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Lessons from the COVID19 pandemic: The case of retail and consumer service firms

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  • Grimmer, Louise

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted business operations in every industry and sector around the world. Scholars, practitioners and policymakers continue to engage in understanding the effects of lockdowns, social distancing measures and other restrictions on trade; the impact of government stimulus and support measures, and how businesses have adapted their operations. The dynamic nature of the virus, and the changing socio-political and economic landscape, provide the opportunity for empirical scholarly research examining how retail and service firms have responded to the challenges and potential opportunities presented by the pandemic, and how owner/managers have pivoted in an (often) uncertain trading environment. This paper presents the findings of an applied study involving business owners (N = 268) of SME retail and service firms in the island state of Tasmania, in Australia, during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Findings show: (1) despite over 65 per cent of respondents reporting a downturn in revenue during 2020, almost 80 per cent indicated they had confidence in business survival heading into 2021; (2) whilst on average, businesses did not rate the level of environmental hostility as being particularly high, there was a significant correlation between perceived environmental hostility and assessment of business performance and with the level of confidence of business survival; (3) Australian federal government support and other stimulus measures were deemed crucial for business survival during 2020 with three quarters of businesses accessing the ‘JobKeeper’ scheme, and (4) businesses adapted their operations during the pandemic in terms of new products and services, increased marketing, pivoting their use of technology and promoting ‘localness’.

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  • Grimmer, Louise, 2022. "Lessons from the COVID19 pandemic: The case of retail and consumer service firms," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:68:y:2022:i:c:s0969698922001059
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103012
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    Cited by:

    1. Ngoh, Cheryl-lyn & Groening, Christopher, 2022. "The effect of COVID-19 on consumers’ channel shopping behaviors: A segmentation study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Aslam, Usman, 2023. "Understanding the usability of retail fashion brand chatbots: Evidence from customer expectations and experiences," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Chen, Di & Wang, Chunyan & Liu, Yi, 2023. "How household food shopping behaviors changed during COVID-19 lockdown period: Evidence from Beijing, China," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Jiang, Yi & Lai, Po-Lin & Yang, Ching-Chiao & Wang, Xinchen, 2023. "Exploring the factors that drive consumers to use contactless delivery services in the context of the continued COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Yasaman S. Lashgari & Sina Shahab, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Retail in City Centres," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-13, September.
    6. Gaan, Niharika & Shin, Yuhyung, 2023. "Supervisor incivility and frontline employees’ performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic: A multilevel moderated mediation analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    7. Li, Xinwei & Xu, Mao & Zeng, Wenjuan & Tse, Ying Kei & Chan, Hing Kai, 2023. "Exploring customer concerns on service quality under the COVID-19 crisis: A social media analytics study from the retail industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    8. Yusuf Adeneye & Fathyah Hashim & Yusuf Babatunde Rahman & Normaizatul Akma Saidi, 2023. "COVID-19 Dynamics and Financing of Cash Flow Shortages: Evidence from Firm-Level Survey," Capital Markets Review, Malaysian Finance Association, vol. 31(2), pages 23-53.
    9. Ashutosh Sarkar & Debadyuti Das & Arindam Debroy, 2024. "Panic Buying, Product Substitution and Channel-Shifting Behaviour During Pandemic," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 13(1), pages 25-43, January.

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