Shopping with(out) distancing: modelling the personal space to limit the spread of contagious disease among consumers in retail stores

This research aims at providing a new model of consumers’ personal space to limit the spread of contagious disease while shopping in person. To this end, it adopts an agents-based simulation approach to model consumers’ movements in the store during COVID-19 pandemic. Findings show the extent to which consumers’ contacts with others increase the risk of contagion, due to the occurrence of social gatherings in certain areas. Specifically, there is a linear correlation between the number of consumers in the store and the number of consumers susceptible to contract the disease. Thus, the personal space from a psychological perception becomes an individual and compulsory boundary to protect consumers from contagious disease. Finally, our results extend the concept of social distance and personal space while shopping, and support retailers to provide safer shopping experiences.