A Study on Major Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behaviour in Madurai City Before and After Covid-19

Abstract

Purpose: This paper argues why online shopping during the pandemic is changing the shopping patterns of consumers in Madurai city and gives reasons about the key aspects affecting the shopping behavior of consumers. The study will look into the important motivators of behavioral transformation and determine the magnitude of the traditional to digital shopping modalities shift.
Methodology: This was done by a comparative cross-sectional research study that used a structured questionnaire given to 200 respondents out of stratified random sampling of various demographic groups within a Madurai city. The data were collected both in terms of the pre-COVID-19 (retrospective) and after the COVID-19. The statistical analysis process has used descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and the Structural equation model (SEM) to determine factors and causal relationships that are significant.
Results: The research indicates that the frequency of online shopping after COVID-19 has increased a lot, and the average scores increased by 2.7 to 4.1. It performed factor analysis and found three major constructs which describe 71 percent of the variance, namely Digital Convenience, Perceived Security and Shopping Motivation. The results of SEM analysis (CFI = 0 93, RMSEA = 0.04) revealed the significant effect of COVID-19 impact on online shopping behavior as mediated by the perception of risk. Convenience (b = 0.35, p<0.01) and security (b = 0.28, p<0.01) were the most consequential factors according to regression analysis and the model contributed to 62 percent of variance in post-COVID shopping routine.
Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic essentially altered the online shopping conduct in Madurai city, and the comfort and the sense of security became the prevailing motivators. The paper has empirically shown that the transformation of consumer behavior in the semi-urban Indian markets is high.
Future Research Directions: There must be longitudinal studies to determine the extent of the permanence of such behavioral shifts, although the studies of certain demographic differences and comparison among cities would elucidate more on the digital adoption patterns in the emerging markets.