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’ perso- nal 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 con- sumers 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.