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
Accounting and Finance
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.
Publications
- (2019): A Hurdle Model Approach of Store Choice and Market Area Analysis in Grocery Retailing. Papers in Applied Geography 4 (4), S. 370-389
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2018.1519458) - (2019): Standorterfolg in Zeiten des Onlinehandels – Aufbau, Ergebnisse und planungsbezogene Implikationen einer modellgestützten Standortanalyse für die Elektrofachmärkte in der Region Mittlerer Oberrhein. Berichte. Geographie und Landeskunde 92 (1), S. 5-26
Wieland, T.
- (2020): Größere Discounter, kleinere Verbrauchermärkte und Onlineshops: Welche Rolle spielen die aktuellen Trends im Lebensmitteleinzelhandel für die Nahversorgung im ländlichen Raum? In: Schrenk, M. et al. (Hrsg.): REAL CORP 2020: Shaping Urban Change. Livable City Regions for the 21st Century. Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Urban Planning, Regional Development and Information Society. S. 401-411
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.48494/REALCORP2020.1048) - (2020): Standort, Wettbewerb oder Persönlichkeit: Wer oder was entscheidet über die Adoption des Onlinehandels als Vertriebskanal? In: Schrenk, M. et al. (Hrsg.): REAL CORP 2020: Shaping Urban Change. Livable City Regions for the 21st Century. Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Urban Planning, Regional Development and Information Society. S. 799-810
Wieland, T., Hoppe, A., Kramer, C.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.48494/REALCORP2020.1039) - (2021): Auf dem Weg zur digitalen Nahversorgung? Determinanten des Einkaufsverhaltens im Multi- und Cross-Channel-Kontext am Fallbeispiel des Lebensmitteleinzelhandels. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 79 (2), S. 116-135
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.14512/rur.53) - (2021): Identifying the Determinants of Store Choice in a Multi-Channel Environment: A Hurdle Model Approach. Papers in Applied Geography 7 (4), S. 343-371
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2021.1895875) - (2021): Ist der Onlinehandel Wettbewerbstreiber oder gar "Rettungsanker" für unsere Städte? Eine modellgestützte Analyse der Determinanten des Einkaufsverhaltens im Multi- und Cross-Channel-Kontext. In: Schrenk, M. et al. (Hrsg.): REAL CORP 2021. ... 26. Internat. Konferenz zu Stadtplanung und Regionalentwicklung in der Informationsgesellschaft. S. 469-480
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.48494/REALCORP2021.1035) - (2021): Spatial Shopping Behavior in a Multi-Channel Environment: A Discrete Choice Model Approach. REGION 8(2), S. 1-27
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.18335/region.v8i2.361) - (2022): A Micro‐Econometric Store Choice Model Incorporating Multi‐ and Omni‐Channel Shopping: The Case of Furniture Retailing in Germany. Geographical Analysis
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12308) - (2022): Pandemic Shopping Behavior: Did Voluntary Behavioral Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic Increase the Competition between Online Retailers and Physical Retail Locations? Papers in Applied Geography
Wieland, T.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2022.2106581)
