ELECTRONIC COMMERCE DURING COVID-19: AN ANALYSIS OVER HOW ONLINE MEDIUM HELPS DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES IN A PANDEMIC CONTEXT
covid-19, e-commerce, consumer behaviour, impact on industry
On Wednesday, March 11 th , the whole world was put on hold when the World Health Organization officially announced the beginning of a new pandemic generated by the SARS-COV-2 Coronavirus. Even if rumors about a new coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China were spread starting with 12 th of December 2019, only on the last day of the year Chinese government officially reported the first cases. The outbreak came with severe consequences for society, people's health and for the global economy, leading to dramatic changes in consumer behaviour. At this point, it can be considered that studies over this topic are in the incipient stage, as we barely overcame the first wave. Analysts are saying that we are facing the beginning of the second wave, considered to be much stronger. Specific literature and analysis are time dependent, limited by the coronavirus actions and a final conclusion cannot be drawn yet. The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus on the economy, on people’s economic behaviour taking into consideration the limitations generated by the unknown factors as ongoing studies over symptoms, treatments, side effects. Another goal is to present a general view over the way in which different industries reacted to an unstable economic and social environment, focusing on Romania in a globalized context. Consumer behaviour is reviewed during the government-imposed lockdown going towards commerce and electronic commerce, showing that the consumer behaviour changed during the last months, moving towards online alternatives.
Business, Management. Industrial management