Internet shopping for Everyday Consumer Goods: An examination of the purchasing and travel practices of click and pickup outlet customers

Abstract

The rapid spread of click and pickup outlets in France raises questions about the implications on shopping travel behaviours. The article seeks to measure the importance of online shopping for everyday consumer goods (ECG), and to understand offline purchases and travel behaviour of click and pickup customers. The research is based on a survey conducted in 2016 among approximately 600 French households. The profile of click and pickup customers is revealed by a logistic regression. Purchasing practices and the timing of shopping activities are comprehended from cross tabulation and chi-square tests. The results show that despite the widespread use of e-commerce, shopping ECG online remains a minority practice. Using click and pickup outlets allows customers to fine-tune their purchasing, both in terms of organising their time and the retail formats they use. It enables them to adopt diversified purchasing practices that are more in line with the households' schedules and consumption requirements. Our results show that households are still committed to traditional forms of retail, for which travel remains necessary. The implications of online shopping regarding the number of trips must therefore be seen in perspective, even if our findings reveal a reorganisation of shopping, particularly concerning time.