Analyzing the pradigm shilf of consumer behaviour towards e commerce during pademic lockdown

RESEARCH REPORT Analyzing the Paradigm Shift of Consumer Behavior Towards Commerce During Pandemic Lockdown E- MBA MARKETING & SALES SUBMITTED BY: HIMMGIRI CHAUDHARY (A0102219122) UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF: DR SHIV SHANKAR KUMAR YADAV (MARKETING & SALES DEPARTMENT) This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 Certificate This is to certify that Himgiri Chaudhary student of Masters of Business Administration – M&S at Amity Business School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh has completed the summer internship Report on “Analyzing the Paradigm Shift of Consumer Behavior Towards ECommerce During Pandemic Lockdown”, under my guidance The report has been checked for plagiarism and is within limits of acceptance Dr Shiv Shankar Kumar Yadav Assistant Professor Department of Marketing & Sales This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 CANDIDATE'S DECLARATION Project Title Analyzing the Paradigm Shift of Consumer Behavior Towards E-Commerce During Pandemic Lockdown I declare (a) That the work presented for assessment in this summer internship Report is my own, that it has not previously been presented for another assessment and that my debts (for words, data, arguments and ideas) have been appropriately acknowledged (b) That the work conforms to the guidelines for presentation and style set out in the relevant documentation (c) The Plagiarism in the report is % (permissible limit is 15%) Date: HIMGIRI CHAUDHARY (A0102219122) MBA (M&S) This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to place on record my deep sense of gratitude to Prof DR AMIT KUMAR PANDEY of Marketing & Sales, AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL, NOIDA, U.P, INDIA for his generous guidance, help and useful suggestions I express my sincere gratitude to Prof DR SHIV SHANKAR KUMAR YADAV Dept of Marketing & Sales, AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL, NOIDA, U.P, INDIA for his stimulating guidance, continuous encouragement and supervision throughout the course of present work I also wish to extend my thanks to colleagues for their insightful comments and constructive suggestions to improve the quality of this research work I am extremely thankful to DR SANJEEV BANSAL (Dean of Faculty Management studies) for providing me infrastructural facilities to work in, without which this work would not have been possible HIMGIRI CHAUDHARY (A010219122) MBA (M&S) This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 TABLE OF CONTENT TOPIC PAGE NO ABSTRACT CHAPTER – Introduction 7–8 CHAPTER – Literature Review – 12 CHAPTER – Research Methodologies 3.1 Purpose Statement 3.2 Research Methodology 3.3 Data Collection Techniques 3.4 Data Collection Tools 3.5 Research Design 3.6 Sampling Design CHAPTER – Data Analysis and Interpretation 14 – 22 CHAPTER – Findings and Discussion 23 – 24 CHAPTER – Conclusions and Future Scope 25 – 26 REFERENCES 27 – 28 APPENDIX 29 – 30 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 Analyzing the Paradigm Shift of Consumer Behavior Towards E-Commerce During Pandemic Lockdown ABSTRACT As the E-commerce industry is growing tremendously in the Indian market The cheap 4G internet packages in India obviously gives a push to these industries So, as Covid19 first hit in India, people got scared to go out from their homes because, in their mind, it’s a fear of coronavirus They even hesitate to go out to buy essential (FMCG) goods Panic buying also has seen and to avoid this fear of COVID-19, people are giving preferences to the E-Commerce sites to buy essential goods and some customers are new which signed up to buy essential goods during this Pandemic Lockdown period Many customers are shifting their buying behavior from offline retail stores to online stores In this questionnaire collected from 153 respondents, some of them are old customers which used to buy some of their essential (FMCG) goods online and some of them are new users This whole paper shows and puts light on how consumer behavior has changed and they are shifting towards E-Commerce This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION (Ecommerce Industry in FMCG sector) E-commerce is also called as electronic commerce or internet commerce, it refers to buying and selling of goods and services through the mode of internet and transfer of money through online platform and data to execute these transactions According to Statista India has more than 483 million internet users in 2018 Due to cheap 4G data, everyone can easily access it So, on the contrary, the e-commerce industry is also growing exponentially Due to the overnight demonetization of some selected notes, India starts its digital India movement from thereon The government is also working very hard towards it When the first coronavirus case came in china and after that china went on complete lockdown, Only essential goods and services were working In China, there was a huge boom in the e-commerce of FMCG goods In India sales of Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) online are expected to go further billion dollars by 2022, and 5% contribution is of online packaged consumer goods, said by market researcher Nielsen Right now only 2% has been contributed by the online FMCG And sales keep on growing as the mobile penetration with increased data consumption and make available every product online whether it is being done by small or large companies The first confirmed case of Coronavirus was on 30th January 2020 in the state of Kerala The person who was affected had a travel history from Wuhan, China On 25, march,2020 India gone into complete Pandemic Lockdown After the lockdown some strict rules set by the government of India like, there was a ban on people on people from stepping out from their houses, all the shops and services closed expect pharmacies, hospitals, banks, grocery shops and other essential services, for both public and private government asks them to work from home and many more Ecommerce surge sales of FMCG goods in India during pandemic lockdown as consumers are scared to go out from their home because of the fear virus Even 2-3 weeks earlier before the lockdown, there was a huge demand for FMCG goods, sanitizers, etc According to the FMCG companies, there was a sudden jump in demand around 15-45% according to the category Products such as rice, atta, pulses, edible oil, sugar, biscuit, tea, instant noodle, frozen food, soaps, hand washes, and floor cleaners are flying off the shelves from almost every state of India Even small, medium Kirana shops are going towards the online selling due to huge demand, and they are doing it by creating their own website or This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 joining a different platform like Amazon, Flipkart, Grofers and other e-commerce industry to increase the sales and fulfill the demand of the customers E-Grocers like Bigbasket, Grofers, Amazon says that their sales are up by 100% and there is more jump in the sales of staples, biscuits, frozen soaps and handwashes FMCG industry trying to speed up the supplies of the goods, so that there should be no shortage of goods Panic buying of FMCG goods also took place and everyone started buying goods in huge quantities to store the goods for more than a month Due to this, It becomes very difficult for the FMCG companies to complete the demand of the consumer Because orders were coming from both sides Kirana shops which are offline and online grocers Some FMCG companies like ITC Ltd, Parle Products, Amul and Godrej Consumer were going out of stock from the stores and most of the goods doesn’t last for even a week said by the RS Sodhi (Amul managing director) Shortage of delivery persons because of the huge online demand for FMCG goods Online Grocers like Bigbasket, Grofers, NaturesBasket were going out of delivery guys due to the surge in demand and because of that, these companies were given weeks or sometimes weeks ahead of dates from the time they put on delivery option Those people who haven’t used any type of online shopping platforms were also signing up and putting orders People are getting used to E-Grocers platform in the time of pandemic lockdown, everyone is trying to buy essential goods online Even new customers are coming on this platform to buy their goods online So, those customers who haven’t tried these platforms before they are giving it a call and ordering their essential goods online It’s been almost more than months of lockdown and constantly increasing in the covid19 cases after the ease of the lockdown, still, there is a huge demand for essential goods But some of the restrictions also put by the online companies to avoid panic buying like, customers can’t order lays chips packet more than or customer can’t add more 10 kg of flour Even after an ease in the lockdown companies are not getting enough workforce to work efficiently to fulfill the demand of the customers Amazon, Big Basket starts hiring delivery guys temporarily to complete the demand of the customers but still, the customer has to wait for more than a week just to its essential items which are a lot of time than it takes it usually JIO has also stepped into this industry during the pandemic lockdown and start its services on 27,4,2020 to take it as the opportunity and get the permanent base customers Reliance saw the huge demand in this pandemic lockdown of FMCG goods and after this consumer Buying behavior towards e-commerce is totally going to be different due to this Covid-19 pandemic lockdown So, every Kirana which is offline they have to go digital by creating their online website or joining hands with the existing e-commerce industry This report will give the bigger picture that what consumer behavior would be after the pandemic lockdown and how fast steadily shift consumer from offline retail to online ecommerce and what will be the future of the e-commerce industry in India and how ecommerce industry starts gaining the trust of new as well as existing customers This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 CHAPTER – LITERATURE REVIEW 1.Aneesh Reddy,(April,14,2020) Covid-19 impact: Consumers move towards digital Aneesh Reddy explained that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we work has totally changed, the way we used to shop and communicate with people People are only going out only to buy essential items from the retail stores and sill they are worried to go out to buy essential gods because they are constantly worried about getting infected Reddy said that according to trifecta, due to a cheaper 4G network and constantly increasing consumer wealth, Indian EE-commerce is expected to grow to US$200 billion by 2026 But these projections were based on the pre-covid19 But as COVID-19 hit India, the surging demand of e-commerce for the past few months is so high that the e-commerce industry could hit $200 billion much earlier Bansal.S,(April 02, 2020) Opinion|will consumer behavior see shift post-covid-19 Shuchi Bansal said that, as a consequence of COVID-19 lockdown, there would be a major shift in the supply chain and an increased consumption of e-commerce portals through the internet It has been estimated that the online stores engaged in sales of groceries and other FMCG products could see a massive shift in demand to avoid going out to crowded shops and marketplaces After analysing the consumer buying behaviour from the time India first encountered COVID-19 till the time it went under the lockdown, it could be said that people have become more conscious about health and hygiene and there would be fewer visits to stores and more online shopping for customers Nath.S,(April 28, 2020) Did the lockdown accelerate the digitization of India Inc? Sanstuti Nath threw light on the term 'digital consumption' Her study on the consumption patterns of consumers post-pandemic lockdown, showed that the e-commerce companies have seen a significant growth of 70-100% for essential commodities And this sudden adaption of digital platforms can be allocated to mobile advertising Top companies and brands were already benefiting themselves from these platforms, and also now post lockdown this whole scenario is going to change how consumers buy FE Online, (April 29, 2020) Millennials will buy in revenge once lockdown lifts; consumer behavior to change in these ways It said that as the country is under lockdown for such a long time, the buying behaviour of the consumer, especially the Millennials are expected to undergo massive changes as most of them are going to revenge buying, as they didn't get to buy goods as they used to buy in the pre- lockdown period And if the e-commerce industry is talked about, they are estimated to be the clear winners, especially in the FMCG online sales, in the short and long term both, as part of the strategies of FMCG companies Euromonitor International, (April 20, 2020) Coronavirus effect on Indian FMCG industries and services During the lockdown period, the industry that has been impacted the most is the FMCG industry, being affected due to the breakdown in the supply chain of the country Also, the consumer's definition of essential goods has also been changed, with masks and sanitizers entering into the category, while the other FMCG goods like beauty products, footwear, clothes have taken a back seat with groceries and packaged goods with high demand among the consumers Where grocery retailers accounting for about 60% of store-based sales have been permitted With a threat of getting This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 infected consumers are now shifting to online stores for making the purchases of essential commodities so that they don't have to go anywhere else and confined to their homes safe and secure PTI, (April 24, 2020) Majority of Indian consumers may shift to online shopping in the next nine months The surveys done have estimated that the pandemic breakdown and lockdown are going to bring major changes in how the Indian consumers going to buy goods or their buying behavior If essential commodities are talked about, there will be a major shift from 46% to about 64% in online shopping in the next 6-9 months Also, as compared to 59% of consumers, around 46 % of consumers are going to buy from physical stores A survey conducted showed that nearly 74% of consumers prefer to buy online post the lockdown next News desk (April 29, 2020) Bengaluru-based startup wagon fly secures $500k in investment from ITI growth Companies like Wagonfly which is a contact-free shopping and delivery services startup, has just raised $500,000 funding, where its founder Raghavendra Prasad, has claimed a major shift to take place in the overall operations of the retail stores As a consequence of this Covid-19 lockdown, consumers are now going to prefer contact-less shopping through online stores or portals and this is going to completely change to their buying and consumption behavior and patterns The company's venture called cafeFly, an online marketplace focuses on meeting the consumer's changing demands for FMCG products who fear to step out due to the pandemic PTI (April 19, 2020) Post lockdown, online-to-offline strategy to get prominence in the retail sector: LOTS Wholesale The retail outlet LOTS wholesale have stated that as consumers are now more conscious of their health and protection against the pandemic, there is going to be a drastic change in the consumer behavior especially in buying FMCG goods and all retailers will be bound to the sales on online platforms, that is the e-commerce portals to meet the demands of consumers and promote contact-free ordering and Delivering services Also, they said that to cater to the changing needs of customers there would be a need to have an omni-channel strategy, online to offline As for now, there is increased demand for only essential commodities but a considerable amount of time will be taken for shopping behavior to get normal, as purchasing habits are going to change drastically Mukherjee.W, Bailay.R, Srivastava A (March 16, 2020) consumer goods flying off the shelves Covid-19 lockdown has witnessed a sudden rise in the online sales of consumer goods like groceries through the emerging online platforms like Grofers, big basket, etc in the form of panic buying Various FMCG companies have witnessed a 20-25% rise in the sales of these goods in each category E-commerce companies like these have stated that they are stocking these goods in advance as compared to the pre-lockdown period and are seeing this as an opportunity to encourage customers to go online shopping and benefit from the same And they have allowed the reason to the consumer's concern about social distancing and as a preventive measure against the pandemic 10 PTI (April 06, 2020) Preference for hygiene products to rise, online sales to zoom, amid COVID-19 threat: GCPL GCPL MD and CEO told Vivek Gambhir told that a major shift in consumer buying behavior and preferences is going to take place as a consequence of Coronavirus and they are going to be more conscious about health, hygiene, and sanitation And as a result of this threat and concern, he says that there is a good opportunity for e-commerce companies to boost their online sales as people would prefer to go for contact-free buying through these platforms After this analysis, FMCG companies are now entering into the manufacturing of sanitizers and related health products as a rise in the online sales of FMCG products through e-commerce platforms can be seen clearly 11 Shashidhar.A (March 20, 2020) Covid-19: FMCG majors Amul, Godrej, ITC hike output up to 20% as anxiety buying spikes Due to the pandemic lockdown consumers have 10 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 next 21.7% respondents has income level between 20,000-50,000 and 23% respondents has income level of between 50,000-80,000 and the least the number of respondents has which are only 7.9% This question shows the different occupation of the respondents and according to the chart the greatest number of respondents are students with 45.8% participation in the survey and 30.7% are corporate employees and 12.4% are government employees, 5.9% are selfemployed and the least number respondents have chosen others option with 5.2% 16 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 This question shows that how many customers used to buy before pandemic lockdown and how many customers are haven’t bought anything through online platforms So as in the figure, it shows that 72.5% of respondents have bought (FMCG) goods online before lockdown and 27.5 respondents haven’t even considered buying (FMCG) goods online This question gets the information from the respondents on whether they have ordered essential (FMCG) goods online or not during the pandemic lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation So as in the figure, it shows that 89.5% of respondents say that they have bought essential (FMCG) goods online and only 10.5% say that they haven’t ordered any essential goods (FMCG) online during lockdown period 17 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 This question shows that how often respondents buy (FMCG) goods online and 39.2% respondents say that they buy order online groceries sometimes, 32.7% says that they order online groceries sometimes, 17.6% respondents say that they order online (FMCG) goods on a rarely basis and only 2% respondents say that they have never bought goods (FMCG) through online platform Now this question asks respondents that, before they buy online (FMCG) goods, what is the thing which triggered them to use online platform rather than buying (FMCG) goods through offline retailers So, in this 66 7% respondents says that they buy online(FMCG) goods online For Convenience 22.7% says that they buy online groceries for a better discount, 5.9% respondents say that they don’t have any specific reason behind on buying goods online and only 5.2% respondents say that there are some other reasons which convince them to buy goods (FMCG) online 18 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 This chart shows that during the pandemic lockdown, the tendency of buying online (FMCG) goods has increased or not So, the maximum number of respondents which is 51.6% says that they agree that during this lockdown they prefer to buy goods (FMCG) online, 35.3 respondents strongly agree on this, 10.5% says that they are neutral on this, which means they are not sure on this whether the frequency of buying goods (FMCG) goods online, 2% respondents disagree on this and only 0.7% respondents strongly disagree that it lockdown period doesn’t increase the frequency of buying goods (FMCG) online This Chart shows that 52.3% respondents are very satisfied buying essential goods (FMCG) online, 38.6% are satisfied, 7.25 respondents give the neutral response which means that they are not either satisfied nor dissatisfied from buying the goods online (FMCG), 1.3% 19 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 respondents are dissatisfied and only 0.7 respondents says that they are strongly dissatisfied from buying the essential (FMCG) goods online In this question, I asked to the respondents about they think that E-Commerce is going to replace the traditional offline shopping of (FMCG) goods So, 28.8% respondents say that they agree, that E-commerce is going to replace the offline shopping in future, 27.5% respondents reacted that they strongly agree on this, 23.5% respondents say that they are not sure about this whether E-Commerce is going to replace Offline retail shopping in the future and 17% respondents disagree on this and only3.3% of the respondents strongly disagree that they don’t think that E-Commerce is going to replace the traditional offline (FMCG) shopping 20 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 This chart shows that the E-Commerce (FMCG) goods are playing a vital role during the lockdown or not So 51% of respondents strongly agree on this, 37.3% say that they agree on this statement, 10.5% of respondents are neutral on this, both 0.7% say that they disagree and strongly disagree over these respondents This Chart explains that whether respondents are going to spend more on essential (FMCG) than before, less than before, the same as before, very less than before, or can’t say So, 70.6% respondents say that they are going to spend more than before they used to spend, 15.7% respondents says that they can’t say on this, 13.1% responds that they are going to spend same as before and only 0.7% respondents says that they are going to spend very less than before on the essential (FMCG) goods 21 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 In this Chart, it gives information about the respondents whether they are going to buy (FMCG) goods online in post lockdown 63.4% respondents say that they are strongly agree on this statement, 28.8% respondents are agree on this, 10.3% respondents say that they are neutral on this statement like they are not sure that whether they are going to buy online (FMCG) goods online or not, 1.3% respondents disagree on this and there are no respondents who can strongly disagree on this statement 22 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 CHAPTER – FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS The finding of the report is as follows: As in the question, I have asked the respondents that they used to purchase essential (FMCG) goods online or not, so 72.5% said that they are already using the different E-Commerce apps to order (FMCG) goods online and they are pretty much aware of the E-Commerce services but in the same question 27.5% respondents have said “NO”, it means that they have never used the E-commerce website or apps to order the (FMCG) goods online Now let's follow up on these respondents and jump to the next question which has been asked to the respondents “Have you ordered (FMCG) goods online during the lockdown period?” 89.5% of respondents say that they ordered online(FMCG) goods online and only 10.5% of respondents say that they haven’t purchased goods(FMCG) goods online So if we see both questions together and how our respondents reacted to it, around 72.5% have purchased them online(FMCG) goods and during this lockdown, the number has increased to 89.5% The jump in 17% shows that new E-Commerce customers signed up to order the online goods during the Pandemic Lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation Around 66.7% of respondents say that they buy (FMCG) goods for their Convenience and 22.2% say that for a better discount So these are the two main factors that are influencing the customers to use more and more usage of E-Commerce for buying (FMCG) goods online And 51.6 respondents Agree that their frequency of buying goods (FMCG) goods online has increased and 35.3% of respondents strongly agree on this and 10.5% are neutral on this So, after getting these strong numbers on increased the buying frequency of the customer, there could be tons of reasons behind it like, during this pandemic lockdown period people are more scared to get out of the house, fear that they can take virus from the outside to their home Stepping out of the house is the biggest challenge for many people due to COVID-19 28.8% of respondents Agree that E-commerce is going to replace the offline kirana stores and 27.5% Strongly Agree and 23.5% are not so sure about this whether it is going to replace with traditional offline shopping and only 17% respondents disagree with this These number clearly indicates that more customers are looking at the E-Commerce as the future of their online Kirana stores, where they can buy from where ever they want, no matter what the place is Over 52% of the respondents are very satisfied are more satisfied with buying (FMCG) goods online rather than going to the retail store to buy FMCG goods and 38.6% of respondents are very satisfied with this and 7.25% are neutral on this This data clearly indicating that most of the customers are more satisfied with buying goods online rather than going to an offline Kirana store When I asked to the respondents that E-commerce in FMCG goods are playing a vital role in the lockdown period 51% are strongly agreed, 37.3 agree and 10.5% are neutral on this 23 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 statement Over 87% agree that e-commerce has been playing a vital role in every consumer's life during this lockdown period Over 70.5% of respondents say that they are going to spend more than before on buying FMCG goods online and 15.7% are not sure about it and 13.1% are saying they are going to spend the same as before It’s a positive sign that more customers are taking interest in spending more on online (FMCG0 goods rather than offline retail shops 63.4% strongly agree and 28.8% agree that they are going to order (FMCG) goods online on the post lockdown period Many customers are showing interest to buy groceries online and not during the lockdown period but after the lockdown, they are interested in buying goods online, because they are more satisfied with the services of the E-Commerce rather than offline retail shops 24 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 CHAPTER–6 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE The research objectives were to identify the following: - To analyze the shift in the consumer behavior towards online (FMCG) goods To identify the customer satisfaction level in buying the FMCG goods online To analyze the future of the E-commerce in (FMCG) industry CONCLUSION The research has found that the most important aspects of those customers who have never bought anything (FMCG) goods before have shown interest in buying FMCG goods online As in the above charts shows that over 16% sharp jump in the new customers who freshly signed up to buy goods through an online platform And over 90% of customers are satisfied with buying (FMCG) goods online These number clearly shows that many of the new customers are shifting towards the online platforms to buy (FMCG) goods online Not only the number of new customers has been increasing but also the satisfaction level is also increasing dramatically These are because of several reasons like, the person is fear to buy goods offline due to the COVID-19 virus So they trust more in the E-commerce industry rather than buying goods through offline kirana stores It’s been months since the lockdown period has started and the hike of the new customers is tremendous According to some article demand for the FMCG goods was so high that it's difficult for the E-Commerce companies to fulfill the demand of the customers Through this paper, we get the idea that more and more customers are keeping on adding themselves and becoming a member of the online E-commerce platform Many of them believe that the E-commerce industry is going to replace the traditional way of shopping like offline retailers This clearly indicates that many customers are going to rely on the online platforms to buy (FMCG) goods rather than buying offline COVID-19 helps E-commerce to generate more customers because everything was lockdown and people were scared to step out from their house, so they preferred to buy goods online and many of the new customers also joined As per the survey not only new customers have joined to buy the Essential (FMCG) goods but the satisfaction level also has increased and most of the customers are going to spend more on ordering more FMCG goods online rather than going for offline Kirana The respondents say that the e-commerce industry played a vital role during the lockdown period and most of the customers said that they are kept on buying essential (FMCG) goods online even after the lockdown Many customers are going to rely on the E-commerce platform to 25 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 buy essential (FMCG) goods online It clearly shows that the E-commerce industry is going to boom in the future FUTURE SCOPE OF THE WORK As India has the cheapest 4G internet in the world and everyone is so easily connected with each other Everything which we see this world is just a couple of fingertips away This research paper will help students to show how due to COVID-19 virus, many e-commerce industries took this opportunity to boost the sale essential (FMCG) goods online and this research paper could also help companies to see the wide opportunity in the future and how customers are so much interested in buying essential goods online It doesn’t matter what is the income level of the customer, what is their occupation, what is their gender, everyone is interested to buy essential goods online Many e-commerce companies should be aware of the huge demand that is going to come in the future because during this lockdown period many of the E-commerce companies would not able to fulfill the demand of the consumer Ecommerce is going to be the biggest market for India in the upcoming years as everything in India is going digital so rapidly and everyone has internet data packs 26 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 REFERENCES Aneesh Reddy,(April,14,2020) Covid-19 impact: Consumers move towards digital https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/covid-19-impact-consumers-move-more-towardsdigital/article31337127.ece Bansal.S,(April 02,2020) Opinion|will consumer behaviour see shift post covid-19 https://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/2020/04/23/covid-19-impact-permanent-shift-inconsumer-preferences-to-home-personal-hygiene-products.html Nath.S,(April 28, 2020) Did the lockdown accelerate the digitisation of India Inc? https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/opinion-will-consumer-behaviour-see-shifts-postcovid-19-11585771616107.html FE Online, (April 29, 2020) Millennials will buy in revenge once lockdown lifts; consumer behaviour to change in these ways https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/did-thelockdown-accelerate-the-digitisation-of-india-inc-104236.html Euromonitor International,(April 20, 2020) Coronavirus effect on Indian FMCG industries and services https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/millennials-will-buy-in-revenge-oncelockdown-lifts-consumer-behaviour-to-change-in-these-ways/1943322/ PTI,(April 24, 2020) Majority of Indian consumers may shift to online shopping in next nine months https://blog.euromonitor.com/coronavirus-effect-on-indian -FMCG-industries-andservices/ HrNext News desk (April 29, 2020) Bengaluru-based startup wagonfly secures $500k in investment from ITI growth https://ndcommerce.in/articles/ PTI (April 19, 2020) Post lockdown, online-to-offline strategy to get prominence in the retail sector: LOTS Wholesale https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/majorityof-indian-consumers-may-shift-to-online-shopping-in-next-9-monthssurvey/articleshow/75355478.cms?from=mdr Mukherjee.W, Bailay.R, Srivastava.A (March 16, 2020) consumer goods flying off the shelves https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/indias-new-digital-realityfor-post-covidworld PTI (April 06, 2020) Preference for hygiene products to rise, online sales to zoom, amid COVID-19 threat: GCPL https://www.insightssuccess.in/brandnitidesign-agencys-perspective-onthe-art-and-science-of-brand-engagement-in-digital-age/ Shashidhar.A (March 20, 2020) Covid-19: FMCG majors Amul, Godrej, ITC hike output upto 20% as anxiety buying spikes https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/opinion/letters?monthYear=April%202020 Yatti Soni (April,30.2020) The Reset: Covid-19 Highlights Direct-To-Consumer Potential For Indian Ecommerce https://www.taglr.com/blog/ 27 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 Anirudh Laskar (May,15,2020) Lockdown impact: India e-commerce market picks pace, may touch trillion rupees by 2023 https://smefutures.com/phenomenal-growth-of-co-workingspaces-came-on-the-back-of-start-ups-smes-and-now-corporates-join-in/ Writankar Mukherjee, Sagar Malviya (May,04,2020) Top multinational from HUL to Apple brace for rising online sales post Covid-19 https://hrnxt.com/news/investment/bengalurubased-startup-wagonfly-secures-500k-investment-from-iti-growth/18307/2020/04/29/ Warc Data points (March 2020) E-commerce shopping more frequent because of Covid-19 https://www.indiatvnews.com/business/news-post-lockdown-online-to-offline-strategy-to-getprominence-in-retail-industry-lots-wholesale-609236 Suneera Tandon (May,13,2020) Lockdown: FMCG companies see surge in online business https://www.forbes.com/sites/vinnielauria/2020/05/07/how-southeast-asian-startups-are-creatinga-digital-future-in-a-coronavirus-pandemic/#370a9dec133d Basu.P, Raina.R (April 24, 2020) The impact Covid-19 pandemic is exerting on e-commerce https://www.just-food.com/news/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-and-the-global-food-sectorthursday-7-may-free-to-read_id143295.aspx Khetarpal.S (May 13, 2020) lockdown perks for e-commerce; online sellers recover 30% order volume in a week https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/consumergoods-flying-off-the-shelves/74642714 Bailey.R, Mukherjee W (April 16, 2020) large retailers to focus purely on e-commerce during lockdown 2.0 due to exemption https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/foodentertainment/personal-care-pet-supplies-liquor/preference-for-hygiene-products-to-rise-onlinesales-to-zoom-amid-covid-19-threat-gcpl/75007220 Avatar.P ( May 05, 2020) lockdown 3.0: Flipkart, Snapdeal see heavy traffic for non essential items https://locus.sh/resources/bulletin/coronavirus-could-be-shot-in-arm-forecommerce-firms-globally/ Tech desk, (May 19, 2020) Lockdown 4.0 relief: Amazon, Flipkart welcome non Essential deliveries in red zones https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/covid-19-fmcg-majorsamul-godrej-itc-hike-output-up-to-20-as-anxiety-buying-spikes/story/398814.html 28 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 APPENDIX QUESTIONAIRE Impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior What is your gender? Male Female What is your age group? 20-30 30-40 40-50 50 and above What is your occupation? Student Self-employed Corporate Government employee Others What is your income level per month? 20,000-40,000 40,000-60,000 60,000-80,000 80,000-1,00,000 Have you purchased essential (FMCG) goods online before COVID -19 pandemic lockdown? Yes No Have you ordered (FMCG) goods online during the lockdown period? Yes No Why you purchase (FMCG) goods online? For convenience Better Discounts Other Reasons 29 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 No specific reason Has the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown increased your frequency of buying online? Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Do you think the e-commerce industry (FMCG) is going to replace your traditional offline shopping of FMCG goods? Strongly disagree Disagree Maybe Agree Strongly agree 10 Are you satisfied with buying essential goods (FMCG) online rather than buying through Retail shops? Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied 11 Do you think e-commerce in FMCG goods is playing a vital role during the lockdown period? Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 12 Other than non-essential goods, how much would you spend on Essential (FMCG) goods? Very less than before Same as before More than before Can’t say 13 Would you consider in buying (FMCG) goods from e-commerce companies post lockdown? Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 30 This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3664668 ... this paper, we get the idea that more and more customers are keeping on adding themselves and becoming a member of the online E- commerce platform Many of them believe that the E- commerce industry... online and not during the lockdown period but after the lockdown, they are interested in buying goods online, because they are more satisfied with the services of the E- Commerce rather than offline... (April,30.2020) The Reset: Covid-19 Highlights Direct-To -Consumer Potential For Indian Ecommerce Even before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, e- commerce becoming the need the every household Due to the pandemic