The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the retail sector and its adaptive consumer behavior has been strongly felt. Researchers worldwide have studied consumers' behavioral adaptation in phases of lockdown to understand patterns and identify trends that may continue in the post-pandemic world. In order to categorize research specific to buying behavior as a response to the pandemic, the present paper carries out a bibliometric analysis to identify research trends. Further, an empirical study among young Indian shoppers is carried out to identify the factors that affect their online and offline buying decisions. The present study used exploratory factor analysis to identify factors affecting online and offline buying at the pilot study stage. Researchers proposed the models and framed the hypothesis. Dataset using a structured questionnaire was tested using structural equation modeling and path analysis. The result indicated financial impact has no mediation effect on user experience. The partial mediation effect of delivery experience for online channel preference was established. For offline channel preference, discount and in-store deals have a full mediation effect on hedonic and user experience. Indian youth preferred the online channel for utilitarian products and repeat buying whereas offline was preferred for in-store discounts. The seismic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown situation has dramatically changed the retail sector and shopping habits. This unforeseen change led to faster adoption and growth in online shopping around the world, and India is no exception. 

Almost 6-7 months of compulsory lockdowns, confined to four walls, vaccination announcements in India and many of the developed countries, and lower mortality rates in the country had a very different impact on different people for the buying and consumption pattern. Few people were always on guard and restricted their online shopping, and only consumed utilitarian products and services, whereas others started to also switch to offline buying, especially in tier II and III cities. Through the phases of intermittent easing of lockdown restriction, consumers switching to offline shopping or hybrid alternatives were seen.

However, most of the customers returned to the offline mode or switched to the hybrid mode once the market opened. Mckinsey report (2020) stated that during peak lockdown, online shopping increased, yet transactions through the online channel (both delivery and in-store pickup) were less than 30% in any country. Few media reports claimed that the offline footfall continued to be lower even after partial or complete unlocking the market during the initial phases due to pandemic fear. Still, the conversion rate was approximately 90% which motivated us to study the change in channel preferences of buyers.