Impact of Covid 19 on online shopping behavior of people in Kathmandu Valley

Statement of Problem
In the months since COVID-19 appeared on the scene, all kinds of lockdowns have been
influencing our lives. These lockdowns, and the desire to minimize close interpersonal contact
with strangers, have led to an enormous uptick in online shopping. COVID 19 has forced
consumers to change the way they preferred to shop.

There are several articles on how Covid has changed the shopping habits of people. There is
an increased shift in consumer buying behavior from traditional shopping to online shopping
(Reddy, 2020). The report published by UNCTAD revealed that consumers in emerging
economies saw greatest shifts to online shopping. And e- commerce is one of the few
industries which showed a positive impact even though the economy is declining.
Due to the imposed restrictions almost every business had to shut down in the wake of COVID-
19 and people were stressed to stay in homes. Hence people could not go to the market for
purchasing products, so this may have pushed people towards online shopping.
Consumers from emerging economies more often anticipate that they will shop more online in
the post COVID-19 future. In terms of future purchasing channels, consumers in China and
Turkey express a strong preference for buying more often online than in physical stores. German,
Italian, Swiss and Russian consumers indicate a preference for a balanced approach between
digital and physical retailing. (Covid–19 and E-commerce, UNCTAD). The behavioral changes
in terms of shopping are not permanent but few are going to last permanently. As the society will
recover from this survival mode, this digital- online shopping adoption is likely to become
permanent. So, in the end, this pandemic situation has been classified into two aspects one is a
shift in customer behavior that avoids public crowded gatherings and second is more inclination
towards digital adoption (Shashidhar, 2020).
Through this paper I seek to examine the changes aroused in people's online purchasing behavior
in Kathmandu Valley. My attempt is to further the research on impact of Covid on online
shopping behavior and also to compare the pre and post Covid online shopping habits of people.
This research will focus on the factors that pushed people on shopping online and to measure if
the people will continue doing online shopping with the same rate as they have done when the
markets were closed and restrictions were imposed on going to the market.

Research questions
The research is conducted to get the answer of the following questions:
 What are the impact of Covid-19 on consumer shopping behavior?
 What are the factors that pushed consumers into online shopping?
 Does the online shopping habit of people will remain the same after the Covid-19?
Research objectives
The general purpose of the study is to examine the impact of Covid 19 on online shopping
behavior of people in Kathmandu Valley. However, the specific objectives are:

 To identify whether Covid 19 has pushed people towards online shopping

 To compare the online shopping habits of people pre and post the Covid pandemic.
References
(2020). Retrieved from https://www.getfeedback.com/resources/cx/the-pandemics-impact-on-
the-state-of-online-shopping-worldwide/

Reddy, A. (2020 ). Retrieved from Covid-19 Impact: Consumers Move More towards Digital:
www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/covid-19-impact-consumers-move-more-
towards-digital/article31337127.ece.

Shasidhar, A. (2020). Retrieved from Coronavirus Crisis: Snapdeal Goes 'Local' to Ensure Faster
Deliveries amid Lockdown: www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/coronavirus-crisis-
snapdeal-goes-local-ensure-faster-deliveries-amid-lockdown/story/400112.html.

UNCTAD. (October 2020). Retrieved from Covid-19 and E-commerce:

https://unctad.org/news/covid-19-has-changed-online-shopping-forever-survey-
shows#:~:text=The%20pandemic%20has%20accelerated%20the,nine%20emerging
%20and%20developed%20economies.