Regional impact during covid times on e-grocery industry. Investigation of results Miskolc and Zalaegerszeg and their agglomeration

Abstract

The preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19 have greatly reshaped the trends in retail and the related consumer behavior. The continuously growing e-commerce has developed further and thus changed customer habits as well. The restrictions caused by the pandemic shifted many customers towards the digital way of shopping. After the panic purchases, consumers' expectations started to increase continuously due to the influence of actors who switched to this initial sales channel and confirmed their presence. This means that the competition is very strong. The initial rapid growth now has somewhat levelled off, but a slight increase in traffic and transactions is still visible. However, there is no significant difference in the number of e-consumers with regard to the annual data, which means that the increase in traffic can be explained by the higher quality of purchases of the same consumers. As more and more merchants enter the online trade market, competition is constantly intensifying. The e-commerce market is concentrated around the capital city and its agglomerations, so retailers that provide service in the periphery or semi-periphery are able to reach new customers. The investigation covers two counties: Zala County and Borsod-Abaúj Zemplén County. The research was aimed at determining how income conditions affect the online concept of the particular retailer. This is the reason why I observed the relevant demographic statistics of the two regions. The research points to the conclusion that it is primarily the number of available households that can affect the turnover results.