Changes in shopping habits during COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Retail Management
• Consumer Behavior Analysis
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated drastic changes in consumer purchasing habits and business operations globally.
• Retail sectors, particularly groceries and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), faced challenges due to panic buying and stockpiling.
• Restrictions and health concerns altered traditional shopping mediums.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of COVID-19 on consumer purchasing attitudes across different product groups.
• To compare sales performance between online and physical retail markets during the pandemic.
• To identify product categories exhibiting similar shopping behaviors influenced by the pandemic.

Main Methods:

• Cluster analysis was employed to group products with similar pandemic-influenced shopping behaviors.
• Regression models (stepwise, LASSO, best subset) were utilized to assess the relationship between COVID-19 case numbers and sales.
• Analysis was conducted on datasets from both physical and online retail markets.

Main Results:

• A significant migration of sales from physical retail to online platforms was observed during the pandemic.
• Specific product groups demonstrated distinct shifts in purchasing patterns.
• The number of COVID-19 cases positively correlated with the observed changes in sales channels.

Conclusions:

• The pandemic accelerated the transition towards e-commerce in the retail industry.
• Retail managers must adapt strategies to cater to the growing online market share and evolving consumer preferences.
• Understanding pandemic-driven behavioral shifts is crucial for future retail resilience and planning.