How the COVID Pandemic has Impacted Online Shopping - Coursework Example

Research Methodology.

3.1 Introduction.

Research methodology happens to be one of the most critical factors of any academic research. Research methodology determines the methods and the criteria that the researcher will use to come up with findings. While choosing the best method to be used to get data and facts, it is vital to understand the type of research that one is conducting. The dos and don’ts of the particular process need to be taken into consideration. Research involves the application of either primary or secondary resources. This research entails an analysis of the two online grocery stores in the United Kingdom and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the business operations. The pandemic has changed the trends in shopping patterns more so in the European countries, which have primarily been affected by the pandemic (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020). As citizens are afraid of their health, many of them have shifted to online shopping in a process popularly referred to as click and collect. The products that people collected in the market are now delivered directly to the doorstep. But what is the effect of online grocery shopping trends as far as the business logistics operations are concerned? To get this fact right, we need to analyze the available secondary data on the two companies used in this case study. Secondary data will show the trends in shopping, increase in profits, losses, and other important variables that characterize the effectiveness of any business.

On the other hand, primary data about the facts that govern the online shopping of groceries will be essential to complete this study. Therefore, we need to choose the best analytical techniques in place to get meaningful conclusions. This will help in advising the current and future market players on the state of the business environment and the changes that are likely to occur in the future.

3.2 Research Paradigms.

Research paradigms have been used in research to make sure the research and the findings of given research are in line with the existing beliefs and myths of a given discipline. In Business research, research paradigms are fundamental in analysis of the trends of any business as businesses exist in different environments, and the characteristics of those environments are different (Katsifaraki and Theodosiou, 2020). Hence, a business policy that may be applied in a given market may not be necessary for another business environment. Positivism is a paradigm that seeks to establish what will happen in a business based on the relationship and regularities that exist between the elements of the business (Welch et al., 2020). A positive researcher believes they can be objective enough and carry out investigations as an external party. Therefore, positive researchers can study the sub-elements of a business environment and come up with a consistent finding. That is, they look for close relationship patterns and regularities in ab bid to predict the phenomenon of the social world. The study of the online grocery shopping trends in the United Kingdom should be done under the positivism paradigm as the researcher seeks to make a finding out of a social environment.

On the other hand, interpretivism is a subjective type of judgment applied when analyzing research done in a distinct social environment. In this paradigm, a researcher is interested in facts and findings that define a given business environment (Ghauri et al., 2020). The facts and findings of this environment help in making a subjective conclusion. Therefore, researchers who exercise interpretivism always look for factual information that can make them make a judgment on a given topic of discussion. Our research involves a lot of financial and statistical data from the two companies' business operations under the case study. Hence, we need to approach this study with objectivity to enable us to analyze the figures and numbers that define the business's characteristics. The figures, graphs, and tables contain factual statistical data that will only be analyzed by an objective approach.

3.3 Research approach.

Research approaches that are commonly used are inductive and deductive. With inductive reasoning, a researcher moves from a specific kind of reasoning to a more generalized and open-minded approach (Stephen et al., 2020). On the other hand, the deductive approach considers accurate and factual reasoning to come up with a correct conclusion (Järvinen and Mik-Meyer, 2020). Our research is based on two companies that are known to exist for a very long time. Their trends in business operations have been well documented. Some statistics show how the current COVID-19 pandemic has affected business and logistic operations. In this regard, it is clear that the research is based on factual information, and there is a need to come up with a factual conclusion. A deductive approach is best for this research since we need to use the real facts to come up with a conclusion. We cannot be inductive in this research since the facts of the two companies and the current pandemic are real issues that have affected the global economy. Therefore, the research outcomes can be applied to make new policies and guidelines that seek to make businesses survive in the current pandemic. Besides, the deductive approach will help us utilize the extensive knowledge of various other disciplines of study. The skills of accounting, data analysis, data collection, and other statistical methods will be explored (Hancock and Algozzine, 2017). This will help us have research that has extensive coverage of academic knowledge hence coming up with a well-thought conclusion.

3.4 Research Strategy.

Regarding the main objectives of the study, we wish to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the online shopping of groceries using two companies in the United Kingdom. A research strategy is vital for us to come up with factual findings and applicable recommendations. We have to choose between a survey and a case study as a strategy to analyze. With a survey, we are looking at a possibility of interviews, administration of questionnaires, and other fist hand information-seeking methods (Tracey, 2019). These methods are time-consuming and require significant capital for the process to be effective. The current measures that have been put in place to curb the spread of the Corona Virus act as limitations for this type of research strategy. Public gatherings, movements, and interviews have been highly restricted, being the most common ways that this disease can spread.

For this reason, the best method we can resort to is the use of case studies. We already have two companies in place that have been chosen as representatives of the online grocery vendors and other online shoppers. The two grocery chains (TESKO and ASDA) have been in the grocery business for a long time. The businesses have experienced downtimes and uptimes in the past but have still managed to remain in the market. There are documented financial records on how the company has risen and how it has managed to make profits. From the company records, we can see the trends in employment, laying down of workers, high and low financial gains, and other critical factors in business. Hence by using the two case studies, we can establish how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their operations. The two companies existed way before when there was no technology for online sales and online banking. Hence we can get the difference in profit margin that online marketing and selling have brought to the company. Due to this pandemic, we can study how online shopping trends have changed and how offline shopping has been affected. Some graphs show the patterns that have been experienced in profits, sales, new customer subscription and online competition that has been experienced. The data that is already available in the companies achieves is enough for one to accurately carry out an analysis of the change in logistic management processes as a result of the Corona Virus pandemic.

3.5 Data Collection Method.

From the research strategy, our data collection strategy will be centered on the two companies involved in the case study and statistics from government agencies on how the pandemic has affected the operations of businesses. Before getting information about the grocery business trends in the UK, we need to talk to the management of the various companies, local authoritative body leaders, and the grocery business association leaders. To approach these individuals, we need to carry our various online interviews for us to get to understand the current state of the grocery business in the country. We can also agree on how to get other company information that could effectively facilitate the success of the study. Questionnaires are also an effective way of collecting data from the consumers and retailers (Akbar and James, 2014). The rise of the pandemic has made many people embrace the use of technology to fasten some of their days to day operations. The elderly have also trained themselves to order their meals, equipment, vegetables, and other essential products online. This means that an online questionnaire could be valid to determine the relationship that the grocery business has and the rise of COVID-19.

As people buy their groceries online, a survey may be incorporated to know the first-hand information on the ground. The sampling method would be an effective way of analyzing data from the general public about the changes in grocery vending businesses. The grocery stalls that are available in the UK have crazy numbers. To get a statistic about how Corona Virus has affected their logistics and operations, we will need to take a few samples of the groceries as a representation of the other stalls. Sampling methods will also be used in the collection of data online. For example, we can record purchasing data for consumers who purchase products from a given site after every one hour. While collecting the data from the consumers and the vendors, it is important to consider ethical issues. Some companies are private and would not want to disclose their returns and business trends.

On the other hand, public limited companies will always declare their profit margins and other vital company operations. So, when researching and getting facts about the companies, it is crucial to study their policies and ethical issues (Geuens and De Pelsmacker, 2017). For consumers, every individual has their preferences, and the questionnaire needs to have questions that do not affect the life of the respondent. It is also critical for the researcher to preserve private information as private and avoid sharing it with other third parties.

3.6 Strengths of the Methodology.

This research uses companies that have documented their profiles and some of the fundamental business characteristics and displayed them online. For this reason, getting first-hand information is secure. The modern-day internet communication technologies are a significant advantage to our study. For one, there are a lot of internet sources available online that relate to our study. Therefore, we will have enough academic resources that may be required for the process. Most companies have established friendly websites where they post company information. Therefore, we don't need to visit the company offices and instead, we only have to send a message about our inquiry and send us an email back with all the details that we require. The modern-day technology permits have to have an online survey through the application of sponsored ads and other digital marketing criteria. This is to our advantage since we can be able to conduct our interview through the secure website of the companies under study.

To our advantage are the government and the business community. The government and the business community are dependent on scholars and other researchers to guide them on the future of their businesses. The government is also concerned about the state of its people's welfare and will, therefore, endorse this survey. Hence, the study may attract donors and cooperation from both the private and the public sectors. Finally, most of the tools required to conduct this survey can be found in the comfort of our houses, hence making the facilitation of this research easy.

3.7 Weaknesses of the research methodology.

The research methodology contains two companies that will be used as case studies to achieve the set objectives. Unfortunately, one company (ASDA) does not publish its financial outcomes since it is a privately owned company. Our research solemnly depends on the companies' facts, and without some of the financial records, we might not be able to draw any meaningful conclusion. On the other hand, the company may not be ready to share some of its information if it is private. This can be a significant setback in our research since the two companies are the major topics of discussion for this research. COVID-19 pandemic happens to be the biggest challenge that will affect our study. The measures enacted by the World Health Organization requires people to limit their movement, practice social distancing, avoid gatherings, and any other activities that may facilitate the spread of the deadly virus. Hence we cannot gather some of the data that requires movements from one site to another. Hence this will result in an analysis that does not cover a greater extent and probably making the wrong conclusions.

3.8 Conclusion.

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 made many changes to the operations of every human activity on earth. One of the necessary freedom: freedom of movement was quickly taken away from us. This affected the daily lives of many people since businesses had to shut down as the profit margins decreased exponentially. The grocery business in the UK is one of the businesses that was ravaged by this pandemic. This is because the vending outlets are among the places where there are many interactions and need to be closed. The vendors resorted to online trading, which has registered a mixed reaction from different traders. To understand the relationship that now exists between the online grocery traders and the consumers, we must use a research methodology that gets the facts from the people. Subjective research would apply in this case, as we will be using facts to analyze a real situation. We also seek to use a method of research that will overcome the challenges that have been presented by the coronavirus pandemic. Lastly, we wish to use technology and the internet as the resources of the modern-day world to overcome the pandemic's challenges. With all these factors into consideration, the research will yield an outcome that will be used as a guide for online grocery vendors to survive in the current harsh economic times.

Reference.

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