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The increase in online shopping during COVID‐19: Who is responsible, will it last, and what does it mean for cities?

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  • Mischa Young
  • Jaime Soza‐Parra
  • Giovanni Circella

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures have led to an increase in e‐shopping. Using longitudinal data from before and during the pandemic, we find that the number of respondents in our study who shop online at least once per week increased nearly five‐fold between fall 2019 (11.6%) and spring 2020 (51.2%). We estimate a series of ordered logit models to establish who is responsible for this recent rise in e‐commerce, and to help assess whether it will be temporary or longer lasting. We then discuss the equity implications and urban and regional restructuring that this change in e‐shopping behavior may entail. La pandemia de COVID‐19 y las consiguientes medidas de confinamiento han llevado a un aumento de las compras electrónicas. Utilizando datos longitudinales de antes de la pandemia y durante ella, se encontró que el número de personas encuestadas en nuestro estudio que compran en línea al menos una vez por semana aumentó casi cinco veces entre el otoño de 2019 (11,6%) y la primavera de 2020 (51,2%). Se estimó una serie de modelos logit ordenados para establecer quién es el responsable de este aumento reciente del comercio electrónico, y para ayudar a evaluar si será temporal o más duradero. A continuación, se analizaron las implicaciones en materia de equidad y la reestructuración urbana y regional que puede suponer este cambio en el comportamiento sobre las compras electrónicas. 新型コロナウイルス感染症(COVID‐19)のパンデミックとそれよるロックダウン政策により、オンラインショッピングの利用が増加した。パンデミック前とパンデミック中の長期的なデータから、少なくとも週に一度はオンラインショッピングをすると回答した人の数は、2019年秋(11.6%)から2020年春(51.2%)までの間に、ほぼ5倍になったことがわかった。この最近のeコマースの台頭の原因を明らかにし、それが一時的なものか長期的なものかを評価するために、順序ロジットモデルを推定した。次に、このオンラインショッピングの行動の変化がもたらす可能性のある、公平性への影響と都市や地域の再構成を考察する。

Suggested Citation

  • Mischa Young & Jaime Soza‐Parra & Giovanni Circella, 2022. "The increase in online shopping during COVID‐19: Who is responsible, will it last, and what does it mean for cities?," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S1), pages 162-178, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rgscpp:v:14:y:2022:i:s1:p:162-178
    DOI: 10.1111/rsp3.12514
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Young, Mischa & Tanguay, Georges A. & Lachapelle, Ugo, 2016. "Transportation costs and urban sprawl in Canadian metropolitan areas," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 25-34.
    3. Brian D. Taylor & Kelcie Ralph & Michael Smart, 2015. "What Explains the Gender Gap in Schlepping? Testing Various Explanations for Gender Differences in Household-Serving Travel," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1493-1510, November.
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