PROJECT REPORT

[Submitted for the Degree of B.Com Honours in Accounting and Finance Semester VI Examination
(Under CBCS) Under the University of Calcutta]

TITLE OF PROJECT
INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC
ON CONSUMERS’ ONLINE BUYING
BEHAVIOUR

SUBMITTED BY
NAME OF THE CANDIDATE: SYED ROSHAN ALI
CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION NO. 145-1121-0089-19
NAME OF THE COLLEGE: GOENKA COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
COLLEGE ROLL NO. 639
CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY ROLL NO. 191145-1121-0089-19

SUPERVISED BY
NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR: Dr. BISWANATH SINHA
DESIGNATION: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ACCOUNTANCY
NAME OF THE COLLEGE: GOENKA COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MONTH AND YEAR OF SUBMISSION: JUNE, 2022

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Biswanath Sinha
my project guide, for the successful completion of the project. This project has given me
more confidence about the subject and various concepts of consumer preferences and
growing demand. My sincerest gratitude also extends to the family, who has taken keen
interest in my project from time to time, and encouraged me to perform the best of my
ability. Last but not the least: I would like thank everyone for their support which helped
me present the project in clear and logical exposition. Work on this project has proved to
be an enlightening experience for me.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS:
SL. NO. CONTENTS PAGE NO.
(I) COVER PAGE 1
(ii) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2
1 INTRODUCTION 4 —10
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 4
1.2 NEED FOR DOING THE PROJECT 4
1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW OF PREVIOUS SCHOLARS 5—8
1.4 OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY 8—9
1.4.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 8
1.4.2 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY 8—9
1.5 CHAPTER PLANNING 9
1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 9
2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK / NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL 10 — 15
SCENARIO
3 PRESENTATION OF DATA, ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 16 — 29
4 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 30
(iv) BIBLIOGRAPHY OR REFERENCES 31 — 32
(v) ANNEXURES 33 — 37
(a) ANNEXURE I: SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE 33 — 35
(b) ANNEXURE II 36
(c) ANNEXURE Iii 37

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 CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
1

1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Corona-virus 2 (SARS - CoV-2). This disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei,
China, and has resulted in an ongoing Pandemic. This disease is highly infectious in nature. 2020 will
be reminded in history, because of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has influenced our lives
in every fields. The very first case of Corona Virus Disease in India noticed in January. Our country went
into complete lockdown from 23rd march. With the onset of pandemic and the entire country being
locked down, almost all services and factories were suspended. People took his critical time of
loneliness results in enormous improvements to their shopping habits overnight. The COVID-19
pandemic has fundamentally changed the world as we know it. People are living differently, buying
differently and in many ways, thinking differently. They are changing what they purchase, where, and
how, from conventional buying to online shopping. It increased the shopping through websites and
mobile apps. Due to increasing risk of corona virus, customers are avoiding public places which
increasing customers’ attraction towards online shopping. Now, E-Commerce Companies have to
make better policies to meet changing needs of shoppers. Therefore online buying for the consumers
has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.2. NEED FOR DOING THE REPORT:

Since the pandemic of COVID-19 disease is still new to us and is still creating new influences
on our daily lives, there is a need to understand the influence on online buying behaviour of customers
due to this pandemic. This study is concerned with deepening the knowledge about change in
customers’ online buying behaviour brought by COVID-19 on the retailing sector of daily
requirements. The focus of this study is limited to the online behaviour of the Indian residents
(especially Kolkata and its suburbs) for their day-to-day requirements with respect to the selection
between online and offline stores or both. More precisely, this study aims to identify and test new
behavioural patterns that would influence the Indian residents (especially Kolkata and its suburbs) in
selecting between online and offline stores or both for shopping and buying day-to-day products. This
study is conducted for the customers via web based survey.

In light of the current theories in consumers’ online buying behaviour, this study will dig deep
into the buying behaviour of the Indian residents (especially Kolkata and its suburbs) to explore and
examine the role of COVID-19 in influencing the selection process between online and offline stores
or both. However, the expected fruitful outcome from this study is to deliver a set of new behavioural
patterns that would expand the theoretical knowledge in regard to the current consumers’ online
buying behaviour.

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 LITERATURE REVIEW OF PREVIOUS
1.3.
SCHOLARS:
E-Commerce and Covid-19:
 Bhatti et al. (2020) discussed in the study that there is a influence of Corona virus on the
whole online business of the world. The nature of business has changed due to this pandemic.
According to the research more than 50%, shoppers are avoiding to go for offline shopping
and crowded places.

Online Shopping or E-Shopping:

 Charumathi and RANI (2017) mentioned that online buying or E-buying is a kind of electronic
business that provide services to shoppers to purchase goods or services from an e-retailer by
using Internet technology with the help of web browser directly.
 Charumathi and RANI (2017) found that internet plays an important role in electronic
business that gives various facilities. The services are in the form of conversation, dealings and
distribution of products and services activities. Mobile apps, websites play an important role
in creating effective marketing strategies or policies as a mean to spread awareness regarding
various products and services. Buying products, services through use of Internet technology
called as online shopping.
 Saravanan and Devi (2015) specified that due to increasing use of Internet, the purchasing
behaviour of customers is changing and their attraction towards E-buying is increasing day by
day. Due to changing pattern, buying and selling of goods and services leads to tremendous
hike in the count of online buyers.
Now a day’s electronic shopping has become increasingly popular, due to this dangerous
corona virus. This panic has turned the life of people in various ways like work, shop,
communication, purchasing habits, behaviour, preference of products etc.

Online buying behaviour in India:

 Saravanan and Devi (2015) found that with the improvement in the Internet, a technology of
internet buying has also developed. It is a helpful way of buying products and services that
provides shoppers the options for different varieties of products. Internet purchasing
behaviour is a kind of behaviour of customers at the time of browsing websites or apps in
order to search, select and buy goods and services for fulfilling their needs and wants.

Drivers of online shopping after COVID-19 pandemic:

 Rastogi (2010) found in the study that due to increasing utilization of internet, purchasers can
purchase anything, from anywhere they want to shop with timely and protected price
payment options. Purchasers can compare different products as well as websites or mobile
apps to make better shopping. There are various reasons or drivers of online shopping like
different types of products, convenient buying, reasonable prices and different options for
payments.
 Neger and Uddin (2020) mentioned in their study that less time consuming, convenient mode
of payment and other organizational factors influence the online purchasing behaviour.
But after covid-19, there are various other factors or drivers which motivate the customers
for online shopping. Limited movement among people, COVID-19 fear, rapid growth of mobile

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 devices, and scarcity of products in physical stores, Convenience and Time saving and Digital
transformation of local kirana shops are the main drivers of online buying post COVID-19.
Covid-19 fear or risk:
The fear or risk due to covid-19 increases the use of online shopping. People will be worry
even after the quarantine ends, and many shoppers will also favor online shopping for security
purposes.

Rapid growth of mobile devices:

There is a continuous development in the production of mobile phones and increasing
awareness about the use of mobiles and internet technology leads to shoppers to search for
and shop online their preferred products and services. Shoppers can make orders at all times
from their favourite websites or mobile apps.

Scarcity of products in physical stores:

There were shortage of some products in physical stores or shops due to the lockout situation,
but there were different choices for online shopping. Therefore, it is the motivator to
customers to shop online.

Convenience and Time saving:

Another driver of electronic shopping is that shoppers do not want to go out to purchase the
things and waste their time. E-retailers provide the services of delivery of products or services
at our home. Purchasers would prefer buying online in the coming years rather than from
shops or other offline medium. Quarantine, on the other hand, is another explanation to
online buying of goods. Throughout this time, so many people have faced different problems.
People do not want to go from their home to shop because of the panic of get in touch with
the corona positive person.

Digital revolution of local shops for kirana:

Kirana's stores are the lifeblood of consumers. Today, people are searching for various
choices because of the Corona virus, but they do not want to be in touch with any other
individuals. With the rapidly increase in digitization of the kirana shops and online delivery
services, consumers find it easier to buy their preferred products and services with in
minimum time. They also have contactless deliveries, along with product sanitization. Both
consumers and retailers have benefited from the digital transformation of local Kirana shops.

Preferred products/services:
 Hashem (2020) found that for most consumers in the world, doing e buying through various
online sites or mobile apps is becoming a cornerstone day by day. In the month of April, the
most interest of buyers in online grocery shopping and other essential things.
 Chang, and Meyerhoefer (2020) mentioned in their study that need for cereal, fruits, fresh
vegetables and precooked foods have risen, benefiting small-scale farmers in agronomy.
 As per latest Nielsen report, there is a rapidly increase in online demand of India's FMCG
goods that increased nearly 50% year-on-year in the March quarter due to shoppers
increasingly purchased from egrocers.
Hand sanitizer sales reported a speedy growth of 1425 percent via online and 144 percent via
a neighborhood store. The purchase of facemasks, hand sanitizer, face shield mask are more
preferred products during this critical situation.
There is a rapid rise in the Indulgence Food segment with the increase in the sales of cooking
oil, soft drinks, pulses, snacks etc.

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 Demands for laptops in India also increased due to work from home, online classes, teaching
etc. The market for online courses is also on the rise. In its live courses, Topper is seeing a 100
percent rise in attendance.
UpGrad enquiries have increased by 50 percent .There is also increase in BYJU user base.
Inquiries into health plans are also growing, which would be good for the health insurance
industry.
In addition to grocery, medical products, baby products, cleaning products, food and
beverage, products required for “Work from home”, health and wellness related products,
toys and games, products for pets, household & electronic products, bags or travel products,
auto or tools, fashion & apparel products, jewellery & luxury products, sports & fitness
products and products related to “Beauty & Care” are products that are also preferred by
shoppers.
Expectations of consumers:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, almost retailers have modified their distribution of products
or services, return schemes to provide maximum protection to their shoppers and employees.
These improvements will alter consumer perceptions of online delivery and returns, as
discussed by Global Data, a leading data and analytics firm. As per the Global Data report
which provides businesses in the world's largest industries with unique data, expert insight
and creative solutions. Longer returns period, change in methods of return of products,
reasonable price of products, Contactless delivery are the main expectations of consumers
from online shopping service providers for getting more satisfaction
Strategies / suggestions for e-retailers:
Due to Covid-19 Pandemic the shopping habits of consumers is changing fast. To exist in the
market, businesses should start to sell important things as per latest situation. For example,
to meet the increasing demands of shoppers, some eretailers are going to introduce different
types of sanitizers, facemasks, face shield mask and other goods for safety purpose. Eretailers
should turn to the sale of essential products or services rather than nonessential products. E-
retailers should increase the time for returning goods and focus on contact less delivery.
 Debnath, S.(2020) The data reflects after evaluation that the male respondents having
monthly income ranged from 0 to 30,000 with an age group ranging from 25 to 35 highly
influences the consumer purchase behaviour. Therefore, higher income of male respondents
and huge price rise of products are highly correlated with each other towards consumer
purchase behaviour. The overall findings provide implications to marketers, retailers and
advertisers to implement future strategies according to the current pandemic situation
towards consumer purchase behaviour in the retail sector.
 Ali, B. J (2020) This study examines extant literature and secondary sales data from Samsung,
the largest consumer electronic durable-goods company in Iraq, to show how the pandemic
may have encouraged Iraqi consumers to embrace technology, as hinted by the surge in online
purchases. Some markets have found it difficult to adapt to online shopping, despite the
pandemic negatively affecting brick-and-mortar sales worldwide.
 Pathak, G., and Warpade, S. (2020): The present study was carried out in the month of July
2020 means after the announcement of the first phase of unlocking in Maharashtra. Data
were collected from the western part of Maharashtra and the majority of the samples are
from Pune and Satara District. The researcher has used Google form for data collection. After
the analysis, it is found that some consumers have changed their preference while selecting
retailers for shopping of essential goods.
 Pham, V. K et al (2020) The Covid-19 pandemic has promoted online shopping activities of
Vietnamese consumers more actively, which previously took a lot of effort of online
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 businesses, but not effectively. However, will this changing behavior be sustained after the
Covid-19 pandemic? Therefore, the article aims to investigate how customers change during
the Covid-19 outbreak based on perceived risks and perceived benefits of consumers in online
shopping. These two groups of factors will be assessed along with the moderating role of the
Covid-19 impact. Wijaya, T. (2020) The results showed that the factors that formed panic
buying behavior were an information and knowledge factor, a family considerations, a
conditional or influence effect from other people, and a risk avoidance factor. These results
provide the findings of the factors forming panic buying and the implications of suggestions
for the government to educate the public with various media and prevent misinformation that
can cause panic in buying behaviour.
 P Rajeshwari & C Vijay (2020) in their study found that most of the respondents strongly agree
COVID-19 -19 impact on buying behavior (52.4%) and the majority of the respondents
spending the money only essential goods (52.4%) during COVID-19 and changed the brand
Preference the respondents say maybe (44.4) the majority of the respondents purchasing
more fruits and vegetables during COVID-19 -19 (41.6%), COVID-19 changed food behavior
(41.9%) and most of the respondents prefer to use online payment for purchasing (39.4%)
COVID-19 reduced the expenditure (40.0%) and saved income (28.9%) finally most of the
respondents strongly agree (41.0%) and agree (25.1%) COVID-19 changed entire life.
 Bharti Agarwal & Deepa Kapoor (2020) found that the COVID19 pandemic changed consumer
behavior towards relying more on online shopping. Current research has found that restricted
movement among individuals, Convenience and Time saving and Digital transformation of
local kirana shops are the main drivers of online buying after COVID-19 pandemic. Demand
for cereals, fresh fruit, vegetables, frozen food, groceries, soaps, sanitizers, masks and other
fast moving consumer goods increased the most under COVID-19 situation.
Longer returns period, change in methods of return of products, reasonable price of products,
Contactless delivery are the main expectations of consumers from online shopping service
providers for getting more satisfaction.

1.4. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY OF

THE STUDY:
1.4.1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
The objectives for this study are:
1 To explore drivers of E-buying after COVID-19 pandemic situation
2 To know about preferred products that customers are purchasing more through online after
COVID 19 pandemic
3 To fill the gap in the academic literature where very few research paper as of now focusses on
understanding the behaviour of consumer at the time of pandemic.

1.4.2. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY:

The methodology of doing the project report are:

Sources of Data:
Primary Data:
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In this study, both the primary and secondary data have been used. Primary data is collected through
the structured questionnaire circulated to the respondents.

Secondary Data:
Secondary data are collected from the already published articles, newspapers, and some sources from
the related websites.

Sample Size:
The sample is collected from 50 respondents.

Area of the Study:

The respondents of the study are from Kolkata and its suburbs in West Bengal.

1.5. CHAPTER PLANNING:

This project report has been divided in to four logical parts:
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
Chapter 2: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK / NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO
Chapter 3: PRESENTATION OF DATA, ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
Chapter 4: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Chapter 2: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK / NATIONAL

• Background of the Study AND INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO
• Need For Doing The Report • Consumers' Online Buying Behaviour
• Literature Review of Previous Scholars • Consumer Behaviour
• Objectives And Methodology of The Study • Consumers' Online Buying Behaviour / Consumers' Attitude
• Objectives of the Study Towards Obnline Shopping
• Methodology of the study • Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Online Buying
• Chapter Planning Behaviour
• Limitations of the Study • Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Online Buying
Behaviour in India
• Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumers' Online Buying
Behaviour Internationally

Chapter 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Chapter 3: PRESENTATION OF DATA, ANALYSIS AND

• This chapter includes conclusions on consumers' online buying FINDINGS
behaviour and some recommendations on the overall scenario • Study of Consumers' online buying behaviour in India before & after
the COVID-19 pandemic
• Presentation of Data and its Interpretation

1.6. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

The study is focused on consumers towards COVID 19 impact on online buying behaviour. The
study is confined to the extent of interpreting data which is collected only from 100 respondents of
selected consumers of West Bengal.

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 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK /
CHAPTER
NATIONAL AND
2
INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO:

2.1. CONSUMERS’ ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR

2.1.1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individual consumers, groups or organizations select,
buy and dispose ideas, products and services, in accordance to their needs and wants. It alludes to the
intentions of the consumer in the marketplace and underlying motives behind those actions
undertaken.
In simple words, consumer behvaiouur studies the decision making process of and individual
consumer as well as that of an organization, with regards to external factors affecting it.

CONSUMERS’ ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR /

2.1.2
CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDE ON ONLINE SHOPPING
DEFINITION:
Consumers’ attitude is a directly influenced factor that affects the consumers’ buying
willingness. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) describe attitude towards a behaviour as a person’s evaluation
of a specified behaviour involving an object or outcome. For example, a person may hate to use a
computer to play an online game where using the computer to play the online game is the behaviour
and the individual’s feeling is the attitude.
Attitude towards a behaviour has been found to be strongly related to a particular behaviour
(Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). There is a model of attitudes and shopping intention towards online
shopping that was developed by Jarvenpaa and Todd (1997). This model includes numerous indicators
that can be categorized into four classifications: the value of the product, the shopping experience,
the quality of service provided by e-shop and the risk perceptions of online retail shopping. Vellido,
Lisboa and Meehan (2000) summarized quite a few factors relating to consumers’ perception of online
shopping. The factors of risk perception of users, convenience of online shopping, control over,
affordability of goods, ease of use of the shopping site, and customer service were included.

FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMERS’ ONLINE SHOPPING ATTITUDE:

Several significant factors that can influence consumers’ attitude towards online shopping are
as follows:
1. Perceived Usability: Usability refers to the extent to which a website facilitates users to utilize
its functions easily and appropriately). Web usability can be defined as making the design
simple enough so that customers, who by nature tend to be goal-driven, can accomplish their

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 task as quickly and painlessly as possible. Online shopping is based on the Internet and the
website is the basic platform of online transaction. Therefore, website usability has a
significant impact on online consumers’ perceptions and e-shop success. Several factors to
measure the usability of websites, are ease of use, response time, navigation, interaction,
design, convenience, learnability, efficiency, site findability and accessibility.
2. Perceived Security: Salisbury, Pearson, Pearson and Miller (2001) defined perceived security
on the Web as "the extent to which one believes that the World Wide Web is secure for
transmitting sensitive information". According to their studies, they believed that purchase
intention online was influenced by the security of e-transactions. They also found that
perceived security was positively associated with online purchase intention. A similar finding
from the research of Elliot and Fowell (2000) showed that the consumers’ perception of
security-related issues was one of the most important factors in purchasing from a website.
As a result, security has become one of the most important reasons that cause consumers to
hesitate or fear using e-purchase and it has played a dominant role in influencing their attitude
towards online shopping.
3. Perceived Privacy: In respect of the definition of privacy, personal information is always of
great concern. A general definition of personal information is "data not otherwise available
via public sources" (Beatty, 1996). Online privacy concerns often arise through a website
operator's collection and dissemination of personally identifiable information about an
individual consumer who has visited a particular website (Hatch,2000). Smith et al. (1996)
identified four factors of online privacy: unauthorized secondary use of personal information,
improper access of digitally stored personal information, collection of personal information,
and errors in collected personal information. Metzger and Docter (2003) considered online
privacy concerns to include anonymity, intrusion, surveillance, and autonomy. In sum, there
are many factors that are hard to control in protecting consumers’ privacy in the virtual
environment. Thus, in comparing with traditional offline privacy, online privacy is more
difficult to protect. That is the reason why many consumers still refuse to accept online
shopping.
4. Perceived After-sales Service Quality: The definition of ‘After-sales Service’ is the delivery
service for sending products to a customer after payment, technical support after sales, etc.
(Cao and Gruca, 2004). Sparks and Legault (1993) summarized two types of services after the
sale: anticipated services and unanticipated services. Anticipated services are those that the
customer plans for, such as installation, training, written instructions, maintenance, and
upgrading. The maintenance of the sold-out products such as repairs, returns, and
replacements are the service that is categorized as unanticipated service (Sparks and Legault,
1993). Posselt and Gerstner (2005) assessed the impact of the presale and post-sale stages on
online satisfaction.
5. Perceived Marketing Mix: McCarthy (2002) classified marketing activities as marketing-mix
tools of four broad kinds, which they called the 4Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion
and place.
While the value and current standing of the mix as a marketing toolkit is frequently disputed,
marketing practitioners widely deem the 4Ps as the tools that can influence the consumers’
behaviour and the final outcome of the buyer-seller interaction (Dixon and Blois, 1983;
Gronroos, 1994; Gummesson, 1997; Goldsmith, 1999; Kotler and Armstrong, 2001; Kotler,
2003; Brassington and Pettitt, 2003). Constantinides (2002) summarized that online buyer’s
behaviour of purchasing merchandise and services in e-shops can be influenced by the
marketing mix of online vendors.

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 6. Perceived Reputation: The concept of reputation has been looked at from many different
perspectives, such as Applied Economics (Shapiro, 1983) or Strategic Management (Fombrum
and Shanley, 1990). Brand equity or vendor’s trustworthiness is always allied with the idea of
reputation from a marketing standpoint (Aaker, 1996; Herbig and Milewicz, 1993; Hyde and
Gosschalk, 2005). The role of reputation in the virtual environment is more important than
the traditional market environment. In the virtual environment, consumers cannot directly
examine the goods before they purchase. They can only obtain the information about the
product from the website and trust the product description of vendor. Therefore, the
reputation of online vendor has become a significant factor that influences consumers’
attitude towards online shopping. The research of Houser and Wooders (2000), Dewan and
Hsu (2001), Kalyanam and Mclntyre (2001), McDonald and Slawson (2002), and Melnik and
Aim (2002) have all shown that a seller's overall reputation often has a positive and statistically
significant impact on the consumers’ willingness to adopt online purchase.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CONSUMERS’

2.2
ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CONSUMERS’

2.2.1
ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR IN INDIA
E-commerce business is taking place when buyer and seller conduct their business
transactions with the help of internet. The term electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to any
sort of business transaction that involves the transfer of information through the internet. E-
commerce businesses are of following major types like
1. Business-to-Business (B2B)
2. Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
3. Business-to-Government (B2G)
4. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
5. ) Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce).

E-commerce‟ and „online shopping‟ are often used interchangeably but at its core
ecommerce is much broader than this – it embodies a concept for doing business online, incorporating
a multitude of different services e.g. making online payments, booking flights etc.

E-commerce has experienced rapid growth since its humble beginnings with e-commerce
sales projected to grow to 599.2 billion USD by 2024. The COVID-19 outbreak saw e--commerce sales
spiked 25% in March 2020 alone. The power of e-commerce should not be underestimated as it
continues to pervade everyday life and present significant opportunities for small, medium, and large
businesses and online investors. It is not needed to look far to see the potential of e-commerce
businesses. Amazon, for example, which set the standard for customer-orientated websites as well as
a lean supply chain, is selling over 4000 items a minute from SMBs alone.

Benefits for People Buying ‘Online’:-

1. Lower Prices: Managing an online storefront is far cheaper than an offline, brick and mortar
store. Typically less staff are required to manage an online shop as web-based management
systems enable owners to automate inventory management and warehousing is not

12
 necessarily required. As such, e-commerce business owners can afford to pass operational
cost savings on to consumers (in the form of product or service discounts) whilst protecting
their overall margin. Furthermore, with the rise of price comparison websites, consumers
have more transparency with regard to prices and are able to shop around, typically
purchasing from online outlets instead.
2. Accessibility and Convenience: Unlike many offline stores, consumers can access ecommerce
websites 24 hours a day. Customers can read about services, browse products and place
orders whenever they wish. In that sense, online shopping is extremely convenient and gives
the consumer more control. Furthermore, those living in more remote areas are able to order
from their home at a touch of a button, saving them time travelling to a shopping centre.
3. Wider Choice: For the past twenty years, the growth of online shopping has to a large extent
been based around increased choice. With an almost endless choice of brands and products
to choose from, consumers are not limited by the availability of specific products in their local
town, city or country. Items can be sourced and shipped globally. Interestingly, one recent
study found that consumers are actually starting to become frustrated by e-commerce sites
that offer too much choice. Whichever way you look at it though, more choice has likely been
a good thing over the long term.
While one Forbes survey data shows that women are more likely to be concerned about the
effects of COVID-19, it also shows that men are more likely to have it impact their shopping
behaviours. One-third of men, compared to 25% of women, reported the pandemic affecting
how much they spend on products. Additionally, 36% of men, compared to 28% of women,
reported it affecting how much they are spending on experiences (travel, restaurants,
entertainment, etc.).

The Indian retail market is greatly divided up between the unorganised sector, which includes
about 13.8 million conventional family run neighbourhood stores and the organised retail sector with
a share less than 10%. The organised sector includes all organized brick & mortar stores and online
shopping sites. Despite the boom in B2C e-commerce sector in India, majority of Indians continue to
have more faith in the neighbourhood brick & mortar stores for shopping as they prefer touching and
feeling the products and negotiating discounts over-the-counter, before buying. In India, a great
majority of B2C ecommerce retailers draw customers to shop online by offering bargains such as free
delivery, discounts, buy-one-getone-free and exchange offers. However, many Indian shoppers known
to be cost-conscious and conservative as a part of their value system, are generally not attracted into
making quick decisions based on promotions and advertisements. Moreover, online shoppers, many-
atimes, come across problems concerning product delivery timelines and customer support services.
Customers‟ perception of risk toward online web sites is aggravated due to the inferior IT set-up used
by several e-tailers, resulting in hacking of personal information.

Enter the novel corona virus which causes a highly infectious disease Corona virus disease
(COVID-19) that has infected millions of people worldwide. Since it spreads primarily through contact
with an infected person (when they cough or sneeze) or when a person touches a surface that has the
virus on it, the best way to guard against it was to stay at home. This increased online shopping usage,
globally. In India, it has led to a rise in the number of FTUs or first-time-ecommerce-users in India, who
had been so far inhibited to shop online. The SARS outbreak that infected over 2700 people in 2002,
too is known to have dramatically changed people’s shopping habits as they were afraid of shopping
outdoors.

On 25th March, 2020, Big Basket - a key online grocery player in India had the following
message “We'll be back soon! We are currently experiencing unprecedented demand. In light of this,

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we are restricting access to our website to existing customers only. Please try again in a few hours.”
So overwhelming was the response that it faced a breakdown due to a steep increase in demand amid
COVID-19. Grofers – a rival, had a similar kind of message which said “Due to the sudden rush, we
have stopped servicing many locations, but we are working to increase capacity and will be resuming
operations shortly.” Amazon – one of the leading ecommerce players in the country, and the world,
has announced on its site that the customers are relying on them like never before in their social
distancing and self-quarantine efforts. Hence during the pandemic Amazon temporarily prioritized its
available fulfilment and logistics capacity to serve essentials such as household staples, packaged food,
health care, hygiene, personal safety and other high priority products. It stopped taking orders for
lower-priority products. Globally too Amazon saw a surge in orders and raised overtime pay for
associates working in its warehouses, during the corona virus outbreak.

This spike in B2C ecommerce in India was of course due to existing online shoppers stocking
up on essentials given the corona virus outbreak and the lockdown imposed by the Government (to
check its spread). However it also consists of perhaps two more segments – apart from the one that
buys online, regularly. A segment that did not shop online, given the inhibiting factors detailed in the
beginning of this article and another segment that up till now, was either ignorant about online
shopping or did not have a device or data plan. It would be interesting to check – how many shoppers
from these two segments switch to online shopping, even after the corona virus crises is over.

The present pandemic situation has an adverse deep impact on Indian business (Das, D. K.,
and Patnaik, S., 2020) the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis affects different sectors in different ways.
Production, transportation, and distribution based companies are the worst-hit
(https://pharmascope.org) this crisis is going to affect the economy as never before leading to massive
psycho-social impacts as well (Singh, D. P,2020) The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the
economy has been devastating. With millions forced to stay at home and retail shops, except those
providing essential services, shut, analysts claim that the pandemic will have long-term consequences
on consumer behavior (PunitaLal, R. M, 2020) According to a survey about the impact of the
coronavirus (COVID-19) on Indians in March 2020, a majority of respondents had no critical non-
essential purchases during the lockdown. About 56 percent needed home supplies, and most of these
needed them ordered online. In contrast, about eight percent each for online and local purchases
required electronics in order to attend online classes or be able to work from home (Keelery, P. B,
2020).

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CONSUMERS’

2.2.2
ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR INTERNATIONALLY
The global economy in general and international trade in particular have suffered and
continue to suffer massive losses from the coronavirus pandemic. The uncertainty in which businesses
and end consumers found themselves immersed is further aggravated by multiple factors. Those
include income decline, cross-border travel restrictions, shifting consumer demand, and the changing
behavior of market actors, to name a few . Global lockdown, social distancing, and other measures
introduced to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have urged consumers to purchase more on
the online marketplaces. The business landscape faced rapid transformations during the quarantine
period as a result. Ultimately, the corona crisis accelerated the development of digital commerce.
Globally, a new digitally immersed consumer has emerged, a more selective one, with financial
difficulties.

14
 Income losses, limited transport opportunities, and pandemic mitigation measures, which
caused the reduction of supplier activities, have forced B2B manufacturers and sellers to reduce
production and marketing costs, find new suppliers both abroad and within the country, and
accelerate decision making. National companies received opportunities to diversify their product
portfolio for the purposes of import substitution and to supply other firms and branches of foreign
companies with necessary resources. B2C markets, on the other hand, encountered a decline in
purchasing power and cross-border mobility. On top of that, consumers shifted toward health and
safety while maintaining a preference for inexpensive goods and services. Products that bring comfort
and a sense of coziness to a living space received more attention than they normally would. Overall,
the uncertainty and unpredictability of the situation made consumers postpone some of their
demands. The industrial market and consumer market both faced a need to accelerate digitalization
and make it easy to find and purchase items online.

The pandemic sparked a meteoric rise in online sales. As visits to physical stores were
restricted, and many were running low on money, consumers went online to shop, causing online
purchases to grow higher and higher. Consumers were generally mindful shoppers even before the
pandemic. Because of this, some shopping categories such as experiences were gradually downgraded
on their priority lists, and COVID-19 accelerated things in this direction.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected societies and economics around the
world and has hit various sectors of society in different ways. This unprecedented situation has several
consequences for the everyday life of consumers and has dramatically changed how businesses act
and consumers behave (Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020; Pantano et al., 2020). The surveys carried out
after the first wave have argued that consumers across the globe are looking at products and brands
through a new lens (Accenture, 2020; McKinsey, 2020). The conducted study examines the
antecedents and dynamics of impulse buying patterns in the rise of COVID-19 and assesses the impact
of the impulse purchasing behaviour of Czech citizens during this situation based on fear (cf. Ahmed
et al., 2020; Iyer et al., 2020).

The situation, after the first wave and at the beginning of the second wave of the COVID-19
pandemic in Europe, has made many consumers reconsider their established buying and shopping
habits or even to learn new one (Sheth, 2020). Due to the extraordinary containment measures, some
consumers for instance have had to move to online shopping, home-deliveries or cashless payment,
which they never considered before (Pantano et al., 2020). There is a need for retail managers and
marketers to monitor the changes in consumers’ shopping behaviour and habits to understand which
changes in strategies they need to adopt (Verma and Gustafsson, 2020).

15
 CHAPTER PRESENTATION OF DATA,
3 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:

For analysing the influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on consumers’ online buying behaviour, a
survey has been conducted on 50 respondents by distributing a questionnaire among the common
people.
A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions (10 – 15 sets) for
the purpose of gathering information from the respondents on a particular topic. Questionnaires can
be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, through cell phones,
computers or post. They are the primary sources of collecting data/information on a particular topic.
They provide a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining large amounts of information
from a large sample of people. A questionnaire comprises of both Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
and short/long answer type questions. Maximum questions present in a questionnaire are in the form
of MCQs wherein a respondent has to choose an appropriate option from a given set of options.
Short/long answer type questions present in a questionnaire contains spaces according to the
requirements of the questions where respondents can give their responses. A questionnaire also
contains a specific area for providing suggestions (if any) by the respondents regarding the particular
survey. A sample of the questionnaire which has been used for collecting the responses regarding the
influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ online buying behaviour has been given in the
Annexure-I of this report.
The presentation of data of this survey and its analysis & findings are as follows:

Q.1. SEX
Table 3.1: Number and percentage of respondents on the basis of their sex
Sex Number of respondents Percentage (%)
Male 27 54
Female 23 46
Other Nil 0
Total 50 100

16
 Number of respondents

0%

46% Male
54%
Female
Other

Figure 3.1: Pie chart showing percentage of male and female respondents

Number of respondents

Other

Female

Male

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Figure 3.2: Bar chart showing number of male and female respondents

Q.2. AGE GROUP

Table 3.2: Number and percentage of respondents belonging to the different age groups
Age Group Number of respondents Percentage of respondents
Below 20 years 5 10.00
20 years – 40 years 34 68.00
40 years – 60 years 9 18.00
60 years – 80 years 2 4.00
Above 80 years 0 0.00
Total 50 100.00

17
 Number of respondents

Below 20 years 20 years – 40 years 40 years – 60 years

60 years – 80 years Above 80 years

Figure 3.3:Pie chart showing the age group of different respondents

Number of respondents

Above 80 years

60 years – 80 years

40 years – 60 years

20 years – 40 years

Below 20 years

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Figure 3.4: Bar chart showing the age group of different respondents

Q.3. What was your buying behaviour i.e. how did you buy your day-to-day
requirements in the pre COVID-19 era?
Table 3.3: Number and percentage of respondents preferring the different modes of buying in the pre
COVID-19 era
Modes of Buying Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents
Offline shopping 10 20.00
Online through different 5 10.00
websites
Both Offline shopping and 35 70.00
Online through different
websites

18
 Number of Respondents

Offline shopping
Online through different websites
Both Offline shopping and Online through different websites

Figure 3.5: Pie chart showing the percentage of respondents preferring the different modes of
buying in the pre COVID-19 era

Number of Respondents

Both Offline shopping and Online through

different websites

Online through different websites

Offline shopping

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Figure 3.6: Bar chart showing the number of respondents preferring the different modes of buying
in the pre COVID-19 era

19
 Number of Respondents

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Offline shopping Online through Both Offline shopping
different websites and Online through
different websites

Figure 3.7: Column chart showing the number of respondents preferring the different modes of
buying in the pre COVID-19 era
Interpretation: Before the pandemic, very few people preferred online shopping.

Q.4. Did your buying behaviour change in the post COVID-19 era and during the
COVID-19 pandemic?
Table 3.4: Number and percentage of the respondents choosing the different options

Options Number of respondents Percentage of respondents

Yes 40 80.00
No 10 20.00

Number of respondents

Yes No

Figure 3.8: Pie chart showing percentage of respondents choosing different options

20
 Number of respondents

No

Yes

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Figure 3.9: Bar chart showing number of respondents choosing the different options

Number of respondents
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes No

Figure 3.10: Column chart showing number of respondents choosing the different options
Interpretation: COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in consumers’ online buying behaviour for
majority of the population.

Q.5. What is your present buying behaviour i.e. how would you like to purchase your
day-to-day requirements?
Table 3.5: Number & Percentage of respondents preferring the different modes of buying in the post
COVID-19 era
Modes of Buying Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents
Offline shopping 4 8.00
Online through different websites 8 16.00
Both Offline shopping and Online 38 76.00
through different websites

21
 Percentage of respondents

8%
16%
Offline shopping

Online through different websites

76%
Both Offline shopping and Online
through different websites

Figure 3.12: Pie chart showing the percentage of respondents preferring the different modes of
buying in the post COVID-19 era

Number of respondents

Both Offline shopping and Online through

different websites

Online through different websites

Offline shopping

0 10 20 30 40

Figure 3.13: Bar chart showing the number of respondents preferring the different modes of
buying in the post COVID-19 era

22
 Number of respondents

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Offline shopping Online through different Both Offline shopping and
websites Online through different
websites

Figure 3.14: Column chart showing the number of respondents preferring the different modes of
buying in the post COVID-19 era
Interpretation: After the pandemic majority of people shifted from their traditional offline shopping
to either online or both.

Comparing the responses of the respondents to question numbers 3 and 5, it can be found
out from the survey that there is a major positive change in the online buying behaviour of the
consumers. This has been shown in the table and the figures below.
Table 3.6: Number and percentage of respondents preferring the different modes of buying in the pre
COVID-19 era and in the post COVID-19 era: A comparison
Number of respondents Percentage of respondents
Modes of buying Pre COVID-19 era Post COVID-19 Pre COVID-19 era Post COVID-19
era era
Offline shopping 10 4 20.00 8.00
Online through
different 5 8 10.00 16.00
websites
Both Offline
shopping and
Online through 35 38 70.00 76.00
different
websites

23
 Comparison between percentage of respondents prefering different
modes of buying in the pre COVID-19 era & in the post COVID-19 era
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Offline shopping Online through different Both Offline shopping and
websites Online through different
websites

Percentage of respondents Pre COVID-19 era

Percentage of respondents Post COVID-19 era

Figure 3.15: Line chart showing comparison between percentages of respondents preferring
different modes of buying in the pre COVID-19 era and in the post COVID-19 era

Comparison between percentage of respondents preferring different

modes of buying in the pre COVID-19 era and in the post COVID-19 era
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Offline shopping Online through different websites Both Offline shopping and Online through different
websites

Number of respondents Pre COVID-19 era Number of respondents Post COVID-19 era

Figure 3.16: Area chart showing comparison between percentages of respondents preferring
different modes of buying in the pre COVID-19 era and in the post COVID-19 era
Interpretation: From the above table and set of figures it can be found that COVID-19 pandemic has
created a positive influence on consumers’ online buying behaviour. The number of respondents who
prefers buying through offline shopping have reduced from 10 (20%) in the pre COVID-19 era to 4 (8%)
in the post COVID-19 era thereby resulting in a total reduction of 6 per 50 respondents (12%of total
respondents); the number of respondents who prefers buying online through different websites have
gone up from 5 in the pre COVID-19 era to 8 in the post COVID-19 era thereby resulting in a total

24
increase of 3 per 50 respondents; the number of respondents who prefers both buying through offline
shopping and buying online through different websites has increased from 35 in the pre COVID-19 era
to 38 in the post COVID-19 era thereby resulting in a total increase of 3 per 50 respondents. Again 8%
of total respondents prefer buying through offline shopping in the post COVID-19 era as compared
through 20% in the pre COVID-19 era thereby resulting in a decrease of 12% of total respondents; 16%
of total respondents prefer buying online through different websites in the post COVID-19 era as
compared to 10% in the pre COVID-19 era thereby resulting in an increase of 6% of the total
respondents; 76% of total respondents prefer both buying through offline shopping and buying online
through different websites in the post COVID-19 era as compared to 70% in the pre COVID-19 era
thereby resulting in an increase of 6% of the total respondents.

Q.6. What kind of product do you prefer to buy online?

Table 3.7: Number and percentages of respondents preferring buying of different kinds of products
through online.
Options Markings Respondents
Number Percentage
Cooked Food 1 2 4.00
Fruits and Vegetables 2 0 0.00
Packed and Dry Food 3 0 0.00
Snacks’ items 4 0 0.00
Other food items and beverages 5 1 2.00
Baby food 6 0 0.00
Electrical appliances 7 10 20.00
Other Household items 8 10 20.00
Jewelleries and related items 9 1 2.00
Dresses 10 7 14.00
Medicines 11 1 2.00
All of the above 12 14 28.00
None of the above 13 1 2.00
Others: Locks 1 2.00
Grocery and dresses 14 1 3 2.00
All of the above excluding 1 2.00 6.00
markings 1, 2 & 9
Total 50 100.00

25
 Number & Percentage of Respondents

Others
None of the above
All of the above
Medicines
Dresses
Jewelleries and related items
Other Household items
Electrical appliances
Baby food
Other food items and beverages
Snacks’ items
Packed and Dry Food
Fruits and Vegetables
Cooked Food

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Percentage of Respondents Number of Respondents

Figure 3.17: Bar chart showing number and percentages of respondents preferring buying of
different kinds of products through online

Number & Percentage of Respondents

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Number of respondents Percentage of respondents

Figure 3.18: Column chart showing number and percentages of respondents preferring buying of
different kinds of products through online
Interpretation: Majority of the respondents prefer to buy all of the above items followed by electrical
appliances and other household items online through different websites.

26
Q.7. Why do you prefer so?
Responses:
1. Convenience
2. Good offers
3. Deals and discounts
4. Availability of lots of options at same place and reduced price
5. Time saving
6. Cheap rate
7. Trustworthy reviews
8. Easy to see the variety
9. Effortless shopping
10. Home delivery and easy returns
11. Contact shopping
12. Easy to access
13. Can be bought whenever required
14. Fulfilling basic requirements
15. More colours
16. Avoiding going out to the maximum possible extent since people in general seems to be rather
careless in maintaining COVID protocols
17. Online purchasing is much riskier & prone to frauds
18. Best and safe as per the present pandemic situation
19. Reduced travel requirements in public transport
20. Getting the legitimate price and a proper review of many customers that helps us in choosing
which product to buy

Q.8. What kind of product do you prefer to buy offline?

Table 3.8: Number and percentages of respondents preferring buying of different kinds of products
through offline shopping.
Options Markings Respondents
Number Percentage
Cooked Food 1 1 2.00
Fruits and Vegetables 2 20 40.00
Packed and Dry Food 3 1 2.00
Snacks’ items 4 1 2.00
Other food items and 5 0 0.00
beverages
Baby food 6 0 0.00
Electrical appliances 7 2 4.00
Other Household items 8 0 0.00
Jewelleries and related 9 3 6.00
items
Dresses 10 3 6.00
Medicines 11 2 4.00
All of the above 12 14 28.00
8None of the above 13 1 2.00
Other 14 2 4.00
Total 50 100.00

27
 Number & Percentage of Respondents
Other
All of the above
Dresses
Other Household items
Baby food
Snacks’ items
Fruits and Vegetables

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Percentage of Respondents Number of Respondents

Figure 3.19: Bar chart showing number and percentages of respondents preferring buying of
different kinds of products through offline shopping

Number & Percentage of Respondents

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents

Figure 3.20: Column chart showing number and percentages of respondents preferring buying of
different kinds of products through offline shopping
Interpretation: Majority of the respondents prefer to buy cooked food followed by all of the above
items through offline stores.

Q.9. Why do you prefer so?

Responses:
1. Freshness of food items
2. Easy availability
3. Cheap rate
4. Food items are safe for health
5. Fast access
6. Easy to see the variety
7. Quality check

28
 8. Safer than online purchasing
9. Reliability
10. Hassle free
11. Time saving and effortless
12. Cost & social issues
13. Buying according to requirements
14. Buying daily and according to own wish
15. Online deliveries have become very prompt and otherwise dependable. The delivery agents
maintain COVID-19 restrictions. Also, good discounts are available in most cases with cash
backs. Handling of cash is also avoided if necessary, returns are also promptly taken care of
on NQA basis.
16. Buying offline is much safe & can be justified
17. Mainly buying stuffs online but liking to explore and grab as many things as possible while
doing offline shopping which are paranoid to be bought online
18. Online shopping sometimes goes wrong and things cannot be chosen watching by the
customer himself/herself
19. Electrical appliances purchased from online sites get damaged very soon
20. Seeing the precise work for jewelleries and not much differences in the price segment
21. Meeting urgent requirements of the product to avoid long waiting for delivery

Q.10. ANY SUGGESTIONS OR FEEDBACK ON THE CONSUMERS’ ONLINE BUYING

BEHAVIOUR?
Responses:
1. Everyone is recommended to order their stuffs online because it is safe, convenient and much
time saving as well.
2. Online shopping has become very convenient but at times mixed feedbacks create confusion
and sets wrong expectations so we end up buying worthless products.
3. For people in the metro cities it is thought that online shopping does not have a stigma
associated with it anymore. So consumers tend to deviate towards where they get the best
rates.
4. Buying should be from reputed cites only; otherwise there is chance of being heated and also
payment details being hacked. Online transactions should be from one specific bank account
only where low balance should be maintained. Passwords must be kept confidential.
5. Safety of online transactions in banking platform is highly needed. Only because of these
reasons, a consumer may prefer to go for offline shopping than online shopping.
6. Buying of commodities are less prone to risk if bought through online, only their prices should
be reasonable.
7. Online shopping is much better but it needs to improve
8. a. Better and improved after sales service.
b. Product that is displayed in websites and that is delivered in case of online shopping must
be made same.
9. No answer

29
 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND
4 RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1. CONCLUSION
The future of online buying and selling in India is bright. After the COVID-19 pandemic, e-
commerce & online buying & selling is getting better and will be much better in near future. It was
very helpful in stopping the panic of spreading of the virus from one person to another. The Covid-19
pandemic has encouraged online shopping activities of consumers more actively. During the
pandemic, e-commerce and online buying became a major source of fulfilling the daily requirements
and has remained a major source till now even after the reduction in the effect of the pandemic and
will continue to remain a major source in future as well. However there are some gaps created by the
influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ online buying behaviour which should be taken care
of by the authorities and different corporate sectors in order to make the online platform more safe
and user-friendly.

4.2. RECOMMENDATIONS/SUGGESTIONS:
Following are the recommendations to make the online platform more safe and user-friendly.
1. Make the online payment system less risky and secure the platform from online banking
frauds. Many consumers prefer traditional shopping over online shopping just due to the risk
of online frauds.
2. Decrease the time required for home deliveries. Longer time gap between ordering the
product online and receiving it through home delivery forces the consumers to buy the
product from offline stores.
3. Provide the same quality of product as shown in the samples. Differences in qualities between
the sample product and the product ordered creates negative impact on customers and thus
redirects them to offline shopping.
4. Improve the after sales service in case of online shopping especially reduce the time gap for
exchanging the product.
5. Reduce the price of electronic gadgets required for online shopping in order to enable the
consumers of low income group to buy products from online.

30
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29. Kundu, B (2020, April 27). Societal impact of novel corona virus (COVID ̶19 pandemic) in India,
by Kundu, Bhargabi; Bhowmik, Dipak. Retrieved from
https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/vm5rz.html
30. International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 22; December 2011 122: A Study
on Consumers’ Attitude towards Online Shopping in China by Guo Jun and Noor Ismawati
Jaafar

32
 ANNEXURES
SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE
INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CONSUMERS’ ONLINE
BUYING BEHAVIOUR
QUESTIONNAIRE

1. NAME

2. E-MAIL. ID

3. SEX
⃝ Male
⃝ Female
⃝ Other
Others

4. AGE GROUP
⃝ Below 20 years
⃝ 20 years – 40 years
⃝ 40 years – 60 years
⃝ 60 years – 80 years
⃝ Above 80 years

5. What was your buying behaviour i.e. how did you buy your day-to-
day requirements in the pre COVID-19 era?
⃝ Offline shopping
⃝ Online through different websites
⃝ Both Offline Shopping and Online through different websites

6. Did your buying behaviour change in the post COVID-19 era and
during the COVID-19 pandemic?
⃝ Yes
⃝ No

7. What is your present buying behaviour i.e. how would you like to
purchase your day-to-day requirements?
⃝ Offline shopping
⃝ Online through different websites

33
⃝ Both Offline Shopping and Online through different websites
8. What kind of product do you prefer to buy online?
⃝ Cooked food
⃝ Fruits and vegetables
⃝ Packed and dry food
⃝ Snacks’ items
⃝ Other food items and beverages
⃝ Baby food
⃝ Electrical appliances
⃝ Other Household items
⃝ Jewelleries and related items
⃝ Dresses
⃝ Medicines
⃝ All of the above
⃝ None of the above
⃝ Others
Others

9. Why do you prefer so?

10. What kind of product do you prefer to buy offline?

⃝ Cooked food
⃝ Fruits and vegetables
⃝ Packed and dry food
⃝ Snacks’ items
⃝ Other food items and beverages
⃝ Baby food
⃝ Electrical appliances
⃝ Other Household items
⃝ Jewelleries and related items
⃝ Dresses
⃝ Medicines
⃝ All of the above
⃝ None of the above
⃝ Others
Others

34
11. Why do you prefer so?

12. ANY SUGGESTIONS OR FEEDBACK ON THE CONSUMERS’ ONLINE

BUYING BEHAVIOUR?

35
 SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr/Mrs Syed Roshan Ali
a student of B.Com. Honours in Accounting and Finance of GOENKA COLLEGE OF
COMMERCE AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION under the University of Calcutta has
INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC
prepared a Project Report with the title
ON CONSUMERS’ ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR .

My contribution however, was mainly in the form of general guidance and discussion.

SIGNATURE:

NAME:

DESIGNATION:

NAME OF THE COLLEGE:

PLACE: DATE:

36
 STUDENT’S DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the Project Work with the title (in block letters)
INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CONSUMERS’
ONLINE BUYING BEHAVIOUR submitted by me for the partial
fulfilment of the degree of B.Com. Honours in Accounting and Finance under the University
of Calcutta is my original Work and has not been submitted earlier to any other
University/Institution for the fulfilment of the requirement for any course of study.

I also declare that no chapter of this manuscript in whole or in part has been incorporated
in this report from any earlier work done by others or by me. However, extracts of any
literature which has been used for this report has been duly acknowledged providing details
of such literature in the references.

SIGNATURE:

NAME: SYED ROSHAN ALI

ADDRESS: 16 BALLYGUNGE CIRCULAR ROAD KOLKATA 800019
C.U. REGISTRATION NO. 145-1121-0089-19
COLLEGE ROLL NO. 639
C.U. REGISTRATION NO. 191145-21-0219
NAME OF THE COLLEGE: GOENKA COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
PLACE: Kolkata DATE:

37