How Online Shopping in COVID-19 Brought Joy in Confinement
The pandemic knocked on our doors like an uninvited guest resulting in various changes in our lifestyle. The only way to avoid the pandemic was to live in complete isolation. Which seems like an easy way but, in reality, it resulted in various physical and psychological changes. From the workplace turning into a work-from-home arrangement and shops shutting all around, we found yourself stuck at home for the next few months.
From planning trips post-quarantine to buying blue light glasses, our ultimate pleasure came from shopping. Essentially, the lockdown was strict and everything had come to a stop. But with time, people started to come in terms with reality and tried to keep one another protected. The economy was also suffering so gradually, everything started to come into existence, mostly online. The quarantine brought out our shopping behavior as a coping mechanism to the period of isolation and uncertainty. From people bulk-purchase to frequent online orders, we realised our angst and boredom through shopping.
The state of business is defying the norm by adapting and being flexible to meet the changing needs of people. In times, where every city was under lockdown, and people avoided public places and shops, the business who safely brought itself to the customer maintained its financial stability more than others.
Understanding Elevated Shopping Behavior
With the news of complete lockdown and shops shutting down, people responded by stocking up things as much as they could in such short notice. From medical supplies like hand sanitizer, masks and household essentials like bread and toilet paper along with eyewear needs like blue light blocking glasses. The fear of how long the lockdown would go on made us irrational hoard things we might need. With Netflix rising in the lockdown, blue light glasses from Specscart around March, Aprile and June were the most-sold eyewear of all time. So much so that online stores globally started to struggle to meet with demands, and products started going out of stock. Affordable items in the time of lockdown becoming expensive started being quite rampant.
We humans respond to crises in different ways. When we undergo any form of uncertainty or risky situation where we seem to have no control, we tend to control over things that we can. Controlling things in times of sheer panic and confusion helps us feel like we’ve still got things under our check. It’s about taking back control over things when you feel out of control.
According to Consumer psychologist Paul Marsden from the University of the Arts London, he blames the over-buying as a sign of panic where our brains push to shop for things. Often, known by the term “retail-therapy” where we buy a lot to compensate for our emotional state.
He also said that panic buying feeds into our three fundamental psychological needs. The needs are autonomy(have the authority or feel in control of your actions, relatedness (the need of doing something for others than just for yourself) and competence (a firm belief of being smart shoppers).
These physiological needs emerge in times of crisis which leads to responses like “retail therapy where we tackle emotional issues with shopping for things. In other words, its a form of self-care in times of personal crisis and
In such vulnerable times, shopping was the escape to be in touch with the outer world. Psychologically, our feel-good hormones, dopamine levels increase in our brain after buying things we want and also feels like we’ve accomplished something. Though retail therapy hardly qualifies as actual therapy, shopping for things you care about do make people feel better emotionally. It relieves stress, helps you check something off the list and feel like an accomplishment or just a chance for self-care.
If you also indulge in the shopping spree of “retail-therapy and feel guilty about it then don’t. It was a stressful time and you did your best to cope with it.
