A STUDY ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE TOWARDS DIGITAL WALLETS DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The ongoing spread of COVID-19 has become one of the biggest threats to the global economy and financial markets. To contain the impact of coronavirus outbreak, India, just like many countries across the globe, is taking several measures; including a nationwide lockdown, limiting movement of the entire population, shutting down public places and transports, urging the public to stay indoors, maintaining social distancing and developing work from home culture. During the period of lockdown, usage of digital wallets has increased. The digital wallet is a leading concept in India that has been beating credit card handling and is gradually beginning to swap the old traditional payment methods. The Digital wallets are virtual wallets; where one can easily store cash for making offline and online payments. Digital wallet app growth point outs the increasing need for efficient payment methods. These offer a much more secure and faster way for engaging transactions. The start- ups and large corporate businesses are also continuously on the lookout for customer-friendly technologies, thereby giving more value and convenience to the customers; especially during COVID-19 era, to retain old and attract new customers. This study was carried out to find out the factors, which affect consumer preference and frequency of usage towards digital wallets. Using a structured questionnaire with the help of ‘Google form’, the primary data was collected from a sample of 115 respondents. ANOVA and frequency analysis were used to find out the factors that affect the consumer preference and impact of various factors on consumer preference towards digital wallets were also analyzed.