Online shopping has already been booming for years and is growing continuously year after year. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a strong increase in the volume of online trade can be observed. The aim of this study is to answer the question of what significance online retailing has assumed in the course of the COVID 19 pandemic from the consumer's point of view. To this end, the following research question is posed: What relevance does online retailing gain as a result of the pandemic?