The Triple Blow Effect: Retailing in an Era of Disasters and Pandemics—The Case of Christchurch, New Zealand

David Dyason, Peter Fieger, Girish Prayag and C. Michael Hall
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David Dyason: Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand
Peter Fieger: School of Education, Federation University, Mount Helen, VIC 2351, Australia
Girish Prayag: Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, UC Business School, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
C. Michael Hall: Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, UC Business School, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: In the last two decades, the retail sector has experienced unprecedented upheaval, having severe implications for economic development and sustenance of traditional inner-city retail districts. In the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this effect has been exacerbated by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 which destroyed much of the traditional retail precinct of the city. After extensive rebuild activity of the city’s infrastructure, the momentum of retailers returning to the inner city was initially sluggish but eventually gathered speed supported by increased international visitation. In early 2020, the return to retail normality came to an abrupt halt after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses spending and transaction data to analyze the compounding impact of the earthquake’s aftermath, shift to online shopping, and the retail disruption in the Christchurch central retail precinct because of COVID-19. The findings illustrate how consumers through their spending respond to different types of external shocks, altering their consumption patterns and retail mode (offline and online) to cope with an ever-changing retail landscape. Each event triggers different spending patterns that have some similarities but also stark differences, having implications for a sustainable and resilient retail industry in Christchurch. Implications for urban retail precinct development are also discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; consumption displacement; retail; online shopping; economic development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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