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Fear Is A Great Leveller: A Study On The Immediate

Impact Of Covid-19 On Consumer Behaviour In

India Dr. Kaberi Bhattacharyya

Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, Netaji Nagar College (affiliated to University of Calcutta),

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Abstract: Covid-19 pandemic is being hailed as the worst crisis to hit humanity, since World War II. Like the rest

of the world, India is also trying to combat this unprecedented crisis through a multi-pronged strategy -- quarantine

and social distancing, being the pre-eminent ones. Consequently, the country locked itself down in four phases for

about two months since March 25, with an earnest appeal to stay indoors. The Unlocking of the country with

staggered relaxations, has started since June 1; but firm restrictions exist wherever necessary. The fear of the

pandemic and the anxiety of living an ‘unreal’ today under lockdown, have triggered certain distinctive traits in the

consumer behaviour, which calls for a deep and interesting study. Here in this paper, an attempt has been made to

focus on these traits, with respect to what are purchased by consumers and how (channel used), surmising on

whether this impact is as temporary as the virus and its associated restrictions, or whether it is going to continue

thereafter. Concurrently, we also seek to infer what these changes in consumer behaviour imply for relevant

businesses.

First and foremost, consumers across economic tiers have made hygiene a priority which in the pre-Covid times

was nowhere near critical. Such demand abundance across the economic spectrum and resultant market gap has led

business organisations going outside their original product offering into manufacturing them.

Secondly, the basket items selection (stockpiling of staples) shows a clear preference for no-frills home-made

meals and traditional health foods (chyawanprash, honey etc) for bolstering immunity. Unhealthy choices (chips,

fritters, instant mixes, noodles, soft drinks etc) have been cut down. Even, online ordering of restaurant food has

declined.

If consumers maintain these healthy eating habits even after the crisis eases, packaged foods companies (chips,

wafers, juices and others for example) need to alter their product offerings, to stay relevant. The moot question is

whether the company’s product is in demand in the altered scenario, and if not, can the resources be quickly

restructured to produce ‘that’, which is being newly demanded. And in this entire process of adaptation, an open

line of communication between the brand(s) and the consumers assumes criticality.

Thirdly, there has been noticeable acceleration in behaviour shifts like transition to online purchase, which was

already underway before the crisis. India is among the top three global economies in terms of number of digital

consumers, but it is the immobility during the lockdown that have majorly pushed customers (including first-

timers) to go online, even for their rudimentary purchases. There has been stratospheric rise in the search and

purchase from online grocery sites, making online presence for consumer goods retailers an imperative, not choice.

Simultaneously, the kirana stores have remained equally relevant to consumers during the crisis.

INDEX TERMS: Covid-19 pandemic, altered consumer behaviour, healthy food choices, hygiene prioritisation,

preference for online purchase, changed business model

INTRODUCTION

The Corona virus impacted planet of ours looks and feels starkly different from what it was just earlier. The UN

Secretary General Antonio Guterres has opined that the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 is the world’s most

challenging crisis since the Second World War (The Economic Times, 2020b). As the humankind grapples with

this literally unprecedented disaster, the virus continues to infect and kill, generating morbid statistics every day.

In India, the situation has got only grimmer since 30 January when the country confirmed its very first Covid-19

patient (Gopikrishnan Unnithan, 2020). Since the only effective weapon against this invisible monster seems to be

quarantine and social distancing – the Government of India locked down the country in four phases from March

25 to May 31.i However, inspite of such safety measures, the Covid-19 graph did not flatten. When the country

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went into lockdown on March 25 there were 618 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which 562 were active, and the

death toll was 13 (The Hindu, 2020a); on the last day of Lockdown 4.0, that is on May 31, the number of Covid-19

cases totalled 182,143 including 89,995 active cases and death toll was 5164 (zeenews, 2020).

The outbreak of the pandemic, then living an ‘unreal’ life for 68 days (March 25 – May 31) at a stretch behind

closed doors (unprecedented in living memory) and still facing the ballooning statistics of contagion and mortality

every single day have naturally instilled deep fear (Goyal, 2020) among ordinary people about surviving the

pandemic, in flesh. Indians have ranked first in global anxiety index (Business Line, 2020b), in a study by

Deloitte*1. Covid-19 has varied implications to make consumers jittery ....... contagion, mortality, severe

restrictions on daily routines, job insecurities, stoppage of pay, lay-offs, business discontinuities, physical

distances from loved ones (stuck in a different geography)– to name a few. Moreover, the economic uncertainty

which was clouding the horizon since the beginning of 2020*2 and the severe setback of the economy*3 resulting

from the prolonged lockdown culminating in rampant employee-separation*4 have deepened the concerns;

illustratively, the small and medium enterprises have been hit hard in the lockdown with depressed demand and

production, resulting in job cuts. Similarly paucity of agricultural labour during the harvesting period coinciding

with the lockdown has adversely impacted the yield (Sharma & Mahendru, 2020). The panic-inducing fake news

bombs in relation to the pandemic erupting worldwide have also played its part, here (Sahoo, 2020). Jointly and

severally, they have all influenced the consumer behaviour*5.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Here in this paper, we try to focus on the immediate impact of this pandemic and economic uncertainties on the

consumer behaviour, with respect to what are purchased and how (channel used), surmising on whether this impact

is as temporary as the virus and its associated restrictions, or whether it is going to continue thereafter.

Concurrently, we also seek to infer what these changes in consumer behaviour imply for relevant businesses.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This paper is basically exploratory in nature. Secondary data has been collected during Covid times from

recognised online sources including academic and research articles, reports, newspaper articles and so on, which

all have been explicitly referenced at the end. There has been an attempt to present these secondary data in a

narrative style and draw meaningful conclusions therefrom, significant to both academia and industry.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

In a study, Nielsen mapped the retail purchase and associated consumer attitudes across traditional, modern and

electronic channels from the time the pandemic broke out in India till the lockdown happened. Initially consumers

focused on purchase of safety items (hand sanitizers, face masks etc) followed by stockpiling of shelf-stable food

1Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (a UK private company limited by guarantee), popularly known as Deloitte, is an

umbrella brand under which professionals from reputed firms across the world come together to offer audit, consultancy,

financial and related advisory services to select clients. [ https://www2.deloitte.com/bg/en/pages/about-

deloitte/articles/about-deloitte.html]

2 In January 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted India’s growth for 2020 at 5.8 percent - due to sharper-

than-expected demand contraction in the country, stress in its Non-Banking Financial Sector and descending credit growth.

[IMF (2020, January). World Economic Outlook. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/01/20/weo-

update-january2020]

*3 The 2020-21 Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) loss for all states due to Covid -19 is about Rs 30.3 lakh crore,

amounting to about 13.5% of total GSDP. The Gross Domestic Product could contract by 6.8% in the current fiscal.[

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/cost-of-the-lockdown-over-10-of-gdp-loss-for-18-

states/articleshow/76028826.cms]

*4 Since March 24 and during the entire lockdown, the unemployment rate in India remained high at over 20%. According to

Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, it reached 24.3%, during the week ending May 24.

[https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/india-unemployment-worsens-cmie-jobless-rate-

spikes/articleshow/75989712.cms]

*5 “Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups and organisations select, buy, use and dispose of goods,

services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants.”(Kotler and Keller, 2006)”Studying consumers provides clues

for improving or introducing products or services, setting prices, devising channels, crafting messages, and developing other

marketing activities” (Kotler, et al., 2008).

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and varieties of health and safety products. While store visits had increased in the beginning, it was replaced by

online purchase in the quarantine stage. (Bansal, 2020)

There was increase in purchase of food items like packaged atta (whole wheat flour), pulses, rice, oil by 23

percent; sale of preservative laden tetra pack milk declined by 6 percent; sale of packaged foods and ready-to-cook

items like chips, namkeens*6, biscuits, instant noodles, idli-dosa powder (ready-to-cook mixes), frozen foods fell

by 17 percent. There was decline of 35 percent in the consumption of soft drinks and packaged juices.

Concurrently, the sale of immunity-building foods like chyawanprash and milk-based food drinks rose by 10

percent (Mohanty, Kumar, & Gomez, 2020). Nielsen reported growth of 35 percent, 81 percent and 38 percent

respectively in the turnovers of branded honey, Chyawanprash and turmeric in March through modern trade

outlets.*7 Sale of branded pulses through kiranas rose 72 percent in value terms, from mid-February to mid-March

(2020) compared with a 16 percent rise in 2019. Packaged flour sales rose 25 percent (2020) compared with 20

percent in 2019. Average online number of orders in a week for cooking oil rose 106 percent in March compared

to February, 2020 (Dsouza, 2020).

Nimble-footed players are eager to pick up cues from the new basket and more importantly promptly act on them.

“In the post-covid-19 world, I feel the importance of preventive healthcare, particularly with ayurveda, and of

personal hygiene will grow in the consumer mindspace. Consumers will seek more preventive healthcare products

for boosting immunity. Even personal hygiene products would become an essential part of the monthly grocery

basket”, said Dabur*8 chief executive officer Mohit Malhotra. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL)*9 sought to “leverage

the ‘mega trend of health and wellness’ in India” (Tandon, 2020).

Parallely, the volume of online ordering/home delivery of restaurant food nosedived by above 60 percent from that

grossed in the first half of March (Mishra & Chanchani, 2020). [It may be mentioned here that online delivery of

food from restaurants/outlets, which maintained strict hygiene protocol was exempted from the lockdown.

(Tripathi, 2020)] Zomato and Swiggy, the key players in the restaurant food delivery market, reported 70 percent

drop in orders, during lockdown (Shrivastava, 2020). Pertinently, both Swiggy and Zomato quickly adapted to the

altered scenario, to home-deliver groceries which is in peak demand by quarantined households, utilising their fleet

of delivery personnel and creating a win-win scenario. Zomato went ahead and partnered with Grofers*10, to even

deliver from kirana stores (The Economic Times, 2020d). Domino’s (the pizza delivery service) has partnered with

ITC to home deliver groceries in select cities through Domino’s Essentials to compensate for the lack of orders

(Indiatvnews, 2020b).

The healthy choice of food in the basket and a major withdrawal in restaurant food ordering clearly points out to

the preference for simple, nutritious home-cooked fares for immunity and good health, eliminating unhealthy frills.

Moreover, consumers are being extremely judicious about resources spent and aggressively pursuing value for

money. This is extremely pertinent at the face of the uncertain economic environment in the country that was

brewing since the beginning of the year (before the Covid-19 breakout), as mentioned earlier, and has aggravated

deeply due to economic inactivity after the pandemic outbreak and the ensuing lockdown. Nielsen India surveyed

1,330 people in 23 cities (in India) during 10 -14 April, and found that shoppers are dissuaded to spend

discretionarily after the lockdown cancelling/deferring eating out, grooming and entertainment to fund for health

and hygiene needs. Sameer Shukla, West Market Leader-South Asia, Nielsen Global Connect, said: “Consumers

have become cautious due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will be bearish on discretionary spends once normalcy is

restored in the coming months. They will focus their spends more on health and hygiene facets ......”( Business

Line, 2020a)

If consumers steadfastly choose to eat healthy post-crisis, to protect their health and money, packaged foods

companies (chips, wafers, juices and others, for example) need to alter their product offerings, to stay relevant.

According to Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India, since consumers may curtail discretionary spends in the near

future, sales will get limited only to essentials, throwing up challenges for the consumer goods sector (Gupta,

2020). So in justification of business prudence and customer welfare, unlikely product lines are being fostered.

*6 Namkeens are indigenous fritters.

*7 Honey, Chyawanprash and turmeric are immunity boosters as per Indian tradition and ancient scriptures.

*8 Dabur India Limited is a 135 years old Indian FMCG company founded on Ayurvedic plank with revenues of over Rs

8,500 Crore and Market Capitalisation of over Rs 72,500 Crore. (www.dabur.com)

*9 The Indian arm of Unilever, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, is the largest fast moving consumer goods company in India.

*10 Grofers is an Indian online grocery store with home delivery service.

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ITC Ltd’s*11 perfume factory in Himachal Pradesh is producing Savlon hand sanitisers after the pandemic outbreak

(The Hindu, 2020b). Nivea India’s*12 plant at Sanand (Gujarat), which earlier manufactured skincare products for

indigenous demand, started producing alcohol-based hand sanitizers during the crisis – seeking to distribute them

in the public hospitals, healthcare institutions etc at zero cost (The Financial Express, 2020b).

These genuinely caring responses and rising above the fight for market supremacy are remembered by customers

well after the pandemic is over. More than the Company’s vis-a-vis the brand’s commitment to its customers and

society, such gestures also demonstrate effective leadership in creating gainful employment for the staff when

demand crashes in the core businesses. The moot question is whether the Company’s product is in demand in the

altered scenario, and if not, can the resources be quickly restructured to produce ‘that’, which is being newly

demanded. It is well accepted that, generation of demand is crucial for turning around the economy (Sharma, Talan

& Jain, 2020).

Superbottoms, which manufactures reusable diapers in India, switched to production of cotton face masks to help

lessen its acute shortage at the beginning of the pandemic. It also ensured that the masks reach those who crucially

need them (e.g. hospitals) in Mumbai (India) at cost (Hindustan Times, 2020). Even Indian Railways (Northern

Zone) arranged to prepare cotton face masks from cloth, otherwise meant for uniform of railway men (Nag, 2020).

A significant Covid-19 impact on consumer behaviour has been observed in the personal hygiene space. Hygiene

has been conventionally deemed optional in India, its use mainly limited to soaps and shampoos. But the fear

factor of Covid–19 contagion, has made hygiene a universal priority. According to Deep Bajaj (Sirona Hygiene),

“It’s sad that it took a pandemic like Covid-19 to emphasise the importance of hygiene but now that this has

happened — habits across the (socio-economic) pyramid will change” (Mandal, 2020). Pertinently, 91 percent

households are washing hands more; 47 percent have increased toilet cleaning (43 percent urban, against 49

percent rural); 19 percent and 17 percent have made their first purchase of hand sanitiser and handwash

respectively (ABP News Bureau, 2020).

In February India had very few Covid-19 patients, but the value growth of hand sanitisers scaled 53 percent,

according to Nielsen India. Back in November-December-January, the growth was 11 percent. Liquid handwash

sales during mid-February to mid-March jumped 42 percent in 2020, compared to 28 percent last year. Through e-

commerce, average number of weekly orders for hand sanitisers in March surged 14 times over February; (The

Financial Express, 2020a). In March, hand sanitisers and handwash were demanded 340 percent and 60 percent

more (Shashidhar, 2020).

The skyrocketing demand for hygiene products have created opportunities enough for FMCG majors like Emami,

Dabur India Limited, Dukes India, Bajaj Consumer, Jyothy Labs, Cavin Kare, Patanjali Ayurved, Zydus

Wellness and many more to foray in the hand sanitiser market (cnbctv18, 2020). Nielsen reported that 152 new

hand sanitiser manufacturers entered the market in March (Markande, 2020). A Nielsen survey clearly points to

behavioural shift, where 56 percent of its respondents plan to increase their spends on health, fitness, organic

food, medication and insurance (Tandon & Bansal, 2020).Vivek Gambhir, MD & CEO, Godrej Consumer

Products, claimed that hygiene will become the new core for his Company with dedicated brands and products

(The Economic Times, 2020h).

Here lies a market opportunity for hygiene products at competitive rates that can be bulk supplied via fair price

shops, government hospitals and medicine outlets. ITC has made its Savlon hand sanitiser available in half a rupee

sachets making it the world’s most economical sanitiser, besides partnering with the different state governments to

ensure its availability where it is critically needed (Rakshit, 2020).

The robust growth in the sales volume of healthy foods and hygiene products as discussed above, underscore the

consumers’ perspective to build up on their immunities, in their fight against Covid-19. Combined with the

strained economic environment looming over the country as already mentioned, consumers are being extremely

wary of the brands they choose, to deliver them what they are looking for. It is an equally slippery ground for

the brands as well, because it is these distressed consumers who constitute their market vis-a-vis their very reason

for existence. Businesses, or more specifically brands, have to deliver quality (that could create the difference

between wellness and sickness/mortality) at reasonable price (in the currently challenged times). And maybe they

have to drastically change their line of operation to do that (perfume to hand sanitiser, diaper to face masks), adapt

and excel in it too. It’s again a question of survival in an undoubtedly uncertain and untried environment. And in

this entire process of adaptation, an open line of communication between the brand(s) and the consumers is

*11 ITC Limited is a leading private sector company in India with presence across FMCG, Hotels, Packaging,

Paperboards, Speciality Papers and agri-business. [itcportal.com]

*12 Nivea India Private Limited manufactures in India skincare products of the German personal care brand Nivea.

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critical. “During such a crisis, when information is unavailable or inconsistent, and when people feel unsure about

what they know (or anyone knows), behavioural science points to an increased human desire for transparency,

guidance, and making sense out of what has happened” (Mendy, Stewart & VanAkin, 2020)

So, “marketers must support customers and protect customer relationships while staying honest about what the

firm can and cannot deliver at this time” (Starita, 2020). Brands should preferably be “demonstrating empathy:

deal with the human tragedy as a first priority” in their communication to the stakeholders (D’Auria & De Smet,

2020).

In the Global Covid-19 Barometer and India Covid-19 Sentiment Survey*13 consumers expect advertising to help

them face the new normal with a positive outlook. According to those surveyed, “brands should be a trusted

source of accurate information (28%) and advertising should: show how they can be helpful in the new everyday

life (79%); inform about their efforts to face the situation (77%); should offer a positive perspective (74%) ;not

exploit coronavirus to promote a brand (71%)” (The Economic Times, 2020c).

“During the outbreak, maintaining brand credibility with public interest ads should be prioritised over any sales

promotions, product-driven communications and awareness-building efforts. The only appropriate marketing that

could be done is around public service (sharing factual information around infection prevention) or CSR*14

(tangible support of those affected by the outbreak).Brands using their market position and prowess to be helpful

during the coronavirus outbreak will leave an impression.” On the contrary ‘appear(ing) to be profiting off misery’

could just prove doom for the brand vis-a-vis the business (Chan, 2020).

The empathy and attitude of partnership during this crisis, will certainly build the foundation of goodwill and long-

lasting emotional attachment for the brands with the communities they serve and therefrom, highly effective

strategies pertaining to the ‘new normal’ will organically emerge. Shrenik Gandhi, CEO and Co-Founder, White

Rivers Media has said, “This is a situation and it will pass, brand, consumers and the market will remain.”

(Verma & Nath,2020)

An example here would not be entirely amiss. After the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, it was

heartening to watch repeated communications from brand Lifebuoy (marketed by HUL) to stay home, stay safe

and wash hands often with Lifebuoy or any other available germicidal. It may be mentioned here that Lifebuoy is

the leading anti-bacterial soap in the country and also the world’s first FMCG brand to report that it’s handwash

and sanitiser are over 99.9 percent effective as per laboratory testing against Covid-19 (Lifebuoy India, 2020).

Lifebuoy could have exploited the situation to focus on itself; however it rose above business to genuinely help the

consumers – the empathy and earnestness of the brand to ensure their welfare was established when it made the

appeal to use any germicidal at hand. These acts are never ignored and contribute significantly to making the

brand(s) a compelling choice for its consumers.

Unlock 3.0 (beginning August 1, 2020) is here, but the rise in death and contagion continue unabated. (Times

Now, 2020). With no vaccine in the immediate horizon (Thompson, 2020), medical opinion is divided whether the

disease will have a run of two years (Woodward, 2020) or maybe even last the lifetime, like the HIV (The

Economic Times, 2020j)

Nevertheless, consumers have to procure their staples, medicines and other basic necessities, in the very least; so

purchasing online seems to be the safest mode available to them. If anything, this pandemic and the ensuing

restrictions (social distancing) have accelerated behaviour shifts like transition to online purchase (Verma, 2020),

which was already underway before the crisis*15.

*13 This online mobile survey was conducted during 21-22 March 2020 covering a sample of 1100 in 19 cities and 15 states across India.

*14 According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility “is the

continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality

of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large”. [Making Good Business

Sense by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, https://indiacsr.in/definitions-corporate-social-responsibility-csr/]

*15 Comparing seventeen mature and emerging digital economies including Brazil, China, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea,

Sweden, and the United States, India possess the second-fastest growth rate in digital adoption. India’s digital index score

was 17 in 2014 and 32 in 2017 (on a scale of 0 to 100). India has shown stellar performance in e-governance, digital identity,

mobile internet access and adoption of digital media by online consumers. [Ministry of Electronics and Information

Technology, Government of India. (2019). India’s Trillion Dollar Digital Opportunity. Retrieved from

https://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/india_trillion-dollar_digital_opportunity.pdf

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A very similar situation arose in 2003 in China, in the aftermath of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak,

when consumers were forced to purchase online in the quarantine period, to avoid contagion. This contributed to

the tremendous expansion of e-commerce company Alibaba, in China, through the launch and growth of its

consumer-centric shopping platform Taobao (Huddleston Jr, 2020).

As already mentioned, e-commerce had gained traction in India much before the present pandemic and was

growing rapidly. In 2017, the Indian e-commerce market was worth US$ 38.5 billion and in pre-Covid estimates,

was projected to reach US$ 200 billion by 2026. The growth rate in the sector clocked highest in the world at 51

per cent. (Krishnamurthy, 2019).

India is the second-largest internet subscriptions market in the world, where 238.71 million internet subscriptions

in 2013 scaled 560 million in 2018 and e-commerce users have ballooned to 176.8 million (2017-18) from 40

million (2013) (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, 2019).

The Digital India programme*16 laid the foundation for the internet explosion in India. The exponential digital

spread that followed, hinged upon the sharply escalating number of internet-enabled phones (Keelery, 2020) being

owned across socio-economic spectrum, as well as, the entry of Jio 4G VoLTE service in September 2016, at

disruptive price points (tele.net.in, 2016).

Combined with substantial young population*17, increasing consumer wealth (Ojha & Sridharan, 2019), greater

urbanisation (The Economic Times, 2015a), growing middle class (PWC India, 2018) and the overall higher

aspirations (Maheshwari, 2016), it has augured well for an e-commerce boom in India – particularly for the online

retail. The approval of 100 percent FDI in B2B e- commerce has also been a great facilitator here (Deloitte, 2020).

Initially e-commerce gained popularity for Indians, as a platform for buying mobile phones at deep discounts and

rapidly permeated across categories like electronics, apparel (IBEF, 2020) and others. Indian e-tailers recorded

US$ 3 billion of Gross Merchandise Value during September 29 - October 4, 2019, in festive sales (Abrar, 2019).

New York-based Jefferies conducted a survey in April 2019, where they assessed India’s compound annual

growth rate of online retail at 21 percent (superseding offline retail growth) to acquire $170 billion or 8 percent of

the country’s retail market by 2030. The survey also reported that individual annual online spend of Rs 12,800 in

India is likely to reach Rs 25,138 by 2029-30 (fibre2fashion.com, 2019). A Nielsen report in December 2019,

revealed that 56 percent of online shoppers were first-time entrants (Varma, 2019). With such internet

proliferation, digital marketing has emerged as crucial for the brands (Mittal, 2020).

However the data on the exponential growth in e-commerce, as mentioned above, and the

associated estimates were all mapped in the pre-Covid period. During the present pandemic and lockdown, the government allowed the sale and delivery of ‘essential items’ on

online mode (Jain, 2020).

And so the following data speaks for itself. (During the lockdown), there has been 100 percent increase in Google

searches for Big Basket*18 and Grofers. Orders doubled for BigBasket, with basket-size increasing 15-20 percent.

Grofers reported 45 percent increase in orders volume and 18 percent in order value (Sachdev .& Choudary,

2020). For Grofers nearly 80 percent growth have come from cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and

Ahmedabad while 60 percent from Delhi NCR and Hyderabad. (Indiatvnews, 2020a).

The lockdown again brought many first-timers into this online fold. (The Economic Times, 2020e). The Enormous

Brands survey noted that the country’s seniors (55-65 years) embraced digital faster in the lockdown, with

approximately 47 per cent ordering essentials online (milk, grocery etc) and making payments through

wallets/UPI (The Economic Times, 2020g).

*16The Digital India programme was launched in July 2015, by Government of India to transform India into a

‘digitally empowered society and knowledge economy’. It seeks to actualise the vision of Honourable Prime

Minister Shri Narendra Modi to ensure that technology is “accessible, affordable, and adds value”, the Digital India initiative is aimed to uplift the life of the common man.

[https://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/india_trillion-doll ar_digital_opportunity.pdf]

*17 As per Census of India (2011), Youth (15-24 years) comprise one-fifth (19.1percent) of the

country's total population. [mospi.nic.in]

*18 Big Basket is a modern retail format that operates a hybrid structure combining walk-in physical retail with

phone-ins as well as online presence, supported by a robust home delivery.

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Findings from Nielsen survey suggest that post-Covid19, consumers progressively plan to increase their online

spend; specifically 39 percent of them, seeking to spend 20 percent more (D’ Souza & Sharma, 2020). 60 percent

Indian buyers have been impacted enough to consider changing how they buy (Bloombergquint.com, 2020). It

seems thus, “Covid -19 has done something which no amount of advertising by brands could do: it has made

consumers change their ‘preferences’” (from offline to online) (The Economic Times, 2020f).

Truly, the conversion from offline to online activity has been noteworthy; compared to February, there was an 18

percent increase in monthly time spent per visitor during March. Again in April, the previous record (since such

data started being recorded) of monthly 3400 minutes per visitor was broken to reach an average of more than

3600 minutes monthly per visitor – or more than two hours daily per visitor (Gevers, 2020).

It couldn’t be more evident thus, that, developing an online presence in the present scenario is an imperative for

consumer goods retailers, just for mere survival. “The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the retail industry,

forcing the closure of physical stores and causing uncertainty for the future of the in-store experience. These

abrupt shifts have left many retailers scrambling to effectively serve customers through other channels. Digital-

first and omnichannel retailers have pivoted more easily, but retailers that prioritized physical stores and face-to-

face engagement over omnichannel strategies have struggled to respond” (Briedis, Kronschnabl, Rodriguez. &

Ungerman, 2020. p-2)

Modern retail formats like the Spencer’s (launched its mobile app in 2014) (Chatterjee, 2014), Big Bazaar

(launched its mobile app in 2015) (www.futureretail.in), have gainfully employed phone-ins, in-shop visits and

app-centred transactions, with robust home-delivery in place, year round, to create hybrid structural innovations,

much before Covid-19 hit. In the post-Covid 19 scenario, such examples are set to rise. Not to be left in the cold,

kirana stores, whose resilience in the face of many retail revolutions stands undisputed, are also combining with e-

commerce platforms to endure the digital rush. For example, MaxWholesale – (a B2B e-commerce pathway*19 is

increasingly being used by the kirana stores to procure their stock-in-trade) introduced the Radius app, during the

lockdown — which allows consumers to connect with the kirana stores and other retailers ; Radius app facilitates

the locals to access the catalogue of the kirana stores, receive orders and payments and update real-time

information – all situated in their own geography (Outlook, 2020). Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm Chief) calls it

‘ecommerce 2.0’ (Rawat, 2020). It may be mentioned here, that, user-friendly website with language customisation

and free home delivery may play decisive roles in customer choice.

Consequently, apart from the obvious beneficiaries of the seller and the buyer, the tech-providers for this trade and

delivery organisations will also thrive. Manufacturers and service providers who can build a direct online connect

with the consumers and establish pricing efficiency (eliminating in the process, the middlemen), will naturally

flourish greatly. Direct feedback and suggestions for improvements from the end-user may be an invaluable bonus

for the marketer, in this model.

It is noteworthy here that Flipkart, Amazon and a host of other e-commerce sites and applications, have over time,

conditioned consumers in India to choose from a wide range of products at their fingertips and get assured and

prompt doorstep delivery with additional facilities of Cash-on-Delivery (COD) and product returns on

dissatisfaction, on most orders. Such conveniences have drawn a steady stream of customers into these trusted

online sites, in contrast to the attractive discounts which captured the enthusiasm of the initial buyers.

However issues that have traditionally held back consumers from travelling the online path in India include the

lack of physical inspection and verification before purchase, time gap between order and delivery and fear of data

theft during online payments in the absence of Cash-on-Delivery option, among others (Sinha & Kim 2012).

Again these points are the salient advantages of offline purchase and consumers resolve their case by turning to it.

However, the BOPUS model (where the consumer Buys Online, and Picks Up the order from Store) is tailormade

to remove these hesitations from online purchase. Here the consumer orders online, but gets delivery from the

stores at own convenience after checking the items purchased adequately and with an option for cash payment.

The BOPUS model is being increasingly accepted in the USA (Outsource2india.com, n.d). For the brick-and-

*19MaxWholesale describes itself as a new kind of supply chain company whose proprietory algorithms help predict demand,

procure better, ensure larger variety, reliability, wastage reduction and right working capital fo r the local mom-and-pop

stores (kiranas). [https://www.maxwholesale.in/#text]

After the Janata Curfew on March 22, the Company has claimed a three-fold increase in its order volume.[

https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/b2b-onlline-retailer-maxwholesale-launches-app-to-connect-customers-with-local-

retailers/1806857]

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IJRAR19L1953 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 571

mortar stores, the implication of BOPUS may range from being distribution centres of bigger online agents to

creating an omnichannel model – all culminating into higher sales. Indian watches-major, Titan, successfully

tested this model at five of its outlets for three months in Bengaluru (Ahmad, 2019). An adaptation of BOPUS is

BORIS (Buy Online, Return In Store) which allows customers to return to store, items purchased online (Magana,

2020) – eliminating another perceived disadvantage with online purchase where customers found it difficult to

return items purchased, on dissatisfaction.

CONCLUSION

As essayed here, eating healthy, maintaining reasonable to superior personal hygiene and increasingly embracing

online for their purchases will be in all probability the cornerstones of consumer behaviour in the ‘new normal.’

The route to business success, classically being consumer-centricity, recalibration and/or crafting strategies around

these truths will naturally be of essence.

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IJRAR19L1953 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org 580

ENDNOTE

i Lockdown 1.0 (25 March – 14 April) was most severe. During this period, except shops selling essentials

(grocery, vegetables), chemists, ATMs, banks, gas, petrol pumps etc the entire country was shut down. [Jagannath,

J. (2020, March 20). India's 21-day lockdown begins: What will remain open, closed explained here. Livemint.

Retrieved from. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-s-21-day-lockdown-what-will-remain-open-and-

closed-explained-here-11585077055832.html]

Lockdown 2 .0 (15 April – May 3) [The Economic Times. (2020, April 14). PM Modi announces lockdown 2.0 till

May 3, activity in Covid-19 yellow zones may get green signal. Retrieved from.

https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/governance/pm-modi-announces-lockdown-2-0-till-may-

3-activity-in-covid-19-yellow-zones-may-get-green-signal/75137313]

Lockdown measures were strictly adhered to but selective relaxations in non-Covid hotspots or non-containment

zones were allowed for the benefit of the rural economy and daily-wage earners. [Hindustan Times. (2020, April

19). Lockdown 2.0 relaxation: Government lists permitted and banned activities from April 20. Retrieved from.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/lockdown-2-0-relaxation-government-lists-permitted-and-banned-

activities-from-april-20/story-WhdmAH6Gq1gHB2iDVJZv9L.html]

Lockdown 3.0 (May 4 – May 17) The entire country was classified into Green, Orange and Red zones, based on

covid-19 risk profiling, over and above the containment zones. While there was ban on movement of people and

activities in the containment zones, staggered relaxation was allowed in the coloured zones from red (least) to

green (most). [The Economic Times. (2020, May 4). Lockdown 3.0 begins today with 'considerable relaxations';

some curbs to continue. Retrieved from. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-

nation/lockdown-3-0-begins-tomorrow-with-considerable-relaxations-some-curbs-to-

continue/articleshow/75518139.cms?from=mdr]

Lockdown 4.0 (May 18 – May 31) Coloured zones were obliterated. Containment zones remained. Major

relaxations allowed in non-containment zones for movement of people and business. [Tiwary, D. (2020, May 21).

Lockdown 4.0 Explained: What changes for you in the latest phase. The Indian Express. Retrieved from.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/lockdown-4-full-rules-guidelines-6416092/ ] Lockdown 5.0 or

Unlockdown 1.0 (June 1 – June 30) Lockdown applicable only for containment zones and phased reopening of the

country in non-containment zones under strict guidance from the Centre and respective states. [ Dhawan, B. (2020,

May 31). Lockdown 5.0 or Unlock 1.0: What is open, what’s not – explained in brief. The Financial Express.

Retrieved from. https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/lockdown-5-0-or-unlock-1-0-what-is-open-

whats-not-explained-in-brief/1976472/]