Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707

A Study on the Indian Consumer mindset towards

online shopping during the pandemic period: A
special reference to Flipkart
Rachita Ota
Asst. Professor,
Amity Global Business School, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Sushree Sangita Ray

Asst. Professor,
Amity Global Business School, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Rahul Kumar
Student of BBA (Marketing),
Amity Global Business School, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Abstract- Consumer Behavior towards online shopping in this pandemic period of COVID - 19 is changing rapidly. Almost
every aspect of our lifestyle has been altered due to this pandemic. There are many factors popping up in these difficult
times which are governing the buying decisions and preferences of the people. To meet these changing preferences and in
order to help the consumers during this pandemic, E-commerce giant; Flipkart is working very hard. This research takes a
descriptive approach towards obtaining its findings and results. The results of this report are supported by reliable
secondary data and primary data as well. The results have highlighted the changing consumer mindsets during this
pandemic which are mainly focusing on purchasing essentials and even giving priority to safety rather than discounts. The
results of this study are restricted to political boundaries of India only. This research will help Flipkart and many other E-
commerce firms to understand the changing demands and behavior of its customers during this difficult time and give the
best of services leading to customer delight.

Keywords - Consumer Behaviour, COVID - 19-19, Customer Preference, E-commerce, Flipkart

I INTRODUCTION
The devastating effect of COVID - 19 has made the entire world confused and uncertain about the future of the entire
human race. Thousands of people are dying every single day due this infection. Economies of leviathan countries are
stagnated and taking massive hits. Businesses of many different sectors are facing their difficult times; consumers on the
other hand, have become more aware of the safety related issues, they are taking utmost precautionary measures to
protect themselves from this lethal infection. These aspects have dramatically changed how consumers are shopping for
their needs during this unfortunate period. One of the reactions which are being seen among individuals during this time
of seclusion and vulnerability is how their buying behaviour decisions are moving towards the online shopping
practices. From marketplace purchasing to marketspace shopping, individuals are changing in their product preferences,
their buying process and their buying frequencies.

Out of all the suffering sectors, the E-commerce sector can be seen finding itself in the good books of the people during
this Corona virus up to some extent. So, it is walking an extra mile to survive and to fulfill the necessary demands of its
consumers. These demands or preferences of the consumers are being governed by many crucial factors such as, safety
and health factors, psychological factors and demographic attributes such as age group and gender of the consumers.
Psychological factors such as crowd mentality and panic buying are playing an important role in consumers buying
decisions. Safety and health factors are also playing a very important role as people are now well aware about this virus
and its impact, so they are taking many precautionary measures, their expectations and demands are also changing day-
by-day. Finally demographic attributes like gender and age group are also playing a key role in determining the
consumer mind-set and thus, changing their buying decisions from Flipkart or any other E-commerce brand.

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As more urban communities are going under lockdowns, small scale organizations are being requested to close, and
customers are for the most part maintaining their resentment towards public places. Shopping has reduced for mostly
everything except the essential items like groceries, safety and hygiene products. Brands are adjusting and becoming
adaptable to address evolving issues.

Based on a market research before the COVID - 19 outbreaks, it was predicted that the growth in the e-commerce
market in India would reach 200 billion US dollars by the year 2026. Post outbreak, recent trends suggest that the goal
of 200 Billion U.S. Dollars may be reached a lot sooner than originally predicted spurred by a jump in consumers opting
for online deliveries amid fears of possible infection if they step out of their homes. The e-commerce sector is being
impacted on the supply as well as the demand side and while some companies like Amazon, Flipkart are able to adapt
and respond to the changes, others are not able to because of the nature of limitations that have been imposed.

II LITERATURE REVIEW

Without the presence of the customers, there is no existence of any business firm. With the distinct roles played by the
consumers in the form of user and buyer, it’s quite essential for the marketer to keep a strong track of the mindsets of the
customers, in order to not only acquire but also retain them. Even during this crucial period when the whole of the world
is under the grasp of this pandemic COVID - 19, the firms are busy analyzing the mindsets of their potential customers, in
order to bring about the highest level of satisfaction even in these difficult times. In order to create opportunities one
needs to identify the different aspects which can help them to evolve during this time. One of such sectors is the
ecommerce which at the very onset of the disease understood the limitations, opportunities and challenges that they are
going to face. A study conducted on “Analysis on consumer’s online buying behavior of essentials during COVID - 19 in
central suburbs of Mumbai” highlighted that consumers are willing to experience and try new technological
advancements available, so they are showing more interest in online shopping. (Rao and Moorthy, 2020) In the study
“Impact of COVID - 19 n consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die”, researchers gave a detailed explanation
about how COVID - 19 is affecting the shopping habits of the consumers. (Sheth, 2020)

A study named “COVID - 19 will permanently change consumer behavior” conducted by Accenture have highlighted the
changed behaviours of consumers during this Pandemic and through their analysis have predicted which of these changed
behaviours are going to stay back post pandemic – COVID - 19. (Accenture, 2020) In the study named “Consumer
behavior towards online shopping in India”, the researchers gave a comprehensive view about how in this technological
era, online shopping has become an integral part of our daily lifestyle due to high level of internet penetration and other
factors. (Singh, 2018) A study on “Consumer’s buying behavior towards online shopping. A case study of Flipkart.com
users in Udumalpet Town” gave a detailed description about the various attitudes or behavioral traits of users towards
online shopping. (Lakshmanan and Karthik, 2016)

In the study named “Customer Perception towards online buying of Electronic Products from Flipkart and Amazon ''
describes the scenario how majority customers were purchasing electronics items from Flipkart and other online shopping
sites prior to this pandemic period. (Ahuja, 2018) Another study on “Consumer’s Online Shopping behavior with
reference to the Flipkart'' gave a detailed description about the features of Flipkart which consumers like the most, and the
products which consumers prefer to buy the most from Flipkart. (Pandey & Parmar, 2019) A study conducted by Forbes
on “How will the pandemic change consumer behaviors” stated that “COVID - 19 will have an enduring impact on
society long after the lockdown is over” (Forbes, 2020) Forbes conducted another study named “Consumer Behavior in
the new normal” in which it talked about how things have changed after this pandemic came into existence, and how
people are coping up with the new rules and regulations during this pandemic. (Forbes, 2020)

III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study is an attempt to understand the Indian Consumer mindset towards online shopping during the pandemic period.
For the above research the researchers have identified Flipkart for the purpose of the research work as it’s the largest E-
commerce brand after Amazon. Both primary and secondary sources were adopted. From the review of literature and the
published paper the following research objectives have been framed.

· To study the Indian consumer mindset towards online buying from Flipkart during this pandemic period of
COVID - 19.

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· To study the marketing strategies that Flipkart is practicing to maintain and help its customers and potential
customers during this pandemic.
· To analyze what are the main products range consumers are buying from Flipkart and which products are left
untouched by them during this emergency period.

Out of different primary sources the researchers have mainly adopted the Self-Administered Questionnaire as the data
collection instrument for the study. Total sample size of this study is 40. The data were collected with the help of a
Google sheet. The study was confined only to Indian Consumers. Attributes such as demands, awareness about the
pandemic, product preferences etc. were analyzed with the help of a descriptive statistic. The sampling method was
convenience sampling. While secondary data was collected through online journals, news articles, and transcripts of
podcasts from experts in this field. The data was collected in month of May, 2020.
IV DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

In order to carry out the analysis of both the types of data, descriptive statistics was applied on all questions present in the
questionnaire; this method was used to determine the percentage of the respondents falling under each category of
questions. As mentioned above the numbers of respondents were 40. So the customer’s demographic profile is shown
below in Table 1.
Table 1: Demographic profile of sample respondents, (n=40)

Demographics Frequency Percentage

Gender

Male 24 60%
Female 16 40%

Age group
Below 20 30%
20-30 37.5%
31-40 12.5%
41-59 12.5%
60 and above 7.5%

Gender Age group

below 20
7.5%

12.5% 30 %
20-30
60% Male
31-40
40% Female 12.5 %
41-59
60 & above
37.5 %

Figure 1: Percentage of the Respondents based on Gender Figure 2: Percentage of the Respondents based on Age

It can be clearly seen in Table 1 as well as in Figure 1 and 2 that 60% of respondents were Male and 40% of them were
Female. 30% of the respondents were aged between 20 to 30 yrs, 37.5% of respondents were of age between 20 to 30 yrs,
12.5% respondents were falling between the age 31-40. 12.5% respondents were from age group 41-59 and rest 7.5%
were from age 60 and above.

4.1 Indian consumer mindset towards online buying from Flipkart during this pandemic period of COVID - 19

According to data of Table 2, 72.5% respondents were using Flipkart for shopping even prior to this pandemic period and
lockdown while 27.5% respondents were not using. Further, 82.5% respondents are using Flipkart for their shopping
during this pandemic period while rests aren’t using Flipkart. Moving to Post COVID 19 buying, then 87.5% respondents
stated that they would continue to depend on Flipkart and other e-commerce sites for their shopping even after the
lockdown while a mere 12.5% denied to shop through Flipkart Post COVID 19.

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Table 2: Mindset of Flipkart consumers towards online shopping before, during and after the lockdown period
Usage YES NO
Prior to this
72.5% 27.5%
lockdown

During this
82.5% 17.5%
lockdown

After this
87.5% 12.5%
lockdown
Source: Primary data

No. of Resondents
80

60

40 57.5% Yes
No
20
17.5%
Sometimes
25%
0
Yes No Sometimes

Figure 3: Perception towards convenience

Figure-3 depicts the responses of the individuals regarding their perceptions towards convenience while buying essential
commodities through Flipkart. The results from figure 3 showed that 57.5% respondents found it convenient to shop
online rather than going to local kirana stores, while 17.5% respondents preferred to buy their products from local kirana
stores. The figure also shows the presence of a 25% of respondents who may not be the frequent buyers but do sometimes
feel the buying to be convenient and these can turn out to be the best prospective consumers for the brand.

Payment Method

10%

Cash on Delivery
Digital Payments

90%

Figure 4: Preferable payment method

Respondents were asked about their preference towards payment methods at the time of shopping online and responses
are clearly depicted in Figure 4 which states that 90% of respondents chose digital payments for making their purchases
over cash on delivery during online shopping for their products, while the 10% still follow the traditional Cash in
Delivery mode.

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No. of respondents
150

100 Proper Packaging

97.5 % 97.5 %
50 65 % Minimal Contact

0 Parcel well sanitized

Proper Packaging Minimal Contact Parcel well
sanitized

Figure 5: Expectations towards logistics

Figure 5 depicts the results of the question which queried about the priority of an individual while receiving their products
through the logistics partners of Flipkart during this pandemic period. It was observed that 65% of respondents expected
that their product parcel should be properly packed before shipping. Over 97.5% of respondents expected that their
product parcel should have minimal human contact during the entire shipment process and also should be well sanitized
before delivering.
4.2 Customer Buying Preferences during COVID - 19 – 19

Through Table 3, the researchers have clearly depicted that 82.5% people preferred purchasing grocery items, 80% people
purchased health and safety items, followed by 75% people who opted to purchase foods and beverages and packaged
food items, while a small percent of 5 went for purchasing fashion and electronic products and other secondary items
during this pandemic. Hence, it can be assumed that the apparel and gadget and their accessories are the segment that
have got hampered during this pandemic.

Table 3: Describes what products people mostly prefer during these difficult times.

Products Frequency Percentage

Grocery Items 33 82.5%

Health & Safety
32 80%
items
Food and beverages 30 75%
Fashion &
2 5%
Apparels
Electronic Gadgets 2 5%
Source: Primary & Secondary data.

4.3 Marketing Strategies by Flipkart for Customer Engagement

During this pandemic, Flipkart in order to create a good word of mouth and retain this sudden surge of customers even
post pandemic, have came up with many customer engagement initiatives comprising of many online game contests. It
was a need of the study to understand to what extent they have been able to create a good awareness regarding the
promotional activities among its potential customers. Results from Figure 6 showed that 75% respondents were aware of
all these activities of Flipkart, while the remaining were not.
Consumer awareness towards Customer Engagement
Programme: "kya bolti hai public" and "Entertainer
no.1"

25 %
Yes No
75 %

Figure 6: Customer awareness towards the Customer engagement programmes

Finally, respondents were queried regarding their knowledge towards Flipkart’s new feature that allowed them to

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consume O.T.T media such as movies and videos etc. other than shopping online during this pandemic. Figure 8 clearly
shows that 72.5% respondents were well aware and delighted by this feature and rest said they weren't aware.

Consumer awareness towards the OTT media

oportunity

27.5 %
Yes No
72.5 %

Figure 7: Customer awareness towards the Customer engagement programmes

V DISCUSSION

From the above findings, it’s quite evident that due to this pandemic, Flipkart users have increased and the most sought
after online products are especially the essential goods comprising of the groceries and the safety and hygiene related
goods. While there has been a drastic fall in the purchases of the fashion items and gadgets, which was the one online
shopper used to mostly go for in an online shopping. This pandemic has also made consumers more digitally prone. This
can be very well depicted by the increase in the preference of consumers towards digital mode of payment than the
traditional Cash on Delivery. This may be due to the fear of increase in probability of infection through the
contaminated notes which at present the customers may be avoiding and this fear had turned out to be a boon to different
digital payment systems, like Paytm, Google Pay, Mobile pay etc. which are the preferred contactless payment methods.

Previously when the customers used to receive orders their preferences were mostly timely delivery, the products should
be in right state. But, with the onset of COVID 19, the consumer expectations from the logistics have also transformed.
At present the customers are more particular of the safety and hygiene measures taken up by the logistics while they
may even compromise the quick delivery part. There were instances where most consumers weren't willing to receive
their product parcels if the delivery executive wasn't wearing proper safety gears like face mask, hand gloves etc. The
consumers expected that their products should be properly packed, with having minimal human contact during the entire
shipment process and also expected their products to be well sanitized just before reaching their doorsteps.

During this lockdown when people are shut in their own homes and have fewer options for entertainment, many brands
like Flipkart have tried to come up with various online games and contests. Through these they have not only motivated
the individuals to stay home but also have tried to position their brand as not only a site which has provided them all the
commodities of their use but also a space where the consumers can even experience the best of the movies, shows and a
platform to showcase their talent. Through the survey it was quite evident that most consumers were aware of the
exciting online contest organized by Flipkart on its app such as, "Kya bolti hai public" and "Entertainer no.1" and were
enjoying playing those at home. It was also found that most customers were cherishing the fact that Flipkart is providing
them a platform to consume O.T.T media in its App itself.

Consumers were delighted with the fact that Flipkart is working hard and surviving all odds to serve them in every
possible ways in these unfortunate times. Most consumers preferred to continue shopping from Flipkart once the
pandemic is over.

The pandemic has created a shift in the way consumers behave and carry out their activities, directly affecting the e-
commerce industry of FLIPKART and also its other competitors. It was found that close to 95% of Gen-Zs and
Millennial were well aware and concerned about this emergency period and the pandemic, and its effects on the people
and their economy. This has resulted millennial generation to change their behavior and buying decisions more
drastically than any other generations such as the older ones. It was found that the older generation or the boomers, late-
boomers and gen-x people were slightly less concerned than younger generations although they were still aware of
coronavirus and its effects on the economy. Instead, they let this pandemic impact their shopping habits less.

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VI MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

The recommendations are in the form of 4Cs which is assumed to be of great help to the ecommerce domain especially
for brands like Flipkart and other related businesses in order to help to consumers experience customer delight even
during these difficult times

Care and concern for customers: Flipkart should work on developing a strong relationship with its customers by coming
up with innovative ideas to help its consumers during this difficult time. It can prove to be a golden opportunity for
brands like Flipkart as helping its consumers in need will certainly elevate its image, and brand value in their eyes and
also contribute to the goodwill of the firm itself in the market and society.

Come closer to customer: In this situation where customers are facing some real problems even to step out of their
houses and procure their essentials. Flipkart and other online businesses should go to their customers instead of their
customers coming to them. It should come up with new ideas how to interact with its consumers and help them and
spread positivity among them. Flipkart should also show its customers that it is not just functioning to make profits, but
it is genuinely working hard to serve its customers and helping the society as a whole. This will surely increase the
goodwill of the company in the market.

Contactless capabilities to be developed for customers: It has come to a phase where behaviors like social-distancing
and minimal physical contact with any person or object has become a normal part of our day-to-day activities.
Everything now-a-days have become contactless, even contactless business and shopping, So, Flipkart can change its
method of doing business according to the changing scenario. It should encourage and allot its maximum resources to
develop an infrastructure which encourages contactless commerce. For example, contactless delivery mechanisms like
Drone deliveries and contactless payment methods etc. and should be practiced without any compromise.

Cutting costs without sacrificing customer experience: In this very phase of emergency when the whole earth is
suffering from crisis, leviathan economies have frozen, share markets have fallen, it is understandably very difficult for
Flipkart to manage its cost and run its business, So it has to balance itself between a very thin line of maintaining its
margins and delivering quality service to its consumers, As one wrong step or a bad service experience by Flipkart’s
customers can cause the firm a serious damage in the long run. It also should have a keen eye on its operating costs as
well, as this is a very crucial factor which will help the business to survive in this pandemic period. It should also see
that customer satisfaction isn’t compromised at any cost. The most optimal way to handle both the jobs is to come up
with some self-service channels in a digitalized way that could serve its customers efficiently and also reduce its costs at
the same time.
VII CONCLUSION

The entire world is in a state of emergency right now, nothing has remained same as earlier, each and every aspect of
our lives have changed to some extent, the way we purchase, the way we spend our time, the way we meet with people,
the way we live our lives, everything has changed. But in this very phase of uncertainty and chaos people are having
hope for a better tomorrow, a tomorrow where humanity lives fearless from any sought of diseases or viruses.Many of
us have started accepting these new ways of living our lives, or in a business perspective it can be said as, many
consumers have started to accept these new ways of living and changing their demands and behaviors according to the
current situations. So business owners, be it small, medium or large, all of them are thinking about newer and more
innovative or rather safe ways to meet the demands of their consumers. We can also witness that many new business
ideas and business models are blooming up in this very phase of COVID-19. And large businesses like Flipkart are
working day and night to fulfill necessary demands of its consumers and also helping them in these difficult times.
As consumers are facing bad times, most of their incomes have stopped or reduced, they are all restricted at their houses
during this unfortunate period, the main aim of the businesses like Flipkart and any other business existing in this very
world should be to know and serve their customers and help them in this difficult phase. Flipkart and in fact all other
businesses need to know their customers more intimately than before and for doing that they should develop some
innovative and digital models. They need to put the interest of their consumers first in these difficult times, which will
eventually lead to creating long-lasting bond with their consumers, as there is a human tendency to remember someone
who helped them in difficult times. On the other hand, the job for the marketers in Flipkart will be to have a keen eye
upon the sudden changes in the preferences and behavior of the consumers and innovate or make necessary changes in
the way they serve their consumers. This will end up in creating goodwill for the business and provide traction to the
businesses as well.

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