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Spatial impacts of online retailing - Store choice in the multi-channel context with regard to shopping transaction costs, effects of the spatial retail store configuration and shopping attitudes

Applicant Dr. Thomas Wieland
Subject Area Human Geography
Accounting and Finance
Term from 2018 to 2022
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 402130768
 
Final Report Year 2022

Final Report Abstract

The increasing relevance of online retailing represents a competitive driver for the established retail locations (i.e., city centers). The competitive situation is made even more complex by the fact that more and more retail companies are multi- or cross-channel retailers. Added to this are the effects of the Corona pandemic and several lockdowns since 2020. Shopping behavior - more precisely: channel and store choice - is therefore of great scientific interest, but also plays a decisive role in the practical context (expansion of retail companies, urban planning, traffic). Previous studies usually only referred to single explanations of purchasing behavior and were severely limited in terms of their representativeness or generalizability. In addition, previous studies “only” focused on channel choice, not store choice; the integration of online shopping into a store choice model has been neglected so far. The research project, which began in 2018, addresses these research gaps. Among other things, it was examined how the assortment, the accessibility of shops, the delivery policy of online shops, but also consumer attitudes and their socio-demographic characteristics affect shopping behavior. In the second project phase, the effects of the Corona pandemic were also regarded; it was examined how fear of infection and face mask aversion affect shopping behavior. Representative consumer surveys and collections of retail store data were carried out. In the first phase (2019), around 1,400 people were surveyed in two study areas (Middle Upper Rhine region, South Lower Saxony); in the second phase (2021) a third survey area was added (Regional planning association Halle), whereby a total of around 2,500 people were interviewed. The data analysis was carried out using an econometric model at the individual level, i.e., individual consumers and individual retail stores. The results show that channel choice primarily depends on the age of the consumers and their attitude towards online retailing. Store choice depends primarily on the transaction costs, i.e., the “expenditure” that customers must bear when shopping (e.g., travel time to the store, delivery fees of online shops); the extent of the assortment of the suppliers also plays a major role. Interestingly, it was also shown that companies or chains that are engaged in crosschannel distribution are more frequently chosen for purchase. The fear of a Corona infection and the obligation to wear a mask, on the other hand, played little or no role. A total of 13 scientific publications have emerged from the project.

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