Challenges and Measures in Disruptive Times: Lessons Learned for Grocery Retail Operations from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused huge uncertainties in supply chains and put significant pressure on grocery retailers. Grocery retailers were faced with panic shopping and high demand for non-perishable groceries, especially in the initial phase of the pandemic. This paper addresses the impact and consequences of the pandemic on grocery retail logistics. The aim of our case study is to explore how grocery retailers could better deal with potential future disruptive times and how standard processes could be adapted to respond to the weaknesses of the supply chains identified. We applied an embedded multiple case study to analyze the impact and consequences of the pandemic on grocery retail logistics. We focus on the German market as the occurrence of infections and government strategies created country-specific conditions. Within each case, we focused on the following planning and execution areas: demand planning and order dispatching, store management, transport management, warehouse management and procurement. Our contribution highlights the challenges that grocery retailers faced in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures applied. Weaknesses in standard business operations revealed by the pandemic are identified. We build on these to derive development areas in which grocery retailers can enhance their supply chain in the future. Despite many publications, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on grocery retail operations has still not been analyzed. An analysis of the weaknesses of the standard business model revealed by the pandemic and its long-term effects has been lacking.