Online Grocery Shopping in Germany: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19

Abstract

Online grocery shopping in Germany has shown a strong growth in the past years and is expected to further develop in the future, especially through the influence of COVID-19. The main purpose of this study was to examine six theoretical customer-oriented factors and their influence on consumer online grocery purchase intentions. Additionally, this study compares consumer perceptions before and since the COVID-19 outbreak. Since the health crisis is very recent, the research on its impact on online grocery purchasing behavior is limited. A total of 402 valid questionnaires were collected in Germany. The data were analyzed using the software SPSS IBM 28. The results indicate that perceived risk still has a negative influence on purchase intentions, thus remaining relevant in online grocery shopping. However, the consumers’ perceived risk is considered lower compared to the pre-COVID-19 scenario. Moreover, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, convenience, as well as situational factors were found to have a positive relationship with purchase intention, both before the COVID-19 crisis and since then. The COVID-19 pandemic shows a strong reduction in perceived risk, while the remaining characteristics increase at moderate levels. Online grocery businesses could use the insights of this study to reduce perceived risks as well as successfully communicate the benefits of online shopping to consumers.