According to a recent report by Monash Business School’s Australian Consumer and Retail Studies (ACRS) unit on shopper behaviour during Covid-19, 15 per cent of Australian shoppers bought food and groceries online more between April and July.
Additionally, one in four Australians purchased more food and groceries than usual between April and July.
“According to our research, shopping trip visits were becoming shorter and shorter during Covid-19, as State and Federal Governments began issuing health advice (and in some cases, restrictions) on people’s movements and activities,” says Dr Eloise Zoppos, Australian Consumer Retail Studies (ACRS) unit, Monash Business School.
“These findings suggest that Victorians are well placed to adjust to the ‘new normal’, with many having already turned online for their shopping needs prior to the new restrictions.
“And with the likelihood that online shopping will continue to boom during this time, many retailers have been quick to adapt to the new restrictions.”
The research also shows that Australians made shorter visits to shopping centres across April to June, but returned to almost January levels by July. Young shoppers bought more non-food, non-grocery items than usual in July and also shopped online more for these items in July.
“While we can’t know exactly what the next few weeks will bring in Victoria, we do know that consumer and shopping behaviours were already changing, and we can only expect these changes to continue.”
