Purchasing behavior during COVID-19. Will it be a “new normal”?

At the beginning of the year, the world started facing a new disease called COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus. To control it's fast and uncontrolled spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this new illness as a global pandemic. Panic buying, empty supermarket shelves, and stockpiling were a usual picture all around the globe. The new reality caused a transformation in everyone's life by changing the way people work, learn, live, think, and buy. There is no doubt that also consumer behavior has changed during this time. The purpose of this research is to study consumer purchasing behavior during the pandemic, as well as to get an insight on whether a new shopping reality will be created after the end of the pandemic. The study is based on a survey research methodology conducted through an online questionnaire. A total of 56 responses were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to interpret the data. Based on the results, the purchasing behavior of the customers has changed during the pandemic and it seems that it will create a “new purchasing reality” after a pandemic is over