The effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the perception of digitisation in the purchasing process: customers and retailers perspective

Abstract

Purpose The market for goods and services is a continually changing environment influenced by many internal and external factors. The majority of economies in the World were deeply hit by the coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) in the first half of 2020. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the role of a crisis, COVID-19 in this case, in moderating the market environment and its ability to accelerate or slow down ongoing processes. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was used to obtain the opinions of 100 customers and 100 local retailers on the digitisation of the shopping process in a medium-sized Czech town. After the first wave of crisis faded away, the respondents reflected on their opinions before, during and after the crisis. The data were processed using linear mixed models respecting repeated measures. Findings The crisis seems to have shifted the interest of both groups towards e-commerce but it did not change the disproportion in opinions between them. The interest of customers was significantly higher, even after the crisis. Research limitations/implications The credibility of the results is limited mainly by the one-time gathering of the data after the crisis. However, the results indicate a persistent challenge to which small retailers are exposed. Originality/value The originality of the results comes from the specific situation brought about by the COVID-19 crisis and the structure of respondents, enabling us to catch an immediate shift of opinions caused by the crisis and to compare the changes in both groups of respondents.

Analysis of Digital Customer Communities in terms of their interactions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Again, quality is not only expected but also required. These connections are ultimately pointed out by recently published studies by the author, who deal with the issue in a similar way (Dvorak, Komarkova, Stehlik, 2021;Islam, 2021).…”

Guest editorial

“…While, generally, pandemic increased usage of these instruments, the results indicated that they were still used more by the entrepreneurs with higher levels of education (Salam et al , 2021). Research by Dvorak et al (2021) also focussed on the retail market; however, it included besides retailers also the customers. One hundred Czech retailers and 100 customers expressed their opinions on the digitisation of the shopping process.…”

“…The researchers found that still, more customers are willing to transfer shopping processes online than the retailers; however, there are still significant proportions of individuals who prefer traditional shopping. Furthermore, investing resources into online merchandising might be costly and risky during a pandemic (Dvorak et al , 2021). The final contribution was written by Mishra (2021), who conducted a case study with an Indian social entrepreneur working to improve the menstrual health and hygiene of rural women.…”

How Retailers Support Consumers during the Pandemic: Kaufland Case Study

“…At this level, the attitude of both buyers and consumers is similar no matter the country they live in: "Visiting a store is generally one of the most common activities everyone in the world does." (Dvorak et al, 2021). During the pandemic, technology was not a choice anymore, but the only solution was to stay safe and keep an internal balance.…”