The Covid-19 crisis and its effects on in-store operations and marketing in grocery retailing

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most comprehensive and tragic public health crises of the past hundred years. Initially, China, especially the region around Wuhan, was the epicentre of the outbreak of the virus with reported cases in change or foreign travellers to China. The virus continues to spread across the world and almost all countries are infected by the virus, and the Austrian population got infected by the virus as well. In order to prevent the virus from spreading, the government had to implement security measures, which, among other things, resulted in changes in consumer behaviour. Grocery stores are facing major challenges based on the changes resulting from the crisis. The practice of social distancing as well as restrictions in everybodys daily life also affects consumer behaviour, especially their purchasing habits.
This master thesis shows the changes in consumer behaviour in grocery stores caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, the reasons for changes in behaviour are explained but also the dimensions of it were elaborated. Indeed, the thesis answers the questions about where, when, what and how the changes emerged. Therefore, store managers of an Austrian grocery chain were questioned about their experiences. The thesis focuses on the in-store operations in grocery chains, especially on the in-store logistics. The results of the interviews show a high potential of improvements regarding i.e., availability of goods and organization of personnel resources. Finally, a grocer retail in-store logistics model could be developed based on the findings.