The consumer landscape has changed. Today’s shoppers are empowered, interconnected and there isn’t as much information asymmetry as there was in the past. But with Covid-19, consumers are now facing a retail landscape unlike any they’ve dealt with before.

“Organisations had the upper hand, they had the power, but now that consumers are connected, consumers have more power,” says Dr Elsamari Botha, an online consumer behaviour expert who’s found her (lecturing) feet in digital transformation. From the University of Cape Town to the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) to teach digital transformation, Botha’s focus over the years has shifted to digitalisation and online consumer behaviour. While still a USB research affiliate, she is currently at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, teaching change management and digital transformation.