Alexa Simone

When COVID-19 first came about all non essential stores closed and people were
directed to stay home. While trapped in the house for a long period of time we all started to get
bored and wanna go out and go shopping, however covid completely changed everyones
shopping habits. Before quarantine my family would go food shopping about every week and a
half. During lockdown that changed to as least frequently as possible due to the fear of being
out and getting sick. We also tried to cut down shopping anywhere to only when necessary.
Online shopping also played a large role as we depended on that more since it was our only
option to get non essential items.
A lot has changed since before covid and continues to change. These changes have
positively and negatively impacted the shopping experience. A few positive experiences would
be the ability to buy everything you need online and have it delivered, and less people in stores.
Some negative experiences would be the inability to use dressing rooms, the risk of catching
covid, longer wait due to maximum capacity in stores, loss of employment, and a lot of
businesses shutting down due to lockdown. Store hours have also changed. Businesses close
earlier so they can properly sanitize their stores. This causes less shopping since stores aren't
open as long. Personally I do not like the current situation. I prefer to shop in person rather than
online and right now in person shopping isn't going too well. I also like to try on clothes before i
buy them however many dressing rooms are closed due to the pandemic. I am better off
however with online shopping or shopping less frequently since I would be safer.
There will be a lot of long term changes caused by covid. More people will be using apps
like amazon prime, door dash, instacart and other delivery methods. This will cause a lot of
stores to crash and go out of business like many already have. Many people also aren't
comfortable going out in large public settings like the mall or restaurants, also resulting in a loss
of business. Many businesses will not be able to recover from the loss of transactions. Another
long term change would be how many people are allowed in a store, due to maximum capacity
restrictions only certain amounts of people are allowed in a store at a time. Another change
would be the necessity of wearing masks out in public.
To conclude, covid has impacted many different aspects of shopping. A persons
everyday shopping habits had to change including mine and my families. This could both serve
as a good thing and a bad thing depending on the person and how they look at it. It will be a
long time before shopping life goes back to normal. Many of these changes may also be
permanent. Many businesses were forced to close, even some of the biggest brands and
chains. The way we shop has also been changed if not temporarily then forever. The market
took a large hit from covid but the online market has been booming.