A Theoretical Study of E-Loyalty

Abstract

Indian consumers have predominantly been dependent on the small neighborhood store (the unorganized sector). Inspite of the development of the organized sector (the organized brick and mortar stores and e commerce websites), it constitutes only 10 percent of the complete retail market. The experience for most consumers during the initial phase of the pandemic was not very good with some essential good websites, when they tried to make purchases online (ERetail.com, Mar 25, 2020). Later there was a change and the websites were better equipped to handle the rush for online purchases. Post the Covid 19 Pandemic, there is a shift in the way consumers make their purchases. The E-Commerce market had a sudden shift - the change that would have happened in 3 to 5 years time in the future (as was predicted), but was being seen in a few months. In a global consumer survey, there is an increase in the proportion of online purchases (1 in 5 grocery online purchasers were first timers and 1 in 3 for people who were more than 56 years of age) (Accenture 2020). Considering the shift in consumer behaviour, e loyalty is an important aspect of study for the e retailer.