The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online grocery supply chain management: a case study in Istanbul

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has already crippled normal life all over the world. Its negative impact not only changed the human health system tragically but also disrupted the global economic system. One negative result was ended up in the global food supply chain. As the lockdown times have suspended the manufacturing and logistic activities, therefore, the customers have experienced unimaginable chaos in the shopping markets. Moreover, the purchasing habit of the consumers has remarkably changed compared to pre-pandemic. To meet this new demand pattern, many grocery retailers have tried to adapt to the new normal. While before COVID-19 offline grocery purchasing was popular, after the pandemic, online service got tremendous attention in market. In this study, online grocery supply chain management during the COVID-19 in Istanbul is considered. The aim is to find out how online grocery companies will serve more efficiently during the pandemics and which factors have more effect on the customer’s satisfaction. To do so, first, three popular grocery retailers in Istanbul were selected. Then, a related survey was designed to understand the consumer experience as doing online grocery shopping in COVID-19. Unsurprisingly, a result shows that 60% of the respondents did online shopping every 3-4 days in one week, and the delivery time is the most important factor for the customers. Then, the SWOT analyses were performed accordingly, and the related strategies were summarized. Finally, several managerial implications were given to may improve the company’s online services in COVID-19 and post COVID-19 in Turkey.