The impacts of Covid-19 on the supermarket sector in Brasilia

Abstract

This article aims to understand how supermarket chains in Brasília (DF) faced the covid-19 pandemic and which strategies were used to adapt to changes in trade and consumption. The methodology of the study consisted in a selection of the ten largest supermarket chains in number of stores of the Supermarket Association of Brasília (ABRAS). At the beginning of the pandemic with the closing of free fairs and public markets, the population was compelled to consume in supermarkets. In response, retail chains have invested massively in increasing e-commerce and ominicality. It was verified in Brasilia the incentive to purchase on the websites and in own applications concomitantly with the inauguration of physical stores. Another measure was the renovation and modernization of stores with the provision of service and delivery services. The research concludes that the hybrid character of the physical and the digital demonstrates the centrality of the spatialities of consumption complexified with the advent of the pandemic opening the possibility of new research agendas whose participation in geography becomes fundamental.

Keywords: Food supply. Urban space. Food retail. Pandemic.