Author(s): Mrinalini Shah, Kadam and Rituparna Basu
The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the retail sector and its adaptive consumer behavior has been strongly felt. Researchers worldwide have studied consumers' behavioral adaptation in phases of lockdown to understand patterns and identify trends that may continue in the post-pandemic world. In order to categorize research specific to buying behavior as a response to the pandemic, the present paper carries out a bibliometric analysis to identify research trends. Further, an empirical study among young Indian shoppers is carried out to identify the factors that affect their online and offline buying decisions. The present study used exploratory factor analysis to identify factors affecting online and offline buying at the pilot study stage. Researchers proposed the models and framed the hypothesis. Dataset using a structured questionnaire was tested using structural equation modeling and path analysis. The result indicated financial impact has no mediation effect on user experience. The partial mediation effect of delivery experience for online channel preference was established. For offline channel preference, discount and in-store deals have a full mediation effect on hedonic and user experience. Indian youth preferred the online channel for utilitarian products and repeat buying whereas offline was preferred for in-store discounts.