Consumer Behavior and Coronavirus: How the Pandemic Transformed the American Shopper

This study examines the changes in consumer shopping behavior resulting from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States as well as the effects on in-store and e-commerce sales and market share within the CPG industry. Most Americans faced some level of disruption throughout developments in the coronavirus outbreak. The study of their ongoing behavior changes in shopping preferences and purchasing decisions is revealed through CPG sales and offers insight into how it has affected the industry long-term. This paper analyzes the consumer behavior shifts in chronological order as new developments in the pandemic affected shopping decisions from January 2020 to present day March 2021. The six behavior thresholds Americans underwent were proactive health-minded buying before the virus reached the U.S., reactive health management as the first American case was confirmed, pantry preparation and quarantined living preparation as consumers panic-purchased essentials, restricted living amid lockdown orders, and living a new normal with increased caution and social distancing. The pandemic exposed the effects supply chain disruptions had on retailers and CPG companies, and how they enabled smaller businesses to take shelf space during stockout periods. Severe stockouts at brick-and-mortar retailers drove record levels of consumers to utilize e-commerce platforms to purchase grocery essentials, which is a trend that has lasted well beyond the peak of the pandemic. This study dives into a further understanding of consumer behavior changes and how they affected retailers and CPG companies as the coronavirus outbreak evolved. The ongoing transformation of the American shopper in 2020 has led to permanent changes in the e-commerce landscape and continues to develop as the U.S. reaches a new ending phase with vaccine distribution