Impact of COVID-19 on Online Food Channels and Consumer Behavior in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Following the rapid spread of coronavirus 'COVID-19' around the world and the imposed confinement measures by governments, the food retailing sector has experienced tremendous shifts in trends among consumers. Due to uncertainty of the future, the food sector faced an imbalance in supply demand, following the shift towards online grocery shopping to mitigate the risk of infection from supermarkets. Towards the end of the first lockdown restrictions imposed by the Saudi Arabian government, this research studies the impact of COVID-19, a disease created by corona virus, on the intention to continuously use online food channels post pandemic. In this research, we intend to evaluate the consumer factors that determine their intention to use online food channels even after the confinement measures. The study focuses on the interaction between the independent variables, customer satisfaction, social influence, trust and convenience and the dependent variable intention to use online food channels. The study was conducted on 528 Saudi citizens using a questionnaire distributed through social media. The questionnaire consisted of demographic information questions and questions related to each of the independent variables, which were analyzed using SPSS-22 software. The findings revealed that there is a significant association between the consumer factors and the intention to use online food channels post-pandemic. © 2022 Bharati Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.