Visakhapatnam: Coronavirus hits shopping spree hard

Coronavirus in Visakhapatnam: The Covid-19 has certainly left an impact on our buying patterns. More so on clothes as even those with impulsive buying behaviour are refraining from indulging these days.

The reason for this is largely influenced by two factors. One, the rising work from home (WFH) culture as professionals continue to seek permission from their employers as a precautionary measure. Two, incomes either halved or a sizeable chunk of the salary being cut.

For many, the urge to overcome impulsive buying used to be irresistible then, but not any longer. Sliced incomes and restricted budgets have literally pushed the impulsive buyers to stay off from purchasing based on triggered emotions.

Be it stepping into a standalone outlet or a shopping mall, the joy of spending considerable time in the store and trying out a bunch of products selected has come to a halt in the recent past for apparent reasons. Except for special occasions, not many prefer to shell out their hard-earned income unnecessarily, particularly on clothes. "Unlike pre-Covid times, there is not enough disposable income now. In fact, at the end of the month, many of us are dependent on our friends to make up for the lost percentage of salary. In such a scenario, investing in clothes is accorded least priority," shares N Vinod Kumar, a software employee.

When it comes to online shopping, browsing through e-commerce sites and adding products to the cart has come down to a large extent. "Earlier, I had a tendency to look for discounts on e-commerce sites and place orders even if they were not required at that point of time. Thanks to the pandemic, now the survival itself has become pretty tough. Given the volatile situation in our organisation, it is always safe to keep cash on hand rather than splurging on the stuff we hardly require," suggests G Priya, who works in a private firm.

Though the retail outlets have kept the shutters open after 70 days of lockdown, following guidelines, they barely witness any walk-in. "The spending pattern of people has changed drastically. They are more conscious when it comes to investing in clothes. But situation is unlikely to improve unless the purchasing capacity increases among the customers," says Mavuri Venkata Ramana, managing director of CMR Group.

Sharing similar views, G Subramanya Swami of Lucky shopping mall says, "Unless the financial position gets better, it is tough to see any business in near future. With increasing maintenance cost and business volume not crossing even 15 per cent, it is still a long way to go for us."