leading fashion retailers and ecommerce companies are going all out to keep their customers hooked on to their platformsonline retailers such as myntra and tjori have their consumer engagement teams working on to engage their customers till the time the lockdown eases others such as fashion brand anita dongre are brainstorming changes in consumer behaviour and how to keep them engaged online till the time stores become fully operationalshopaholics on their part are keeping their shopping carts ready for delivery once the lockdown eases psychologists term it as comfort buying under stress advt in the lockdown period panicstruck customers need comforting where our social media and customer support teams are working round the clock we are focusing on sales and other campaigns to distract some people from their stress tjori founder mansi gupta saidin the last few weeks the online retailer of ethnic fashion wear and accessories received a vast list of queries from customers on how they could still buy products gupta said so the company announced a steal sale with discounts up to 70 and the number of orders swelled over last week these nonessentials are being bought in advance the goods will be shipped once the lockdown is lifted she saidacquist marketing information solutions director ipsita guha who finds shopping to be a stressbuster said she would stick to online shopping for the next three months for her favourite brands like ritu kumar mango and zara i will not go to shopping outlets and malls immediately guha saidhowever it is not going to be easy for shopping platforms to engage consumers digitally and motivate them to spread word of mouth about the brand during the lockdown feel marketing experts like indian institute of managementbangalore professor s ramesh kumarduring these unprecedented times most people are likely to miss out on this ritual of shopping that provides recreation pleasure and selfgifting said kumar companies are likely to adopt consumer engagement activities through multisensory experiences advergaming online games with interactive ads contests or brandrelated episodes he said advt aman bhonsle a mental health professional at heart to heart counselling centre said shopaholism would increase as people would try and find an escape route from the gloomy narrative around for people who are shopaholics the release of dopaminelike chemical gives them a feeling of reward and emotional security bhonsle saidat myntra engaging customers since lockdown has been a collaborative effort with experts involved from multiple teams the problem we are constantly trying to solve is how to deliver useful content and create a positive impact on our customers during these times marketing head harish narayanan told etkavindra mishra the ceo of fashion and apparel brand anita dongre is spending his time brainstorming how will its stores enable secure garment trial for customers once the lockdown endsmishra said there would be a significant shift in consumer behaviour with online channels attracting more buyers not just for discount shopping but for fullpriced even highend merchandise people will be more confident about shopping