IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v87y2021ics0739885920300627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

E-shopping changes and the state of E-grocery shopping in the US - Evidence from national travel and time use surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Saphores, Jean-Daniel
  • Xu, Lu

Abstract

In spite of the popularity of e-shopping, only 16% of US adults have ordered groceries online, and 7 out of 10 of those who currently buy groceries online do so at most twice a month. Understanding the determinants of e-grocery shopping is important for grocers, supply chain managers, and urban planners. In this context, we first explore how deliveries from online shopping have been changing over time. From our analysis of the 2009 and 2017 National Household Travel Surveys, we found that online shopping has been embraced by increasingly diverse households, although income, education, and some racial/ethnic differences persist. Our analysis of the 2017 American Time Use Survey shows that Americans are 24 times more likely to shop for groceries in stores than online. Moreover, in-store grocery shoppers are more likely to be female and unemployed, but less likely to belong to younger generations, to have less than a college degree, or to be African American. The gender imbalance in grocery shopping is larger online than in stores, but e-grocery shoppers do not otherwise differ from the general population. Future travel and e-shopping surveys (especially for e-grocery) should combine time use and travel questions with retrospective questions about online purchases.

Suggested Citation

  • Saphores, Jean-Daniel & Xu, Lu, 2021. "E-shopping changes and the state of E-grocery shopping in the US - Evidence from national travel and time use surveys," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:87:y:2021:i:c:s0739885920300627
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885920300627
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100864?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parment, Anders, 2013. "Generation Y vs. Baby Boomers: Shopping behavior, buyer involvement and implications for retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 189-199.
    2. Yannis M. Ioannides & Henry G. Overman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Kurt Schmidheiny, 2008. "The effect of information and communication technologies on urban structure [‘Trade and circuses: Explaining urban giants’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(54), pages 202-242.
    3. Lee, Richard J. & Sener, Ipek N. & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L., 2017. "Relationships between the online and in-store shopping frequency of Davis, California residents," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 40-52.
    4. Robert Klein & Michael Neugebauer & Dimitri Ratkovitch & Claudius Steinhardt, 2019. "Differentiated Time Slot Pricing Under Routing Considerations in Attended Home Delivery," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(1), pages 236-255, February.
    5. Wang, Rebecca Jen-Hui & Malthouse, Edward C. & Krishnamurthi, Lakshman, 2015. "On the Go: How Mobile Shopping Affects Customer Purchase Behavior," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 217-234.
    6. Esra Suel & John W. Polak, 2018. "Incorporating online shopping into travel demand modelling: challenges, progress, and opportunities," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 576-601, September.
    7. Farag, Sendy & Schwanen, Tim & Dijst, Martin & Faber, Jan, 2007. "Shopping online and/or in-store? A structural equation model of the relationships between e-shopping and in-store shopping," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 125-141, February.
    8. Calderwood, Eric & Freathy, Paul, 2014. "Consumer mobility in the Scottish isles: The impact of internet adoption upon retail travel patterns," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 192-203.
    9. Melis, Kristina & Campo, Katia & Breugelmans, Els & Lamey, Lien, 2015. "The Impact of the Multi-channel Retail Mix on Online Store Choice: Does Online Experience Matter?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 272-288.
    10. White, Gregory K., 1997. "Using The Www For Retail Food Sales: Discussion And Demonstration," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 28(1), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Nelson, Phillip, 1970. "Information and Consumer Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(2), pages 311-329, March-Apr.
    12. Zhou, Yiwei & Wang, Xiaokun (Cara), 2014. "Explore the relationship between online shopping and shopping trips: An analysis with the 2009 NHTS data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-9.
    13. Wadud, Zia, 2017. "Fully automated vehicles: A cost of ownership analysis to inform early adoption," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 163-176.
    14. Bressolles, Grégory & Durrieu, François & Senecal, Sylvain, 2014. "A consumer typology based on e-service quality and e-satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 889-896.
    15. Ganesh, Jaishankar & Reynolds, Kristy E. & Luckett, Michael & Pomirleanu, Nadia, 2010. "Online Shopper Motivations, and e-Store Attributes: An Examination of Online Patronage Behavior and Shopper Typologies," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 106-115.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Lu & Saphores, Jean-Daniel, 2024. "Does e-shopping impact household travel? Evidence from the 2017 U.S. NHTS," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Marcucci, Edoardo & Gatta, Valerio & de Oliveira Leite Nascimento, Carla & Aziz, Soukaina & Ayagah, Prince & Montero, Tania, 2024. "The environmental impact of buying groceries online/offline pre and during COVID-19. Any changes?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 222-233.
    3. Cho, WooKeol & Chung, Jin-Hyuk & Kim, Jinhee, 2023. "Need-based approach for modeling multiday activity participation patterns and identifying the impact of activity/travel conditions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    4. Shah, Harsh & Carrel, Andre L. & Le, Huyen T.K., 2021. "What is your shopping travel style? Heterogeneity in US households’ online shopping and travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 83-98.
    5. Cynthia Castro & Ekaterina Chitikova & Giulia Magnani & Julian Merkle & Maxi Heitmayer, 2023. "Less Is More: Preventing Household Food Waste through an Integrated Mobile Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, July.
    6. Leo Van Hove, 2022. "Consumer characteristics and e-grocery services: the primacy of the primary shopper," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 241-266, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mateos-Mínguez, Paloma & Arranz-López, Aldo & Soria-Lara, Julio A. & Lanzendorf, Martin, 2021. "E-shoppers and multimodal accessibility to in-store retail: An analysis of spatial and social effects," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Li, Shengxiao (Alex), 2023. "Revisiting the relationship between information and communication technologies and travel behavior: An investigation of older Americans," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    3. Arranz-López, Aldo & Blitz, Andreas & Elizondo-Candanedo, Raúl F. & Lanzendorf, Martin, 2024. "The connections between e-shopping and sustainable transport choices – Comparing urban and rural environments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Shi, Kunbo & De Vos, Jonas & Yang, Yongchun & Witlox, Frank, 2019. "Does e-shopping replace shopping trips? Empirical evidence from Chengdu, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 21-33.
    5. Xu, Lu & Saphores, Jean-Daniel, 2024. "Does e-shopping impact household travel? Evidence from the 2017 U.S. NHTS," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    6. Minh Hieu Nguyen & Jimmy Armoogum & Binh Nguyen Thi, 2021. "Factors Affecting the Growth of E-Shopping over the COVID-19 Era in Hanoi, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    7. Shah, Harsh & Carrel, Andre L. & Le, Huyen T.K., 2021. "What is your shopping travel style? Heterogeneity in US households’ online shopping and travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 83-98.
    8. Colaço, Rui & de Abreu e Silva, João, 2022. "Exploring the e-shopping geography of Lisbon: Assessing online shopping adoption for retail purchases and food deliveries using a 7-day shopping survey," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Harsh Shah & Andre L. Carrel & Huyen T. K. Le, 2024. "Impacts of teleworking and online shopping on travel: a tour-based analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 99-127, February.
    10. Limon Barua & Bo Zou & Yan Zhou & Yulin Liu, 2023. "Modeling household online shopping demand in the U.S.: a machine learning approach and comparative investigation between 2009 and 2017," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 437-476, April.
    11. Brand, Christian & Schwanen, Tim & Anable, Jillian, 2020. "‘Online Omnivores’ or ‘Willing but struggling’? Identifying online grocery shopping behavior segments using attitude theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    12. Qing Zhai & Xinyu Cao & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Feng Zhen, 2017. "The interactions between e-shopping and store shopping in the shopping process for search goods and experience goods," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 885-904, September.
    13. Xi, Guangliang & Cao, Xinyu & Zhen, Feng, 2020. "The impacts of same day delivery online shopping on local store shopping in Nanjing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 35-47.
    14. Alexander Rossolov & Halyna Rossolova & José Holguín-Veras, 2021. "Online and in-store purchase behavior: shopping channel choice in a developing economy," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 3143-3179, December.
    15. Reiffer, Anna S. & Kübler, Jelle & Kagerbauer, Martin & Vortisch, Peter, 2023. "Agent-based model of last-mile parcel deliveries and travel demand incorporating online shopping behavior," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    16. Bridgelall, Raj & Stubbing, Edward, 2021. "Forecasting the effects of autonomous vehicles on land use," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    17. Calderwood, Eric & Freathy, Paul, 2014. "Consumer mobility in the Scottish isles: The impact of internet adoption upon retail travel patterns," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 192-203.
    18. Kalayci, Eda & Becker, Jan U. & Barrot, Christian, 2024. "Understanding customers’ choice for digital D2C versus multi-brand operations," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 256-273.
    19. Lee, Richard J. & Sener, Ipek N. & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L., 2017. "Relationships between the online and in-store shopping frequency of Davis, California residents," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 40-52.
    20. Ozbilen, Basar & Wang, Kailai & Akar, Gulsah, 2021. "Revisiting the impacts of virtual mobility on travel behavior: An exploration of daily travel time expenditures," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 49-62.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    e-grocery; Online shopping; National household travel survey; American Time use survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:87:y:2021:i:c:s0739885920300627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.