Why individuals prefer online shopping during the pandemic

By Kripa Mayurshewar and Riya Ravuri

Online grocery shopping generated about four billion dollars in March 2020 in the U.S. By June, that number shot up to 7.2 billion. With the growing number of COVID-19 cases throughout the country, many individuals made the switch to online shopping due to safety concerns regarding in-person contact.

Although grocery stores have implemented social distancing protocols due to the shelter-in-place order announced on March 16, social studies teacher Eric Otto believes that most shoppers don’t always follow the guidelines that are supposed to be enforced within the stores. Otto doesn’t want to risk entering a store with the possibility of interacting with shoppers who aren’t following proper social distancing procedures.

“[At the beginning of shelter-in-place], you'd be looking left or right when somebody coughed, wondering if they were wearing a mask or not,” Otto said. “People don't adhere too much to those separators on the floor, people [go] the wrong way in the aisles and sometimes you have way too many people in the aisle [in] very close quarters. That, to a certain degree, persuaded me to order online.”

Similarly, sophomore Kashish Naggar feels “uneasy” shopping in-store and prefers shopping online through Costco Wholesale. She believes it’s the best way for her family to access produce without worrying about their safety.

Junior Parmi Shah alternatively believes that facing the risk of contracting COVID-19 is worth the efficiency that physical grocery shopping provides — as long as she takes the necessary precautions to stay safe.

“When we want groceries, it seems way easier to just drive and get them from the store, than waiting a day or two to get the groceries [from Amazon Fresh],” Shah said. “When we usually go shopping, we want it right then and there, so [in-person shopping] is more time efficient. [Groceries ordered through Amazon Fresh] were taking a lot of time to come here because there was so much demand for everyone who was doing online shopping.”

Conversely, when Otto orders through Safeway, he believes that the groceries arrive much faster than they would have if he had gone to the grocery store. He states that if he had physically picked out all the groceries, the process may have taken him over an hour and a half.

“I’m becoming increasingly busy, having to adapt to teaching remotely and the amount of time that [it] takes, and it's still an ongoing process when it comes to the time investment,” Otto said. “It is really helpful for me to just spend 30 minutes online ordering and having it delivered to me.”

However, Otto admits that shopping within the actual grocery store provides a benefit that online shopping cannot — being able to specifically pick and choose the best items available, instead of relying on the “luck of the draw.” As a vegan, Shah notes that shopping in-person herself allows her to choose the items that best suit her diet because of the emphasis she places on eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

Another large contributing factor to Naggar's preference for in-person shopping is being able to visually see the items she's buying. By ordering online, she says that she’s uncertain of the items she’ll get and this can end up being bothersome.

“I don’t think we’ll continue with online groceries after the pandemic is over,” Naggar said. “I personally like in-person [shopping] better because I feel like there's more variety and options. It's easier [to buy items when I] see a visual of what I want.”

Despite their differing viewpoints, Otto, Shah and Naggar explain that they would ultimately prefer in-person shopping. Otto shares that he looks forward to physically shopping as soon as he feels comfortable, but the benefits of online shopping are not something he will forget.

“When the time comes and I feel safe, I'll probably venture out to the grocery store more often than ordering online,” Otto said. “But I don't think I'm going to abandon ordering online altogether, because there's times when I get really, really busy, [so] it's more convenient to select what [I] want and have it delivered — that way [I] can utilize [my] time and move on to other tasks.”

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