Capitalism is a 'system of competition'

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, so is the mindset of consumers. Overall, “consumer spending has sharply declined since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with retail sales dropping an unprecedented 8.7% in March. Stay-at-home orders also have caused many people to change the way they shop for the things they do need.” ^[1]Many people have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, or have had their hours cut by the companies they work for due to the decrease in revenue. There has been “an immediate slump in consumer spending across all major economies which is certain to provoke the deepest recession in living memory: share prices have already collapsed and this, in turn, hurts middle-class families whose pension funds have to invest in shares. Meanwhile, the solvency of airlines, airports and hotel chains is in doubt.” ^[2]Many people are only purchasing essential products, such as toilet paper, face masks, groceries, and cleaning supplies because that’s all they can afford; and hardly anybody at all is purchasing plane tickets or staying in hotels. The travel industry is being hit hard, but so are small businesses that are being forgotten and overlooked during the era of e-commerce. People are now shopping online for many of their products, including groceries because they can’t go to stores in person. This is beneficial for large companies such as Amazon who own and manage their own warehouses and shipping agencies, but for smaller businesses with fewer resources and less of an online presence, it’s quite the opposite. In addition, consumers are discovering how convenient online shopping is and could potentially continue shopping online once the pandemic ends, meaning that small businesses will be forced to adapt in order to stay afloat. However, the cost of adapting could be high, and the lack of revenue these past several months could result in small businesses being forced to close their doors for good. If we look at other countries that are ahead of the United States, “in terms of progress along the contagion curve, that shopping habits before, during and after the COVID-19 peak indicate that spending in a number of categories remains low for months or possibly even longer. For example, consumption for apparel and in department stores has not yet picked up significantly in China and some other countries that reportedly consider themselves to be 'past peak.' This is in line with consumers' expectations that we may have to wait for several more months, if not longer before routines can go back to normal, and many households expect their income to be negatively impacted for a long time.” ^[1] This could be because it takes a long time for some consumers to feel comfortable leaving their homes and going out again, even when the stay at home orders have been lifted, or because consumers need time to recover from the financial hit they sustained when they lost their jobs or their hours or their primary or secondary source(s) of income. When businesses close and people begin to shop exclusively for the lowest priced products, rather than for what is more expensive and arguably higher quality, a key element of capitalism slowly erodes and there is no more competition.

[P1] People are earning less money during the pandemic so consumer trends have changed. People are now limiting themselves to only purchasing the essentials. [P2] Since stores are temporarily closed, people are turning to online shopping to fulfill their needs. However, this shift is harming small businesses who don't have an online presence and can't afford to begin shipping their products. [P3] Small businesses are going to close as consumers spend less money over an extended period of time. The only businesses that will survive and thrive are large companies such as Amazon, and this will result in far less competition as corporations dominate the market.