A SURVEY ON THE IMPACT OF LOCKDOWN ON RETAIL BUSINESS

The whole world is passing through an unprecedented situation since 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. Retail businesses in India were massively disrupted due to demand-supply shock and disruption of the supply chain. In the present study, an attempt was made to observe how the pandemic had affected the retail businesses, their turnover, their customers’ preferences, their discount policies, etc. through a representative survey conducted in and around Kolkata. For the purpose of the study two sets of cross-sectional data were collected with the help of questionnaire. It was observed from the study that most of the retail businesses, especially non-essential retail segments were adversely affected due to decline in monthly average turnover, less number of customers’ visit to retail stores and less amount of money spent on it. Demand of essential products like groceries, medicines, agricultural products, foods hygiene products etc. increased during the period of crisis. Consumers focused more on value based purchasing that they shifted their spending pattern from grooming products to personal care hygiene products.

自2020年新冠疫情（COVID pandemic）暴发以来，全球正经历前所未有的严峻局势。印度零售业因供需冲击与供应链中断遭受大规模重创。本研究通过在加尔各答及周边地区开展的代表性抽样调查，旨在探究疫情对零售业营收、顾客偏好、折扣策略等方面的影响。本次研究通过问卷调研收集了两组横截面数据（cross-sectional data）。研究结果显示，多数零售企业，尤其是非必需零售品类，受到显著负面影响，具体表现为月均营收下滑、到店顾客数量减少及单次消费金额降低。危机期间，杂货、药品、农产品、食品及卫生用品等必需商品的需求均有所上升。消费者更倾向于价值导向的采购行为，消费模式从仪容护理产品转向个人卫生护理用品。