| Theme | Description |
| Panic-buying | Over demand for long-lasting food or perceived “survival products” such as toilet paper, canned food, pasta, rice and frozen products. Also cleaning and hygiene products. Especially in the very initial weeks. Pictures and views of empty shelfs led to questioning if supply will last, led possibly to even more panic-buying. |
| Changes in cooking behavior | School children at home and remote working led to unprecedented increase in home cooking and baking. Increased sales in total grocery sales and baking products (like yeast). The one-time purchase quantity increased as well. Consumers may rely on traditions in crises and thus some consumers seemed to rediscover old familiar tastes. |
| Increased sensitivity towards the shopping environment | The increased sensitivity towards the shopping environment led to new shopping procedures. Consumers increasingly took care of hand hygiene, keeping safety margins, conducting systematic and speedy shopping, visiting during less busy hours, visiting stores alone, or having someone else do the shopping for you and reducing shopping frequency. Special opening hours and new phone services with home delivery for elderly (70+) became popular. Also, the monetary value of a contactless payment increased. |
| Switch to online grocery shopping | Consumers created an enormous increase in online grocery shopping. Bigger one-time shopping quantities online compared to one-time purchases in brick and mortar stores. However, retailers struggled to keep up with the demand and optimizing logistics. Especially families with children but also risk groups and 50+ persons were more active online. |
| Interest for new service concepts | Initial demand moved from restaurants to supermarkets. However, creation of new service concepts by both retailers and restaurants, such as digital services combined with pick up or home delivery, showed that there was an undiscovered need among consumers or just niche for new services like different “food bag concepts”. The Covid-19 crisis seems to have revealed this need opportunity. Also, an increased need for bigger packages emerged some wholesalers opened up temporarely for consumers. |
| Careless in-store behavior | No or minor changes in consumers’ in-store behavior, despite instructions on safety procedures.Even perceived by retail employees as reckless consumer behavior. |