Inquiry Based Learning: Changes in Buying Behavior of Customers during COVID-19

This report focuses on the changes in buying behavior of customers during COVID-19 and the challenges faced by Aldi in analyzing this behavior. It includes a literature review, methodology, and recommendations for primary data collection and quantitative methods. The report highlights the importance of effective analysis and the benefits of analyzing buying behavior. It also explores the impact of COVID-19 on the retail industry and the shift towards online shopping.

Inquiry Based learning

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Aldi is Germany’s leading grocery store chain and they are the top competition in the
Global food retail industry. The company is privately held by two brothers Theo and Karl
Albrecht. The company was founded in the year 1961 in Germany. The company’s main
principle is to provide products to customers at lowest rates and the company has over
2000 stores. The company is planning to open another 100 store by 2021 irrespective of
the effect of pandemic. The company has a goal to open another 500 stores in
Germany.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
Background of study.................................................................................................................5
Company overview...................................................................................................................5
Rationale of study.....................................................................................................................5
Research aims and objectives................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
Examine the ways in order to change the buying behaviour of customers towards the
offerings of Aldi in this pandemic............................................................................................7
Evaluate the challenges that are faced by the company in order to analyse the buying
behaviour of customers during pandemic.............................................................................7
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................8
Primary data...............................................................................................................................8
Secondary data.........................................................................................................................8
Quantitative method..................................................................................................................8
Qualitative method....................................................................................................................9
Recommendation..........................................................................................................................9
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................9
Frequency table.........................................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATIONS..............................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
Online............................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Background of study
Inquiry-based learning is a learning strategy that focuses the participation of the
learner in the learning process. Students are motivated to investigate the topic, ask
questions, and exchange ideas. Inquiry-based learning includes a variety of learning
strategies, such as small conversation and guided learning. Students learn through
doing rather than remembering information and content. This enables people to expand
their knowledge with discovery, experience, and conversation. In this report, it covers
literature review, methodology and recommendations regarding the changes in
consumers purchasing behaviour after COVID19.
Company overview
Founded by the Albrecht Family, the first store of Aldi was opened in 1961 in
Germany. The company is headquartered in Batavia, Illinois and has more than 25000
employees and over 2000 stores across 36 states. From over 40 years the company
has the principle that “great quality shouldn’t come at high prices rather should come
with everyday low prices”.
Rationale of study
The reason for this study was to analyse the changes in the buying behaviour of
the customer after Pandemic. It is important for all the companies to identify these
changes in behaviour so that they can strategies their policies according to that and
make sure that they are working in the right direction.
Research aims and objectives
Research aims
The aim of this research is “to determine the buying behaviour of customers
during the pandemic of COVID-19”. A study on Aldi.
Research objectives
 To determine the buying behaviour of customers towards Aldi after the
emergence of COVID-19.

 To examine the ways for changing the buying behaviour of customers within the
current pandemic towards the offerings of Aldi.
 To evaluate the challenges faced by Aldi at the time of analysing the buying
behaviour of customers during the pandemic.
Research questions
 Explain the behaviour of customers towards Aldi after the emergence of COVID-
19.
 What are the ways for changing the behaviour of customers within the current
pandemic towards the offerings of Aldi?
 What are the challenges faced by Aldi at the time of analyzing the buying
behaviour of customers during the pandemic?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Evaluate the buying behaviour of customers towards Aldi after the emergence of
COVID-19
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and public health response have had
significant economic consequences in the United Kingdom and throughout the world.
The retail business has been influenced by the implementation of lockdown regulations
and social distancing, which also have resulted in adjustments in the commodities
purchase and how consume them with certain segments of retail holding up poorly than
others. . According to Khaaliq, policy measures taken to limit the virus's spread, such as
public health prohibitions and compulsory social distance, had a significant influence on
the retail business. This included the closing of non-essential retail outlets on March 23,
2020, as part of the UK's first nationwide lockdown. This leads to customers shifted to
online sites and merchants have increased capacity to support internet shopping, click-
and-collect services and home deliveries. As pandemic comes to end, people will still be
worrying about going outside their houses. The organisations are currently taking all the
precautionary measures and also insist people to wear masks, use sanitizer and also
maintain social distancing. This pandemic situation has a huge effect on the buying
behaviour of the customers and instead they are able to purchase from online shopping

sites. This increases the sales in the pandemic slowly but gradually increases as people
are getting used to the online shopping.
Examine the ways in order to change the buying behaviour of customers towards the
offerings of Aldi in this pandemic.
According to Suzin Wold, after the pandemic of COVID 19 their is major change in
the retail space and it has completely evolved. The pandemic has forced many non
essential stores to close until further notice and those who are open and are of essential
products stores are suffering from low stocks, mismanagement of supply chain, social
distancing requirements, etc. Because of these problems and also the problem of the
pandemic their is a massive change in the behaviour of the shoppers and customers as
they are moved towards the online stores that are providing essential items to their
doorsteps. It is analysed that their is up to 21% increase in the online orders in March
2020 as compared to March 2019. In order to change the buying behaviour of the
customers towards the offerings the company must offer online services to its
customers. As the company is working towards the plan of opening 100 stores in UK till
2021 it can be risky for the company as they are not in online services yet. In April the
company started online selling services of parcel in order to help those who are in home
quarantine or self isolation. It can be a good step towards changing the buying
behaviour of customers.
Evaluate the challenges that are faced by the company in order to analyse the buying
behaviour of customers during pandemic.
According to Miss and Mr Mukharjee 2020, the challenges that are faced by Aldi in
order to analyse the changes in the buying behaviour of customers during pandemic
was firstly the customers were in a panic situation and large number of customers were
buying in panic so that was not helpful in analysing the buying behaviour. Secondly the
consumers were not really aware of the situation and were scared so they were only out
for essential services and not for shopping which makes it difficult for the company to
analyse. Thirdly the company was in the need of urgent supply but it was not working
according to the plan so they need to manage themselves. The biggest challenge in
front of the company was to provide essential needs product to the consumers so that
they can remain safe. In order to do so the company started the services of selling food

home delivery to those who are in needs and the company give these services in
partnership with Deliveroo which provided the delivery services. The buying behaviour
of customers has recorded a drastic change and it is important for company to cope up
wit these changes.
METHODOLOGY
Primary data
A primary research method is the one where the researcher is actively engaged in
the data gathering process. In other words, the researcher collects actual data sampling
directly rather than relying on previously collected data related to the research topic.
Primary research is basically targeted on acquiring context specific facts that may be
used to solve a precise situation Furthermore, it enables the researcher to collect
firsthand knowledge, which is more relevant and realistic in a study setting. Primary
research is also known as field work because it requires hands-on participation in the
data collection method (Faber and et. al., 2012).
Secondary data
It is a type of data which is readily available for researchers to use for their own
research. It is a data that is already been collected by primary sources and then they
are available to be used in secondary researches. Data that is used in secondary
research can also be used before by researchers for their primary research (Gupta,
D.K., 2007.). Sources of secondary data can be newspaper articles, books, websites,
government records, personal sources, etc. Collection of secondary data for research
takes a very little time and manpower as compared to the data that is needed to be
collected for primary research.
Quantitative method
This research measures behaviour, opinion, attitude and other variables in order to
reject or support a assumption. In order to identify statistical significance numerical data
is collected because these are easily quantifiable. This numerical data needs to be
collected through close ended questions such as multiple choice questions so that when
the survey is shared to targeted audience it can easily be filled by them and also the

result for each question can be easily quantified. Their are three types of quantitative
data namely descriptive data, relationship data, comparative data (Gupta, R., 2013.).
Some of the methods of collecting quantitative data are controlled observation,
experiment, surveys, telephonic interviews, face-to-face interviews.
Qualitative method
This approach includes collecting and analyzing data that is not in numerical form in
order to understand opinion, experiences and concepts. This method of research is
used in order to get in-depth details of a problem or in order to gather new ideas for
research. Qualitative research is generally used in the subjects such as sociology,
education, health sciences and history (Krasko, V., 2018.). Qualitative method of
research is being used in order to understand how people experience the world and in
order to do so they have mainly five type of approaches such as ethnography,
phenomenological research, action research, narrative research, grounded theory.
Recommendation
It is recommended to use primary data collection method and quantitative method
so that the company can determine the buying behaviour of the consumer after the
pandemic. Primary data will help the company to ensure that the data collected is
especially for them and quantitative data will help the company to make sure that
customers find the survey easy and not so time consuming and are likely to fill as they
are multiple choice questions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Frequency table
Q1. According to your viewpoint, how buying behaviour of
customers impacts the growth and performance of an
organisation during COVID-19?
Frequency
a) Positive impact 10
b) Negative impact 05
c) Neutral 05

Q2. What is the importance of effectively analysing the buying
behaviour of customers during COVID-19?
Frequency
a) Consumer differentiation 07
b) Retention of customers 06
c) Profitability and sales 07
Q3. According to you, what are the benefits of analysing the
buying behaviour of customers during COVID-19?
Frequency
a) Improvisation 11
b) Embracing digital technology 09
Theme 1: Impact of buying behaviour of customers
Q1. According to your viewpoint, how buying behaviour of
customers impacts the growth and performance of an
organisation during COVID-19?
Frequency
a) Positive impact 10
b) Negative impact 05
c) Neutral 05

10
5
5
Impact of buying behaviour of customers
a) Positive impact b) Negative impact c) Neutral
Interpretation:From the above detailed analysis of graph, it has been analyzed that by
considering the profitability factor it is clear that the team put major impact over to
development and performance of the company. From the above chart it is clear that 10
out of 20 respondents states that team working helps in the performance and growth of
the company and also put a positive impact on the workings of the company whereas 5
respondent states that it has neutral impact and remaining states negative impact.
Theme 2: Importance of analysing the buying behaviour of customers during
COVID-19
Q2. What is the importance of effectively analysing the buying
behaviour of customers during COVID-19?
Frequency
a) Consumer differentiation 07
b) Retention of customers 06
c) Profitability and sales 07

7
6
7
Importance of analysing the buying behaviour of
customers
a) Consumer differentiation b) Retention of customers c) Profitability and sales
Interpretation:It has been analyzed from the detailed analysis of the above graph that
effective analysis of buying behaviour of customers during COVID 19 is very important
and has effects on different factors. 7 out of 20 respondents states that effective
analysis will help the company in consumer differentiation whereas 6 respondents
states that it will help in retention of customers and 7 respondents states that it will have
an effect on profitability and sales of the company.
Theme 3: Suitable benefits of analysing the buying behaviour of customers
during COVID-19
Q3. According to you, what are the benefits of analysing the
buying behaviour of customers during COVID-19?
Frequency
a) Improvisation 11
b) Embracing digital technology 09

11
9
Suitable benefits of analysing the buying
behaviour of customers
a) Improvisation b) Embracing digital technology
Interpretation:From the above graph it is analyzed that what will be the benefits that
the company will have by analyzing buying behaviour of the customer during COVID 19.
11 out of 20 respondents believes that analyzing buying behaviour will help in
embracing digital technology whereas 9 out of 20 respondents states that it will help the
company in improvisation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to improve according to the buying behaviour of the customer after pandemic
the companies are in need to start their online services so that they can reach their
customers at their doorsteps and will be able to make sure that they are capturing the
online market. The company needs to make sure that they target online market and
able to attract potential customers for the better sales and profitability of the company. It
is important for the company to understand that their is a shift in the market and
customers are really looking for online platforms that can sell them essentials as they
are afraid of going to the physical market during the pandemic.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussions, it can be concluded that, the virus has affected
everyone in unique manner but the retail industry has been particularly severely struck.
Aside from the financial crisis, retailers have faced severe interruptions in their
operations, fulfilment, supply chains, and stock-outs. On the other hand, Internet sales

have increased more than before the virus. In this report, it includes the analysis of retail
organisation where it involves the reason of changing buying behaviour of the
consumers after the pandemic. It also includes the literature review, different
methodologies and recommendation for the organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Faber and et. al., 2012. Behavioural climate change mitigation options and their appropriate
inclusion in quantitative longer term policy scenarios.
Gupta, D.K., 2007. Impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying behaviour and brand
building. Available at SSRN 1203322.
Gupta, R., 2013. Study of consumer buying behaviour towards multibrand outlets vis the
specialty showrooms. Asian Journal of Research in Marketing, 2(5), pp.1-17.
Krasko, V., 2018. The Influence of Socio-Economic Factors on State and Dynamics of
Consumer Behaviour: Measuring and Evaluation. In Global Observations of the
Influence of Culture on Consumer Buying Behavior (pp. 294-318). IGI Global.
Online
Coronavirus impact: How consumer behaviour will change post-COVID-19 lockdown, 2020.
[online] Available through <https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/columns/coronavirus-
lockdown-impact-consumer-behaviour-post-covid-19-shopping-malls/story/406126.html>
How Covid-19 has changed shopper behaviour, 2020. [online] Available through
<https://www.marketingweek.com/how-covid-19-has-changed-shopper-behaviour/>
Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on retail sales in 2020, 2020 [Online]
Available through;
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/impactofthecoronaviruscovi
d19pandemiconretailsalesin2020/2021-01-28