Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak on Grocery Stocking Behaviour in India: A Pattern Mining Approach

Abstract

The outbreak and worldwide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in recent human memory and has affected normal lifestyle of people worldwide. The lockdown restrictions imposed by countries across the globe created concerns about food availability and this affected grocery purchase and stocking behaviour of households. Researchers worldwide started analysing the nature and trend of changes in the behaviour and effect of socio-demographic factors on the change. However, limited studies have been undertaken in the Indian context. Also, how family structure influences panic buying behaviour has not been studied in detail so far. This work studies in detail whether the pandemic outbreak affected grocery purchase trends of Indian households in terms of the duration for which grocery purchase was being made, amount spent on grocery shopping per purchase and type of grocery items preferred using an online household survey of 506 families from all over India. Also, the influence of household income, family structure and grocery availability and delivery issues on grocery stocking behaviour has been studied in detail using Apriori algorithm. It was observed that panic buying is a reality, and quantity stocked and amount spent per purchase changed significantly after outbreak of the pandemic. Also, family income, size and presence of elderly and children in the household were found to affect buying patterns. Though it is difficult to predict long-term effect on behaviour change, with fear of prolonged pandemic situation and many countries resuming lockdown for a second time, this study is expected to be effective for design of supply policies of essentials in the new normal situation.

Corporate Social Responsibility Towards Purchase Intention Across Regional Identity: A Comparison Between South Asia and Southeast Asia During COVID-19

“…People began to experience problems with delivery reliability, high prices, a little selection due to a smaller product line and even a lack of accessibility to necessities. Since the emergence of the pandemic in various regions of the world, numerous academics have started recording the trends observed and conducting survey-based studies to investigate whether and how retail shopping and spending trends have changed (Bandyopadhyaya & Bandyopadhyaya, 2021). As Jribi et al (2020) highlighted, frequently retail consumers are decreasing substantially, with only 15% preferring daily shopping as against 34.5% earlier (before pandemic).…”

Transformation in culinary behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: In-depth interviews with food gatekeepers in urban India

“…The alarming rate of spread of the novel COVID-19 virus was cause for unprecedented changes in food availability and pandemic restrictions which resulted in an overall shift in food behaviors ( Snuggs & McGregor, 2021 ). This led to Indian families hoarding food by identifying stores and points of purchase to stock up on food supplies considered as staples and essentials ( Bandyopadhyaya & Bandyopadhyaya, 2021 ). Services of online food and grocery applications and local grocery stores were sought due to imposed social distancing norms and restrictions on physical movement ( Bandyopadhyaya & Bandyopadhyaya, 2021 ).…”

“…This led to Indian families hoarding food by identifying stores and points of purchase to stock up on food supplies considered as staples and essentials ( Bandyopadhyaya & Bandyopadhyaya, 2021 ). Services of online food and grocery applications and local grocery stores were sought due to imposed social distancing norms and restrictions on physical movement ( Bandyopadhyaya & Bandyopadhyaya, 2021 ).…”

Post-COVID-19 Consumers’ Cautious and Virtuous Mindsets: New Marketing Opportunities for Positive Social Change

“…Panic buying in the wake of COVID-19 has been investigated in a large number of studies in consumer behavior. Its occurrence has been verified in diverse countries, including Australia, China, India, North Korea, Singapore, USA, and UK, among others (e.g., Arafat et al 2020 ; Bandyopadhyaya and Bandyopadhyaya 2021 ). It has been explained by various theories such as PMT or protection motivation theory ( Kim et al 2022 ), health belief model ( Chua et al 2021 ), resource scarcity, contagion theory and crowd psychology ( Prentice, Quach and Thaichon 2022 ), among others.…”