Crisis challenges for customers and retailers in Hungary

Abstract

Our paper gives an analytical evaluation of customer and retail responses to today’s market- and non-market-related challenges. In the first part of the study, we deal with the classification of crises and review the international literature on the relationship between crises and consumption. We then focus on analyzing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine on trade and consumption. In the third main part of the study, we review the effects of the already mentioned crises on domestic trade and shopping behaviors. Finally, we examine the effects and new challenges of today's crises on retail strategies and identify the main areas that, with proper management, can make commercial companies “crisis-resistant”. In the paper mixed methods (primary and secondary data collection and analyses) are used for reaching a best-possible insight into these fast-altering consumption and retail processes. Our novel findings can be categorized into consumption-related (demand-side) challenges and retailer-related (supply-side) responses. In our research on consumption the impact of fear from infection, price sensitivity, age and some other factors on shopping behavior are examined, along with shop- and delivery preferences based on online surveys conducted during the COVID-waves. In the supply-side analysis the possible retail measures and responses are summarized based on secondary data collection and analysis.