Revisiting the effects of e-shopping on shopping trips : empirical evidence from Chengdu, China

Abstract:The rapid proliferation of e-commerce has profoundly changed the way people shop and travel. To date, numerous empirical studies have examined the impact of e-shopping on shopping trips. However, there is still no consensus on this topic, which is probably because the existing analytical methods cannot effectively measure the relationship. This study aims to revisit the travel effects of e-shopping using current shopping behavior as a reference point, ensuring the temporal precedence of causal inference. Utilizing data from 742 respondents in Chengdu, China, we found that 41.5 %-68.2 % of the respondents would be inclined to increase their frequencies of shopping travel for four categories of products (i.e., clothes, books, packaged foods, and daily necessities) if these goods were not available online, suggesting stronger substitution effects. Additionally, the substitution effect varies notably among product categories, with clothes showing a stronger substitution effect compared to others. In addition, regression outcomes suggest that longer smartphone use history, greater e-shopping enjoyment, and lower street density increase the likelihood of substituting shopping travel.

Publication year:2025

Keywords:business, economics, planning, General & traditional engineering

Accessibility:Closed