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UNDERSTANDING THE CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS ONLINE

BUYING FOR ESSENTIAL GOODS DURING COVID OUTBREAK

Conference Paper · October 2020

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 Page Nos. 183-191

UNDERSTANDING THE CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

TOWARDS ONLINE BUYING FOR ESSENTIAL GOODS
DURING COVID OUTBREAK
Mr. Parth Sanjay Salunke*
Ms. Tanaya Joshi**
Mr. Anand Bhoir***

The consumers in pandemic 2020 have focused towards their health, hygiene and basic needs
and markets are global rather than fragmented in the COVID scenario. Consumers are trying to
change their ways of living and dependence on digital platforms have increased to maintain social
distancing norms and fear of getting infected with the deadly virus. This research paper tries to
understand the consumer perceptions towards online buying in the COVID scenario for essential
goods and their usage of online platforms. It further tries to understand their buying behaviour and
reasons for buying from online platforms during the phase of pandemic. The research paper overall
focuses on impact of COVID-19 towards consumer buying behaviour shifting towards online buying
for essential goods.
Keywords: Consumer, Online Buying, Pandemic, Goods, Behaviour

INTRODUCTION With lockdown measures the buying of essential

items was also necessary for the consumers
The pandemic 2020 has impacted the
during the pandemic 2020 to sustain a healthy
nations worldwide restricting the movements of
living, in a way the consumers buying behaviour
people to cease the spread of corona virus and
patterns were also different with focus on buying
has remodelled the regular schedules of people
across the nation. The restrictions were imposed the basic goods. The consumer buying behaviour
is a modelled approach which studies the pattern
by the government and the reactions of
of groups, individuals in regards to their
consumers were different with financial
acquisition, buying, consumption and disposition
constraints faced by many. The consumers of
of goods which even includes their attitudes,
India have avoided leaving their homes, avoided
behaviours, preferences, lifestyle and their
public places and transportation, maintaining
consumption pattern, etc. With any situation
social distancing norms, concerned about the
coming before the consumer it impacts their
economy and worried about their health, etc.
buying behaviour as the consumers are with their
*MMS Student, University of Mumbai‘s – Alkesh Dinesh Mody Institute For Financial and Management Studies, Mumbai, Maharashtra
**MMS Student, University of Mumbai‘s – Alkesh Dinesh Mody Institute For Financial and Management Studies, Mumbai, Maharashtra
***MMS Student, University of Mumbai‘s – Alkesh Dinesh Mody Institute For Financial and Management Studies, Mumbai, Maharashtra
183
own variety of responses like their sentiments,
their thought process and their responses towards
their observations in regards to purchasing
decision. The consumer buying behaviour was
also changed during the pandemic as basic needs
for hygiene and health became centred and
depending on online platforms for buying
essential goods came into existence to maintain
social distancing and fear of getting the corona
virus. As per the reports of Alibaba grocery
outlet the orders for grocery items increased four
times which was higher than the normal buying
and the baby boomer‘s generation was seen more
active than in the spring festival. The retailer in
china as per the data of Miss Fresh outlet stated
that the age group of 40 years and above has
ordered online for essential goods and 237% rise
of online buying was seen during COVID-19.
Understanding the consumer buying
behaviour is very important and thus the
consumers are influenced by their groups, needs,
emotions, values, personalities, income,
information processing, the ongoing regulatory
and government policies and overall, the impact
of marketing strategies on consumers. According
to the data of channelAdvisor and Dynata (A
research firm) it was seen that the consumers
were shopping online in continual pattern in
COVID was 42% of the respondents including
the maximum age group from 36 years and
above, it was also seen in US that 36% of
consumers were regularly buying the essential
goods online with luxury items as well. (Coker,
EssentialRetail,2020). The work from home
environment has been boasted upon employees
of different organisations and the job security
and fear of health is seen at higher rate with 64%
worried for the same. (Accenture report, 2020).
The term of New Normal has been coined and
the demand for personal health and hygiene was
the top priority changing the consumer buying
behaviour during the pandemic 2020. The report
184
of Accenture also stated that the digital influence
of buying for groceries was also increased during
the COVID-19.
The consumers were offered with variety
of choices on various platforms for buying the
essential items and the essential goods can
broadly divided into four categories: 1) Groceries
2) Readymade food Products 3) Personal Care
and 4) Health and Hygiene Products. The various
online platforms for buying available for
essential goods are Grofers, Amazon fresh, Big
Basket, Reliance Fresh, Med Life, PharmEasy,
NetMeds etc. The various online platforms came
with variety of schemes to ensure the consumer
buying through digital platforms. The Amul
industry stated that the demand for the packed
food items was increased during the lockdown
and their E commerce sale was more than
doubled during the lockdown. The farm to fork
model came into existence by becoming
successful in the lockdown as farmers groups
were getting fresh vegetables to the doorstep of
consumer and selling through online platforms as
well. Zomato the readymade food delivery E
commerce platforms made the grocery services
live across more than 80 countries in India. One
of the online groceries selling platform Grofers
introduced the ‗Society Group Orders‘, a service
through which it has partnered with RWA‘s
across leading metro cities to make the essentials
available to more consumers. Business to
Business model of start-up Jumbotail initiated
with a service of picking up the stocks available
from the distributors of FMCG companies and
started delivering to the local Kirana Stores. The
wholesale Retailer D-Mart which has over 200
stores across the country has launched a service
of ―Store on Wheels‖ – a model which will make
available their essential grocery items to
consumers though trucks to the residential
societies. The Marico – A FMCG Firm has
partnered with Swiggy and Zomato for essential
products to be home delivered. The Marico
personal care products and health and hygiene
products were also available through online
platforms.
The pandemic has brought lots of
challenges, issues and problems but there is need
for cocreation with more agile and versatile
approach of producers and consumers in the
economy. The consumer buying behaviour is
attached with their sentiments in regards to their
optimistic nature and their needs towards digital
experience may take a boom in the pandemic
phase. The consumer‘s attitudes are moving
towards a sustainability approach into three level
– Individual, Community and Society level as
they are looking for products as per their basic
needs while they keeping extra inventory of
essential items at their home. The demand for
products that are concerned towards safety and
hygiene appeals will be more compared to the
luxury items. As per the Nielsen India report the
food category demand have increased from 7%
to 10% and remarked that the demand for
essential goods will be more strapping due to
panic buying behaviour of consumers.
(Bloombergquint.com, 2020). The consumer
buying behaviour for essential goods buying
online in a nutshell depends upon awareness of
online platforms, availability of essential goods,
the social acceptance, experience of peer groups,
communication received from brands, access to
internet facilities and perceptions of consumers
towards online buying in pandemic phase.
Producers can influence the consumers
through following points in pandemic 2020:
 Products focused on healthy lifestyle.
 Redefining the marketing strategies.
 Digital Presence of products.
 Staying connected with consumers.
185
 Availability of products in global market.
 Effective supply chain of products.
 By offering a discount on online buying.
 Bringing Click and Collect system.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The study was focused mainly on how the
buying behaviour of consumers change during
economic crises. He has classified the consumers
on the basis of 2 factors, i.e., risk attitude and
risk perception. They also segment the
consumers into various types for instance, the
prudent customers who plan their spending
carefully, panicked consumers who avoid the
risks and are not loyal to a specific brand but
only to the best price. Author asserts that there
are certain trends in shopping online during
economic crisis situation. People prefer valued
goods and goods which gives them great offers
in best price. People keep their primary focus on
savings due to uncertainty of the situation.
(Sharma, Sonawalkar, 2013)
The study investigated the impact of an
epidemic outbreak on the expenditures made by
the consumers and how they alter their behaviour
to mitigate the risk of being infected. The
research focused on how the expenditures made
by the consumers is disrupted due to crisis
situation and also discusses about how there is a
major shift to online shopping rather than street
shopping due to the obvious risks of infections.
It also enunciates how the customers cut their
spending on luxury and recreation items during
the epidemic outbreak and maintain constant
spending patterns towards groceries or to say,
necessary and essential items. It further stated
that policy interventions and amending the
strategies for marketing can be helpful for the
companies to prosper, despite the challenging
situation. (Jung, Park, Hong, Hyun, 2016)
 The researcher pointed out that due to
lockdown, businesses like retail sectors and
many marketers are finding various platforms to
continue their business and cater to consumers.
The prices of essential goods have increased due
to the current situation as marketers are taking
advantage of the situation and the poor
population is affected due to this. Customers
aren‘t fully satisfied due to delay in online
deliveries on account of lockdown. Researcher
also stated that online shopping is affected
because of the fear of delivery persons getting
infected by the virus. Due to the social distancing
norm, people are rapidly moving towards online
platforms to fulfil their needs. The marketers
should devise hygiene measures, so that
consumers trust the brand and remain loyal.
(Sucharita, 2020).
The author points out on how a huge
number of people suddenly jumped to online
shopping due to the fear of infection and also due
to social distancing norm. He discovered that
Indian consumers are more cost conscious and
prefer to purchase daily requirements from local
shops. After observing this behaviour, author
states that online shopping platforms should
come up with discounts and various other ideas
to lure the customers for shopping online.
Researcher points out that Indian people are
more inclined towards local manufactured
products (Make in India) rather than foreign or
imported products. Author also pointed out the
fact that during the pandemic, customers are
more focused in purchasing essential items like
medicines and groceries rather than luxury
goods. (Sharma,2020)
The Article elucidates that during the
crisis situation, customer‘s interest should be the
prime responsibility, as it can create brand
image, customer loyalty and generate trust
amongst them. Companies can think of changing
186
the pricing and refund policies and various ways
to help their consumers through this crisis.
Digitalizing the operations can pose
advantageous to the companies to bring the
customers closer. Due to the challenge of social
distancing, contact less deliveries are the new
idea that needs to be adopted and implemented.
Marketers will have to rethink about the ways in
which they can build a strong relationship with
their customers which will last beyond the
COVID-19 crises. (Economic Times, Narula,
2020)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The pandemic 2020 has seen a shift
towards New Normal and consumers are worried
about their health and hygiene with their buying
behaviour more focused towards essential goods
like medicines, groceries & some personal care
products. This research paper tries to understand
the consumer buying behaviour towards online
platforms. The study is based on descriptive
research design and the primary survey was
conducted by circulating the google forms and
the responses were received from Mumbai, Pune
and Surat regions. The questionnaire had the
combination of both open ended and close ended
questions with targeted sample size of 300
respondents but only 274 respondents were
received. The secondary data from various
newspaper articles was referred. The study is
based on the primary research as structured
questionnaire was circulated for data collection.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 To understand the perceptions of the
consumers towards online buying platforms
in regards to essential products during
pandemic.
 To understand buying behaviour of
consumers towards online buying of
essential goods due to COVID-19.
 To test the awareness of online platforms
available for shopping of essential goods

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Descriptive Analysis
 49.6% were Males and 48.5% were Females.
 68.2% were in the age group of 21-25 years, Interpretation: Due to sudden outbreak of
24.8% were below 20 years of age, 4% were COVID-19, e-commerce platforms saw a surge
from the age group of 26-30 years and the in their activities as people actively resorted to
rest 3% were from the age group of 31-35 online buying. 70.8% of the respondents have
years. purchased essential goods from online platforms
mainly due to COVID outbreak.
 32.1% of the population were had a monthly
income of below 20,000 rupees, 28.5% were 2) Select the essential products that you
from the income group of 20,001 to 40,000 purchased online during a pandemic?
rupees, 15% were from the income group of
40,001 to 60,000 rupees, 12.8% had monthly
income between 60,001 to 80,000 rupees
and the rest 11.7% had a monthly income of
above 80,001.
 74% of the population used online payment
methods while making payment of the goods
purchased online. The rest 26% preferred
offline payments.
 65% of the population purchased essential Interpretation: Groceries and Hygiene products
items monthly, 28% purchased weekly and were given preference over luxury products
7% purchased the essential items daily. during the pandemic. 60.9% of the population
purchased groceries and 59.5% purchased
INFERENTIAL ANALYSIS hygiene products online, while 31% of the
population purchased clothing apparels and
1) You have purchased essential goods from
16.8% purchased ready-made food items from
online platforms mainly on account of
various online platforms.
COVID outbreak.
3) Select the reasons for buying essential items
online due to pandemic?

187

Interpretation: Due to COVID-19
lockdown and social distancing norm, people
resorted to online buying of products that
otherwise were bought from local stores. 63.1%
agreed to have bought essentials online due to
social distancing norms, 55.1% responded with
delivery at the doorstep, 50% respondents
purchased goods online due the products being
untouched and hygienic, 30.7% respondents
found it convenient and flexible, 20.1%
respondents purchased essential goods online due
to the discounts offered, 19% shopped online due
to return policy made available to them and
17.5% bought items online due to the click and
collect system.
4) Due to the scarcity of products on one online
platform, will you suddenly shift to another
platform for buying essential goods?
Interpretation: Hygiene and health were
the most important things to be maintained
during the pandemic to avoid infection. People
were seen shifting their online platforms due to
scarcity of goods on their preferred platforms and
188
also due to trust and hygiene maintenance issues.
35% respondents will be ready to shift the
platforms due to scarcity of products, 17%
claimed to be loyal to their daily online platforms
and 48% respondents were still confused.
5) Due to unforeseen contingencies that the
pandemic may cause, you have purchased
essential goods above your normal
requirement
Interpretation: Many people were seen
to be stocking the products above their
requirements due to the volatile nature of the
pandemic. 62% of the people agreed to have
purchased essential goods above their normal
requirements.
6) I realized in the pandemic phase that the
quality of essential goods purchased through
online platforms is similar to offline
purchasing.
Interpretation: It was observed that the
quality of the products purchased online was
similar to when purchased offline from local
shops. 67.9% of the population surveyed agreed
to the fact that the quality of items purchased
online was similar to offline products.
7) The social media advertisements influenced
you to buy essential items online?
Interpretation: Social media has a great
influence on the buying behavior of the
consumer. People tend to purchase products from
various platforms when they see the
advertisements on social media platforms like,
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc. 68.9% of
respondents agreed to have been influenced by
social media advertisements to purchase the
products online.
8) I found that there are more varieties of goods
available on online platforms than in local
shops during pandemic.
Interpretation: It is a known fact that we find
more variety of products on online platforms
rather than in local shops. 71% respondents
agreed to the statement while 7% denied and
22% were still confused.
9) You will prefer buying essential goods
online even at high prices rather than visiting the
189
local stores as you fear of increasing the chances
of getting infected.
Interpretation: Due to lockdown announced in
the state, as well as due to social distancing,
many people preferred shopping online even if
the prices were a bit too high than local stores,
due to the fear of getting infected. 67.16%
respondents agreed to prefer to buy products
online at higher prices than visiting the stores
and increasing the risk of infection.
10) From which platform do you shop your
groceries?
Interpretation: Many platforms are available to
people to purchase groceries online. 33% prefer
Amazon Fresh when buying groceries, 28%
prefer Big Basket, 17% prefer Reliance Fresh,
10% purchased from Grofers, 3% prefer Nature‘s
Basket, 2% shopped from Flipkart and 7%
preferred platforms other than those mentioned.
11) From which platform do you shop your
personal care items?
Interpretation: Personal care is of utmost
importance during pandemic. To buy personal
hygiene products, 41% respondents preferred
Amazon, 35% chose Flipkart, 13% purchased
from Myntra, 7% preferred Nyka and the rest 4%
bought from other platforms.
12) From which platform do you shop your
medicinal items?
Interpretation: Medicinal items were one of the
essential items which were sought out the most
during pandemic. Out of the population
surveyed, 29% purchased medicinal products
from PharmEasy, 26% preferred MedLife and
23% people purchased from NetMeds.
13) Will you continue to use digital platforms to
shop for essential items post-COVID -19?
190
Interpretation: There is a fear of getting
infected racing in the minds of the people due to
the outbreak of COVID-19. People fear
venturing out of their house and prefer ordering
essential items from online platforms. We can
already see exponential growth of e-commerce
platforms due to health, hygiene issues and also
due to social distancing norms. Post COVID
situation would be highly volatile and therefore
60% of the respondents will prefer to use digital
platforms for shopping essential goods post
COVID-19, 32% were still unclear about it and
8% denied using online platforms post COVID.
CONCLUSION
The pandemic situation has impacted the
consumers and influenced them to buy through
online platforms and the awareness of online
platforms was seen among the consumers. The
consumer buying behaviour can be referred as
the differences in buying preferences of the
consumers, purchasing power, varieties of
products available reflect their values and
overall, the external factors like social, culture,
family and economics influence their buying
behaviour with internal factors like motives,
attitudes, needs, perceptions and personality etc.
It can be concluded that the consumers have
purchased the essential goods mainly on account
of COVID-19. The consumers were focused on
buying the essential goods like health and
hygiene products and groceries online. The
reason for buying online was mostly seen as they
wanted to avoid the crowded places and follow
the social distancing norm. The delivery at the
door step is most preferred by the consumers in
the times of pandemic. The consumers depending
on various factors may shift to different online
platforms if availability of their preferred goods
was not there. The consumers in the times of
pandemic have purchased above their normal
requirement and found the quality is similar to
the local sellers. The advertisements have
influenced the consumers to buy the products
online. The fear factor of getting in contact with
infectious disease was seen among the
consumers. Thus, the consumer buying
behaviour for essential goods was seen towards
online buying rather than preferring the local
consumers in times of pandemic.
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