TRR: Accessibility or Innovation? Store Shopping Trips versus Online Shopping

This 2018 study published in TRB's journal, Transportation Research Record, examined the increasing penetration of online shopping on physical stores. "Accessibility or Innovation? Store Shopping Trips versus Online Shopping," by Kees Maat and Rob Konings of Delft University of Technology. is one of the most read TRR articles of the past 6 months.

The study determined, as of 2017, that online shopping had grown dramatically over the past decade for almost all types of goods. At that time, the share of the population buying online was 83% in China, about 80% for countries in Western Europe, and 77% for the United States. E-shopping behavior remained primarily shaped by households who are open to new technologies, and to a limited extent by efficiency considerations.