Impact of coronavirus pandemic on changes in e-consumer behaviour: Empirical analysis of Slovak e-commerce market

Abstract

The issue of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy is highly topical at a time of gradual economic recovery. The study presents the results of more than a year and a half of empirical research on changes in consumer behaviour patterns of Slovaks obtained through an analysis of their online interactions with the five main representatives of the e-commerce industry. During both pandemic waves B2C and C2B interactions of a sample of more than half a million customers in the Facebook social network environment were systematically recorded. Subsequently, the data were compared with the reference period one year after the historically first lockdown. The results suggest that during the pandemic, customers switched into completely new patterns of consumer behaviour aimed at maximizing benefits. However, as the pandemic progressed, these patterns combined with the pre-pandemic standard behaviour and created a new, relatively stable evolving trend. This economically significant trend must be considered in business practice.