COVID-19 impact and Internet-powered shopping experience mowing down small shopkeepers

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I visited a local market at Greater Noida Extension last week around 7 in the evening. It was fully illuminated with bulbs and fancy lights. The food stalls were ready to welcome customers with their varied offerings.

Toy shops, balloon sellers and other shopkeepers were ready with their colourful options ahead of Holi. However, a shop which was inaugurated just two months back, was closed.

I moved ahead and noticed that a general store, which kicked off in January this year, now has a different owner and name on the board. However, other things remained the same in the store. I noticed the same trend at a few other shops too.

I decided to meet a shopkeeper, who is also a friend, to understand the mystery behind the colourful street. He told me that customers are still not coming in full numbers. As a result, shopkeepers are not able to pay rent. This has forced many shopkeepers to down shutters within a few months. He further added that one shop selling pan closed his shop in a few days as he was earning a meagre Rs 30-50 a day.

I then spoke to another retailer. He explained that it seems that buying pattern of customers has also changed due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, most of the consumers prefer to buy online as some of the big e-commerce firms are now delivering products as low as Rs 5.

He further added that only some big shops have have managed to stay afloat at the cost of profits while most of the small shopkeepers have been forced to close down.

Thereafter, I picked my items from the market and realised that the path to recovery is strewn with more unkind disruptions and Internet-powered shopping experience is giving tough competition to small entrepreneurs.