present, the answer
                 Mobilsiden, 5G er hurtigere, men er det
                11

                pengene værd?, 2020.
                                                                                                                                  to that question is rather uncertain, as we need
                mobilsiden.dk/priser-guides-tips/          Initially, the problem may appear to be                                a better understanding of how 5G will compare
                mobilabonnementer-tips/5g-er-hurtigere-
                men-er-det-pengene-vaerd/
                                                           one of education; however, it seems that                               to existing products.

                22
In our survey, 22% of the Nordic respondents         Figure 13
that do not use mobile internet at home state        Monthly data allowance on mobile phone?
that one of the reasons for not doing so is
that their mobile internet is slower than their
home broadband. Another 21% state that
                                                                          11%               12%
mobile internet is less reliable which is why they      23%                                 10%              21%
will not use mobile internet at home. These                                                                  7%
barriers may be broken down by the faster and
more reliable 5G network, which supports the
argument that more people would start using
the 5G mobile network as their primary internet
connection at home.
                                                        51%
Meanwhile, another 21% of the respondents
state that one of the reasons why they do
not use mobile internet at home is because
it is more expensive. Our data also shows               26%               87%               78%              72%
that only 5% of Nordic consumers today are             Finland          Norway            Sweden           Denmark
using 4G mobile internet as their only internet
                                                        Don't know
connection at home. Part of that reason may
                                                        Unlimited data
be that the majority of consumers in Sweden
                                                        Limited data
(78%), Norway (87%) and Denmark (72%)
                                                     Base: All adults 18-75 who have a smartphone (Half sample).
have limited monthly data allowances on their        Weighted base (2340), Finland (499), Norway (465), Sweden (879),
mobile network. The opposite is true for Finnish     Denmark (496)

consumers where only 26% state that they have
a limited amount of data they can use each           that 5G will most likely not replace the need for
month. Consequently, Finnish consumers seem          the home broadband – at least not in the short
more likely to use mobile internet at home (9%       term.
versus the Nordic average of 5%).
                                                     To sum up, while 5G will increase mobile
These findings argue against the notion that         internet speed and allow for faster downloads,
speed is the only barrier to why consumers           it is uncertain whether the increase in speed
are not using mobile internet at home. Instead,      will make more Nordic consumers replace their
it seems that having a limited or an unlimited       home broadband with 5G mobile internet. It
data plan also is a determining factor in            seems that this will very much depend on the
deciding whether to use mobile internet as the       perceived increase in speed compared to what
primary internet connection at home. Since the       home broadband offers, price and the data
majority of Nordic consumers currently have a        allowances of Nordic consumers’ smartphone
limited data plan, this supports the argument        subscription plans.

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 2                                                                                     23
Industry Spotlight: Telecom

The race for relevance
Telecom operators must adapt to technological changes in order to remain
relevant, add value and generate revenue – both online and offline.

While the 5G network carries the potential to accelerate     Deloitte expert take
digital business transformations, it still seems that        The increased usage of mobile devices has changed
no online channel can replace the sensory in-store           consumer behaviour dramatically. Surprisingly, only 3%
experience. However, as more consumers realise that          of Nordic consumers have used their telecom operator’s app
they can get what they want without leaving their couch      to purchase a new phone within the last two years. This may
or office, telecom operators without a rock-solid digital    indicate that there is an opportunity for telecom operators to
marketing strategy are in trouble. Luckily, there seems to   use their apps as more direct and personalised sales channels
be unused potential for operators to rethink their revenue   rather than the apps’ current primary functions of providing
streams and preserve their licence to operate.               customer service.

                                                             “In the telecom app, the
Five key stats from the telecom industry:                    operator has the customer's full
1. More than half of Nordic consumers (58%)                  attention combined with a lot of
   have not been in a telecom store in the past              data. Why not use this channel
   two years.
                                                             to drive revenue?”
2. One out of every four Nordic consumers                    – Frederik Behnk, Danish Technology, Media &
   would not miss the physical telco store if it             Telecommunications Industry Leader
   closed (27%).
                                                             Data is the new black
3. Trying out phones would be the most missed                Telecom operators no longer have to guess what their
   feature if mobile operator stores closed                  customers want. Thanks to the huge volume of customer
   permanently (29%).                                        data, telecom operators can get to know them better than
                                                             ever before: how much data they use, what phone they have,
4. Nordic consumers are predominantly using                  how they interact with their brand, and so on. With these
   their telecom app for service purposes – not              valuable customer insights, operators are in a great position
   for purchasing products. 45% have not used                to customise their products and services to fit the individual
   their telecom operator’s app within the last              customer's needs.
   two years.
                                                             While the digital experience has improved significantly in recent
5. Only 3% of the Nordic consumers have                      years, physical stores are far from obsolete. However, in order
   purchased a smartphone through their                      to stay relevant, operators must seize the golden opportunity
   mobile operator’s app.                                    they have to use digital tools to provide a more personalised
                                                             experience and meet the demands of customers – both in the
                                                             telecom app and in the physical store.

24                                                                                           Industry Spotlight | Digital Consumer Trends
Digital Consumer Trends | Section 2   25
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replace the need for
human interaction in
the financial sector?
Smartphones combine all the capabilities needed to manage
personal finances. However, face-to-face meetings are difficult
to replace in some situations.
The smartphone has become an essential             Figure 14
everyday multitool. Whether you need to            Share of respondents who use their phone
manage simple one-off payments at a store,         to do the following activities once a month
to split a bill with a friend or to manage         or more often
investments, the smartphone can help. The
questions are if we are fully utilising the        Check bank balances

possibilities provided and how the future of                                                                74%
financial services companies looks like. Are       Transfer money to another individual in your country
we going digital or mobile only? Will there                                                         64%
still be a need for cash, physical credit cards,   Message customer service agents online
bank branches and financial advisers or will
                                                                    19%
everything we need be reachable by bit-stream?
                                                   Transfer money to another individual located in a different country

Banking and payments in just one touch
                                                           10%
Our survey shows that Nordic consumers             Browse shopping websites/apps

are keen users of mobile banking solutions                                                        61%
to conduct daily banking activities. Nearly        Purchase a product online
three out of every four Nordic respondents                                27%
(74%) indicate that they use their smartphone      Place or redeem a bet/gambling
to check their bank balances at least once
                                                                       23%
a month. Meanwhile, close to two thirds of
                                                   Pay for a service
the respondents (64%) state that they use
their smartphone to transfer money to other
                                                                    17%
individuals domestically (Figure 14). 68%          Pay for car parking

perform other banking transactions, including                              31%
transferring money between their own               Pay for a taxi
accounts or paying bills.                                  10%
Across all Nordic countries (63%) and all age
groups (63%), the smartphone is the preferred      Base: All adults 18-75 who have a phone or smartphone. Weighted
                                                   base (4804), Finland (1042), Norway (943), Sweden (1794),
device to check bank balances. The oldest          Denmark (1025). Note: Once a month or more often is the sum of
age group, 65-75 year olds, seems to be less       respondents who selected "at least once a day", "at least once a
                                                   week" or "at least once a month" as their answer.

26
frequent users of their smartphones when it         Figure 15
comes to checking their bank balances (38%)         Payment method normally used by
especially when compared to the youngest age        respondents to pay for products or
group, 18-24 year olds (76%).                       services online using their phone

                                                    A credit or debit card
Although almost two thirds of those surveyed
                                                                                                                  72%
use their smartphones for basic activities such                                                            65 %

as checking balances (63%), more complex                                                                              75%
transactions are less common. About a quarter                                                                         76%
of the Nordic respondents (26%) manage their                                                                  69%
investments on their smartphone at least once       Online money transfer/payment provider
a month, while one sixth of the respondents                                                46%
(16%) manage their insurance on their                                                           56%
smartphone on at least a monthly basis. In all                                               50%
usage categories measured from 2018 to 2020,                                                47%
the trend is increasing.                                                       32%
                                                    Your online banking app
On a monthly basis, Danes (68%), Norwegians                                         38%
(75%) and Swedes (71%) use their smartphones                                                              64%
                                                                            28%
to transfer money to other domestic individuals
                                                                              32%
much more frequently than Finns do (39%).
                                                                               34%
Paying for parking using a smartphone is
                                                    Apple Pay, Google/Android Pay, Samsung Pay
almost twice as popular in Norway (38%) and
                                                                 16%
Sweden (40%) compared to Denmark (21%) and                     12%
Finland (19%).                                                   17%
                                                               13%
For other banking activities conducted on a                              25%
monthly basis, the country differences are          Other
smaller; although Norwegians (72%) and                    6%
Swedes (73%) tend to be more digital across             4 %

the board compared to their Danish (56%) and            4%
Finnish (68%) counterparts. Norwegians are                7%
also keen mobile payers in public transport               7%
(42%) each month compared to the Nordic
                                                       Nordic average           Finland         Norway
average of 25%. Finally, Finns are less than half
                                                       Sweden          Denmark
as likely than the Nordic average (20% versus
                                                    Base: All adults 18-75 who have used their phone to purchase a
41%) to make in-shop purchases using their          product or service: Weighted base (1495), Finland (294), Norway
mobile phones.                                      (274), Sweden (611), Denmark (316).

How would you like to pay?                          consumers (72%) on average use their credit
Consumers in the Nordic countries are usually       cards via their smartphones, followed by online
keen on adopting new technologies, which            money transfer/payment providers (46%), online
is certainly helping mobile payments along.         banking apps (38%) and Apple, Android and
However, the system of credit and debit cards       Samsung Pay (16%) (Figure 15).
has been around in the Nordics for a long
time, and now that contactless credit or debit      Most other payment methods are underpinned
card payments are possible, most consumers          by a credit or debit card, although some online
may not be as eager to transition to a mobile       money transfer/payment providers allow you
payment system.                                     to transfer money into an account registered
                                                    with the provider. The result is that banks and
When Nordic consumers make online purchases         other traditional players still control most of the
using their smartphones, credit and debit cards     consumer-side payments and related personal
are overwhelmingly the most common payment          information.
method. More than seven out of 10 of Nordic

Digital Consumer Trends | Section 2                                                                                         27
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