Effect of digitalization of retail (products and services) on consumer behavior

Abstract

In recent time, digitalization has changed the way people live and behave. It has affected every sphere of society, business and life. On one side, where the growth of technology and digitalization has transformed the way products and services are being produced, it has not left behind the consumer on the other side. This project has been carried out to understand the effects of digitalization of retail on consumer behavior. With COVID-19, this digitalization has achieved far more penetration than that it would have achieved without COVID-19. In the study, the methodology involves bifurcation of consumer purchase journey into four stages. Consumers are now gaining awareness of different products and services through online mode as compared to traditional brick-and-mortar stores in past. Payments that were mostly in Cash/Card are now transformed to touchless payments through payment apps. Because of this change, people have ceased to keep cash in their wallets and most of the time they are reluctant to pay through Cash. In this report, two types of methods have been adopted- Primary Research and Secondary Research. In the primary research, a survey has been performed that shows the inclination of consumers towards digital medium as preferred shopping medium. Basis the insights from primary research, secondary research was made, wherein the effects of digitalization has been studied for all four phases. Each phase of consumer purchase journey has certain nuances that directly affect the companies and their top line. Hence, effect of digitalization has been studied for all phases separately. Finally, the report also highlights the challenges that the companies might face while incorporating digitalization in their retail business.