Covid 19 and Its Impact On Customer Behavior Towards Online Shopping in Bangalore City

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Aut Aut Research Journal ISSN NO: 0005-0601

COVID 19 AND ITS IMPACT ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR TOWARDS


ONLINE SHOPPING IN BANGALORE CITY

Srikanth Rajath K G
Research Scholar, JJT University, Rajasthan

Dr. Ranganatha M R
Research Supervisor, JJT University, Rajasthan
Director, Smart Academy
Bangalore

Abstract - The main purpose of this research is to determine the impact on the Bangalore City’s
online business and the customer behavior due to the strike of coronavirus (Covid-19). Coronavirus,
one of the deadly known viruses in nearly half the world, has already taken many lives. This means
that economic growth in every country has decreased. It has shaken almost every type of business,
including the business of e-commerce, to a huge extent. Major retailers have shut down their stores
temporarily. In addition, medium-sized and small retailers are battling the situation because of low
footfall. Furthermore, many online companies are now out of the list. For half of its merchandise
goods, many e-commerce companies depend on China. This fatal virus is therefore assumed to have a
serious effect on the Indian online business, particularly Chinese products. A survey was conducted
with primary research with a view to achieving a better result. As the maximum number of products
comes from China and the maximum of the industries are lockdown, the results have illustrated that
the product is not imported or exported.
Keywords – Coronavirus (Covid-19), E-Business, Consumer Behavior, Online Shopping

INTRODUCTION

The coronavirus (Covid-19) has a wide impact on e-commerce, technology, business and the
economy. Every country is following the lock-down procedures to prevent measures, as has India.
Both the private and public sectors appear to be confused by this virus. The fact that the effects of
new coronaviruses have a major impact on the country, the economy and society is unavoidable. The
growing threat of new coronaviruses is a crisis in public health and is obstructing the entire macro-
economy. It has also cut off the company's supply chain. Manufacturers and producers are expected
to be further hampered. China is the central production hub for many companies worldwide. Any
disruption in China's output will therefore simply have consequences.
It is challenging for the online company to market its goods online and also to deal with immense
problems as it imports its items from China. China is mainly responsible for machinery, equipment,
instruments and equipment relating to communication. Disturbances in these sectors simply affect
other countries' businesses. Likewise, the Indian market relies on the Chinese product and will greatly
impact the Country’s economy. In addition, the lockdown has obstructed the country's import and
export facilities. The automotive, metals and metal products, chemical and communications
equipment, rubber, plastics and office machinery sectors have also been interrupted in addition to e-
commerce business. Many online retailers are experiencing shortages of goods that can not satisfy the

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consumers ' demand there. In the coming future, this may also increase the price of the products after
all goes well. In fact, e-commerce firms are struggling to cope with the crisis. Addressing the
situation does not only address one country, but also other countries. The majority of their sellers are
from China. Many web firms would also sense their supply crunch stresses.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The name of China has become common in every country in the last two decades. This has been one
of the most significant countries for developing the country's economy. The country plays an
immense role in boosting the economy through the provision of large infrastructure. China 's role in
the global economy applies not only to the producer and exporter of the drug but also to the suppliers
of the immediate goods for manufacturing companies. About 20 percent of the manufacturing goods
in China are manufactured worldwide. With the increase of COVID 19, the countries are therefore
facing an enormous problem. Not just China, it is still slowed in many countries in which their goods
are transported. As Indian Online Market is an extremely reliable on Chinese product, the rate of
sales of online business has slowed down with the rise of this sudden pandemic disease. Online
companies, in the country, are being hampered. That often concerns the FMGC, car sector, equipment
and other related sectors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the nation's retail outlets to remain closed. This has proved to be
an unparalleled challenge for other businesses. When the number of major cities have declared
themselves self-isolated, locks and social distances have been directed at improving the user's
activity. Users have expanded their activities on online shopping applications in India. The research
has shown that the use of online retail applications and mobile e-commerce applications has seen a
significant increase in inactive and new users. The increase in the number of online audiences was
shown in the primary week of April 2020. The pattern is close in online wholesale smartphone apps.
It was observed that in the second week of April 2020, the overall amount of active users, potential
users and payouts is rising. The researchers also anticipate that the proportion of active audiences on
the online platform will be higher than those in January and February. The majority of new and active
audiences in mobile applications are developed on websites that offer food services and facilities. For
eg, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong have reported increased online traffic on
the food websites in the countries of South East Asia. A researcher could obviously analyze the
increase in demand and traffic from the beginning of March, and a significant increase in the number
of active and new customers was observed, and stated that the increase in traffic has been increased
since March 2020 every day.
There is a wide divide of the Indian retail market between the unorganized sector, which includes
some 13.8 million traditional, family owned neighborhood stores and the organized, less than 10%,
retail industry. The managed market consists of both combined brick & mortar shops and online
stores. Given the thriving B2C e-commerce industry in India, most Indians still have more confidence
in the neighborhood brick & mortar shops for shopping as they like to touch and feel the items before
buying. In India, the vast majority of ecommerce B2C retailers lure consumers to shop online by
providing free shopping, rebates, buy-one-free shopping and swap deals. Nevertheless, many Indian
shoppers are usually not attracted to make fast decisions based on sales and advertising, and are
considered to be cost-conservant and cautious in their value system. In fact, many-time on-line
shoppers face issues with product distribution times and customer service. The misunderstanding of

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consumers regarding the threats to websites is compounded by the inadequate IT set-up of a number
of e-tailers, which results in the theft of personal information.
Meet the latest coronavirus that has affected more than 4 lakh people worldwide causing highly
infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Because it primarily spreads by contact with an infected
person (whether they tough or sneeze) or when a person contacts a surface that contains the virus, it is
better to remain home. That has increased the increasing use of online shopping. In India, the number
of FTUs or first-time internet users in India, who were so far barred from shopping online, has
increased. In 2002, the SARS epidemic that killed over 2700 people was also reported to have
modified people's shopping patterns drastically because they were afraid to buy outdoors.
On March 25, 2020, BigBasket – a key Indian grocery team – was saying, "We're going to return
early! We have incredible competition at the moment. In spite of this, only current clients have access
to our website. Please try again in few hours. "The response was so surprising that a crash was caused
by a sudden rise in demand between COVID-19. Grofers – the competitor had the same message that
said, "Because of the sudden rush, our services stopped several locations, but we are trying to raise
efficiency and launch our company early." Amazon – one of the country's and the world's leading
ecommerce companies, has reported on their platform that consumers rely on them as never before in
their social gap and Amazon is therefore temporarily prioritizing its available performance and
logistics capacity, such as household items, packaged food , health care, hygiene, personal safety and
other high-priority products. It will immediately stop putting orders for goods with a lower priority.
Globally too, Amazon has seen an increase in orders and an increase in overtime salaries for staff in
its warehouses during the outbreak of coronavirus.
This rise in ecommerce at B2C in India is of course attributable to the fact that current online
shoppers store vital goods because of the coronavirus epidemic and the government's shutdown (to
test its spread). It consists, however, of perhaps two additional pieces, aside from the one that
routinely buys online. Despite the inhibiting variables at the outset of this post, yet another segment
that had previously been either oblivious or did not have a smartphone or data plan, a segment which
had not shopped online. It will be fascinating to test – even after the coronavirus outbreak, how many
shoppers from the two divisions are shopping online.
COVID-19
Coronavirus is considered to be one of the most infectious diseases that occur mainly after human
contamination by severe acute respiratory syndrome. The disease has evolved like a public health
pandemic because of its extensive spread across the number of countries. The COVID-19 pandemic
has greatly accelerated its transition to digital trade. The nation's customers are expected to practice
social distance. COVID-19 is regarded as an independent variable because of the major impact on the
economies of the country and the globe. In the grounds of this unique pandemic, the citizens of the
country have placed stronger restrictions in individuals and enterprises. This virus has caused many
disasters in the world economy. In this specific analysis, COVID-19 was viewed as a stand-alone
vector because the global economy and well-being of the whole nation depended more heavily on this
specific pandemic.
CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR ON ONLINE PURCHASING
The customer's action is often known as the independent variable. The main reason for its
independence is because the population acts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the
potential effects of this pandemic, consumers are more inclined to take appropriate measures. The

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conduct of India 's consumers particularly from Bangalore City thus primarily affects the demands of
e-commerce operations. The customers ' buying behavior would be influenced by the lockouts in the
nations because products and services would be not available at the different outlets and stores.
Therefore, the consumer will focus primarily on the e-commerce website to fulfill the necessary
survival needs.

E BUSINESS
Because of the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, the e-commerce business has become
significantly limited. Electronic commerce is considered as a dependent variable because the rise or
decrease in demand on the particular online platform depends significantly on the widespread use of
COVID-19 and on customers' conduct on this global issue. The online business depends primarily on
these two factors, which affect its total market demand. For this reason, customers have moved to e-
commerce approaches. This is the only way that the people of the country can survive this pandemic
situation.
Conceptual Framework

E Business

COVID 19 Customer Behavior


Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

METHODOLOGY
The sampling design is identified as a framework that is used by the researcher for the selection of the
survey sample. The sample size selected by the researcher for executing the survey process is 80
online respondents. These respondents are helping the researcher in gathering the data related to the
impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) established on the e-commerce business in Bangalore City. For
designing the survey questionnaire, the 5 points Likert scale was used by the researcher. It is helping
the researcher in gathering the survey data from the selected respondents. The random sampling
process is also used by the researcher for gathering the data responses provided by the respondents.
This process of gathering data is seen to be carried out by the researcher for accomplishing the
research objectives.
Research Procedure
The data gathering process is carried out with the help of the survey questionnaires which are
distributed by the researcher. The survey questionnaire developed by the researcher is helping the
researcher in gathering the appropriate information on the impact established on the e-business
present in Bangalore City. The SPSS analysis process is used for analyzing the data gathered by the
researcher from the survey process. The SPSS analysis process is enabling the researcher to gather
the appropriate information. The researcher framed the research questions which are provided below:
• Does the e-business face the effect of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bangalore City?

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• How is a virus affecting the buying behavior of the customers for the Online products in
Bangalore City?
• The hypothesis is prepared by the researcher which is enabling the researcher to meet the
research objective.
H1: E-business is facing a negative effect of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bangalore City.
H2: Coronavirus is impacting the buying behavior of the customers for the Online products in
Bangalore City.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data analysis process is seen to be executed by the help of analyzing the quantitative data. The
quantitative research method is used in this research by the researcher as it is enabling the researcher
to gather the data appropriately. The statistical analysis software (SPSS) software is used by the
researcher. It is enabling the researcher to gather the responses in a sequential manner. The survey
questionnaires framed by the researcher are helping the researcher in representing the data
appropriately.
Demographic Variables
Particulars Frequency Percentage
Gender
Male 55 69
Female 25 31
Age Group
15-20 20 25
21-25 25 31
26-30 35 44
Income Level
Below 10000 0 0
10001-15000 15 19
15001-20000 30 37
20001-30000 35 44
Occupation
Sales
Executive 35 44
Managers 45 56
Table 01: Demographic Variables

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The demographic variables selected by the researcher are representing the demographic details such
as gender, age group, income and the occupation of the selected respondents. It is enlisting the
detailed information of the respondents selected by the researcher. The researcher is enabled of
enlisting the frequency as well as the individual percentage of the male and female respondents.

Reliability Test
Cronbach's
Variables Items Alpha
Corona Virus 5 0.825
Behavior of Customers 5 0.862
E Business 5 0.899
Table 02: Reliability Test

The reliability test is enabling the researcher in identifying that the variables are reliable or not. The
researcher is using this process for measuring the consistency in the research process. On the basis of
the gathered data, the Cronbach’s Alpha is found to be less than and near to 1.00. Due to this reason,
the selection of the positive hypothesis prepared by the researcher is being made with rejecting the
null hypothesis.
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s Test

KMO Measure of Sampling 0.798


Chi-square Approx. 1301.547
Df 88
Sig. 0.001
Table 03: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s Test

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


The data analysis executed above is illustrating that the negative impact is established on the e-
business in Bangalore City due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The negative impact established is
impacting the sales as well as the buying behavior of the customers. The weakening of the business
environment in Bangalore City is seen due to COVID-19. The challenges faced by the retailers
present in the e-business are the lowering of the buying behavior of the customers. The lowering of
the buying behavior is also lowering the supply and the shipping processes. As per the survey
processes executed, the situation identified will be lasting at least four months more. This will be
degrading the e-business as well as huge losses will be acquired by the e-businesses. The presence of
the Chinese products in the Bangalore City market is also lowering the demand for the products by
lowering the buying behavior of the consumers. Due to this reason, more effect is established on the

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e-business present in the Bangalore City. Thus, the analysis provided is supporting the research
questions as well as the research objectives framed by the researcher.
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett's Test is seen to be helping in measuring the suitability of the data
for executing the factor analysis. This test is enabling the researcher in measuring the sampling
adequacy for each of the variables in the model. On the basis of this test, the sig value is less than
0.05 which is 0.001. The KMO value is between 0.8 to 1.00. This reflects the meritorious as well as
the positive data representation process. The positive hypothesis selected by the researcher should be
taken into consideration by rejecting the null hypothesis.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
COVID-19 has emerged as one of the pandemic health menace. Researchers are trying to find out the
reasons behind these pandemic diseases. As per WHO, this pandemic disease can be tackled
only when response control strategies and tactics are applied. This pandemic disease is worsening
every country's situation. With the effect of coronavirus, all the shipments processes are hindered
which have lower down the economic growth of the country. Countries are trying to bring back their
product from other countries apart from china only to continue their business process. The research
paper here comprises of the impact of the coronavirus on the online business of India particularly
Bangalore City. On analyzing it has found that online businesses are seriously hampered due to this
pandemic disease. It is recommended that researchers must do their research regarding the
Covid-19 with every possible outcome. This will help to improve the trading situation between
companies and the customers.
While the world is reeling from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, user behaviour is being
forced to change and shoppers are increasingly moving online. Ecommerce sites are in a position to
be able to capitalise on this, but only if they are able to be found by customers in the first place.
While tactics may need to be adapted to the new environment we find ourselves in, businesses should
consider retaining investment in their analytics, online marketing and online content so that they can
remain competitive and meet the needs of shoppers.
In these uncertain times, there are still opportunities; it just takes a slightly different mindset and
approach, and a positive attitude.
REFERENCES
[1] Adb. (2020). The Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Developing Asia.
[2] Ahmad, T., & Hui, J. (2020). One Health approach and Coronavirus Disease 2019. Human
Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 1-2.
[3] Arunmozhi, M. (2019) An easy guide to understand Research Methodology, A simplified
approach of Research Methods and Techniques, Institute of Management Development and
Research.
[3] Craven, M., & Liu, L. (2020). COVID-19: Implications for business.
[4] Jebril, N. (2020). World Health Organization declared a pandemic public health menace: A
systematic review of the "COVID-19", up to 26th March 2020.

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[5] Karimi-Zarchi, M., Neamatzadeh, H., Dastgheib, S., Abbasi, H., Mirjalili, S., & Behforouz, A.
et al. (2020). Vertical Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) from Infected
Pregnant Mothers to Neonates: A Review. Fetal And Pediatric Pathology, 1-5
[6] Liang, F., & Litscher, G. (2020). COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-19): Traditional Chinese
Medicine including Acupuncture for Alleviation – A Report from Wuhan, Hubei Province in
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[8] Meyer, S. (2020). Understanding the COVID-19 Effect on Online Shopping Behavior.
[9] MoEngage. (2020). COVID-19 Regular Updates: The Business Impacts, Brands’ Responses,
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[10] Pymnts. (2020). Can eCommerce Overcome COVID-19?
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[12] Varshney, D., & Varshney, N. (2017). The effect of resilience on performance and job
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