The Growth in Online Shopping Frequency During COVID-19: Who is Responsible and is this Increase Temporary or Long-lasting?

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing stay-at-home orders, lockdown measures, and general reluctance to shop in person have led to an increase in online shopping. Yet, despite the recent growth of this sector, very little is known about who exactly is responsible for this increase and whether it will be temporary or long-lasting. Using longitudinal data from before (Fall 2019) and during (Spring 2020 and Fall 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors show that the frequency of respondents who shop online at least once per week increased nearly five-fold between the Fall 2019 (11.6%) and Spring 2020 (51.2%) periods. Benefiting from responses over a longer period of time, the authors further find this proportion to have since diminished to 25.1% in the Fall 2020 period, which remains sizably more than in Fall 2019, but implies that the large initial rise in eshopping observed in the early months of the pandemic may have been short-lived and that the longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on the frequency of e-shopping may have been more modest. Findings from this study will prove valuable to transportation planners, as the transition towards e-shopping is poised to lead to a sizable reduction in the frequency of shopping-related trips, and understanding whether these changes are temporary or long-lasting is of paramount importance.

• Record URL:
  https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/OnlineProgram/Details/17401
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AEP35 Standing Committee on Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Travel Choices.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Young, Mischa
  • 0000-0001-7001-1408
  • Soza-Parra, Jaime
  • Circella, Giovanni
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 101st Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2022-1-9 to 2022-1-13
• Date: 2022

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 20p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: COVID-19; Electronic commerce; Impacts; Longitudinal studies; Travel restrictions
• Subject Areas: Economics; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01832366
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRBAM-22-02061
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 11 2022 1:37PM