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There was an apprehension among the people on the eve of the lockdown of that they would have to suffer to get the essential items for daily use from the markets. But thanks to the state governments for their decisions to keep open all the grocery shops and markets for vegetables. Those who depended on e-marketing were harassed for more than five weeks during the two phases of lockdown by the central government. Throughout the country the experience was similar according to a survey.

Consumer behaviour

A large-scale survey was conducted by Deloitte, titled “Deloitte Global State of the Consumer Tracker”. The PTI reported, at the end of May, some findings found in the survey. It reported that “majority of the consumers in India want to buy from locally sourced items, going forward that reflects the trust built by kiranas during the lockdown. Consumers in the country are also not rushing to stock grocery in their homes.” The survey was a big one. The total respondents were 1,000 from different parts of the country between April 19 and May 16. The survey observed that the consumer pattern had been changing over the crisis period. Over 55% respondents were willing to spend a lot more on less discretionary items like groceries and 52% on everyday household goods. It pointed out that 72% consumers wanted to buy from locally sourced items from the kiranas. Another observation that the survey noticed was that about 64% of consumers in India would buy from brands that have responded well in the crisis.

Aneesh Reddy of Capillary Technologies, which works with the majority of retail brands across Asia, expressed his opinion about the changing behaviour of the consumers in the crisis period of lockdown in a national media in the last week of April. He noticed a different way of shopping and communication in the Covid-19 period. He observed that there had been a fear psychosis among many people about the risk of getting infected in crowded places like malls and supermarkets. Therefore, more and more consumers were interested in e-marketing. Reddy pointed out different findings of a survey by NRF on the similar topic. The survey reportedly observed that during the later period of the Covid-19, nine out of ten consumers had changed their traditional shopping habits. Secondly, more than 50% consumers had ordered products online that they would normally purchase at stores. Thirdly, nearly, six in ten consumers said that they were worried about going to stores because of getting infected. The third point is important for the understanding of the changing behaviour of the consumers. This implies that their ongoing preference for online shopping might be temporary, that is, when the situation will be normal, they might go back to their previous position. But at the same time, it is not illogical to think that for a section among them the change might be permanent. Therefore, it is reasonable enough to think that with more and more penetration of internet infrastructure in future, online shopping would be increased.

At the end of May a report was published in a national media that pointed out some observations of some important studies dealing with peoples’ changing mode of marketing. It mentioned that at first, most of the consumers were interested, mainly, in purchasing essential items. That means the volume and value of non-discretionary purchase began to recover as soon as possible. But it was experienced that the discretionary spending would take at least another year to pick up. In this context Rahul Prithiani, Director at Crisil, reportedly said, “consumer behaviour will change in the near-term as availability, convenience, affordability, hygiene and safety become priorities. The shift in brand loyalty due to unavailability will boost sales local/SME brands which have flexible logistics.” He also pointed out that the fast-moving consumer goods companies had been tying up with food delivery service providers to suit consumers’ quest for convenience. According to Prithiani, “the lingering fear of Covid-19 will also provide a boost to e-retail and cloud kitchen”. Another recent study of Mckinsey on China reportedly observed that consumers were likely to opt for online shopping even after the pandemic, especially for categories such as groceries and personal care.

From various studies it is known that more and more will adjust themselves to the new norms of online buying. But at the same time businessmen will have to use multi-channels as their selling strategy. Otherwise they may have to lose heavily in their bottom lines.