E-shoppers and multimodal accessibility to in-store retail: An analysis of spatial and social effects
Introduction
These are challenging times for in-store retail activity at the city level. The unprecedented growth of e-shopping rates is generating both competing and complementing dynamics between e-shopping and in-store retail, with an impact on person-time travelled (Farag et al., 2006, Farag et al., 2007) and the in-store landscape (e.g., in-store retail closures) (Maat and Konings, 2018; Zhen et al., 2018). For example, frequent e-shoppers are likely to spend less time to travel to in-store retail, being able to access a limited number of such locations (Ferrell, 2005). That could originate a closure and re-location of certain in-store retail, negatively affecting population groups less-familiar with e-shopping (Ariza-Álvarez et al., 2019; Olsson et al., 2019). Furthermore, infrequent e-shoppers could be forced to travel longer distances to reach in-store retail. The COVID-19 pandemic has further intensified this trend (OECD, 2020), with a feasible increase of spatial accessibility variations in the long-term (van Wee and Witlox, 2021). Given the spatial and social effects of the described phenomenon, enhancing academic understanding of how multimodal accessibility to in-store retail varies between e-shopper groups is particularly pertinent.
An e-shopper group is conceived as a set of individuals with similar socio-economic characteristics and e-shopping habits. The particularities of each e-shopper group depend on their individual priorities, needs, and circumstances (Jaller and Pahwa, 2020; Rotem-Mindali and Weltevreden, 2013). The scientific approach of multimodal relative accessibility seems appropriate for gaining insight into how spatial accessibility to in-store retail varies between e-shopper groups as well as the associated effects (Chang and Liao, 2011; Kelobonye et al., 2019; Páez et al., 2010b, Páez et al., 2010a). This approach recognizes multimodal accessibility to major destinations as relative rather than universal for everyone, since people usually have different transport preferences, needs, and abilities, relying on their socio-economic realities, time constraints, priorities, and cultural norms (Bantis and Haworth, 2020; Dixit and Sivakumar, 2020). Multimodal relative accessibility is specifically defined as “a set of opportunities available to an individual with defined characteristics at a selected location, relative to an individual from a reference group at the same location” (Páez et al., 2010a, p.3). This notion of multimodal relative accessibility pays strong attention on identifying whether some population segments may experience accessibility-related disadvantages according to their e-shopping habits, transport preferences, and land-use configuration. Therefore, approaching accessibility from a relative perspective facilitates the identification of both specific population groups and places that are highly dependent on in-store retail (Arranz-López et al., 2019; Brand et al., 2020; Páez et al., 2010a; Rotem-Mindali, 2010).
The academic literature has paid limited attention to research the interface between e-shopping and multimodal spatial accessibility. While a majority of existing studies focus on the impact of e-shopping on the number of shopping trips (Edrisi and Ganjipour, 2016; Lee et al., 2017; Rotem-Mindali and Weltevreden, 2013; Shi et al., 2019), little is known about how variations in trip duration affect spatial accessibility and the subsequent link with types of e-shoppers (Van Wee, 2016). Gaining insight into the e-shoppers' accessibility patterns to retail may provide guidelines for addressing potential conflicts between e-shopping and in-store retail. There are also a persistent interest in academic studies in knowing how e-shoppers' behaviour impacts on motorized modes and trips, rather than on addressing research designs that follow a multimodal approach (Arranz-López et al., 2019; Etminani-Ghasrodashti and Hamidi, 2020; Lee et al., 2017). Using a multimodal framework to explore e-shopper accessibility (car, public transport, walking) to in-store retail can have significant implications for policy-making, particularly in overcoming potential accessibility disadvantages among vulnerable groups with limited e-shopping habits (e.g., seniors).
Building on these important issues, this paper explores the following research questions: Which are the time intervals that indicate shifts in spatial multimodal accessibility to reach in-store retail between e-shopper groups, and which are the spatial and social effects of such multimodal accessibility levels? The city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid Metropolitan Area, Spain) serves as the case study. First, a face-to-face questionnaire was disseminated during January and February 2020, capturing data on e-shopping habits, socio-economic characteristics, and travel time spent to reach in-store retail by multiple modes (car, public transport, and walking). Second, three groups of e-shoppers were identified using the k-modes clustering technique: Group #1, occasional e-shoppers with a car; Group #2, infrequent e-shoppers with a car; and Group #3, frequent e-shoppers without a car. Third, variations in distance-decay functions to reach in-store retail were analysed between the three e-shopper groups, using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Finally, a gravity-based model analysed and mapped the spatial effects of the e-shoppers' accessibility patterns, identifying multimodal accessibility places (MAPs) with different ranges of vulnerability/resistance to e-shopping. The obtained findings can serve as guidance to better incorporate e-shopping into land use and transport policy-making, with the aim to achieve more inclusive, equitable, and fair cities.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature on the impacts of e-shopping on transport and relative accessibility. Section 3 presents the study area and Section 4 details the research design. The key results are presented in Section 5, while Section 6 shares concluding remarks and highlights issues for further research.
Section snippets
E-shopper profiles, e-shopping activity, and the need for an accessibility-based approach
Previous research traditionally has paid attention to characterize e-shoppers from a socio-economic viewpoint. While existing studies differ over the influence of gender on buying online (Farag et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2017), it is well-known that certain types of product are powerful predictors of e-shopper gender. For example, women tend to buy clothes online more frequently, while for men it's electronics (Zhen et al., 2016). Age is a controversial variable; some studies show a decrease of
Alcalá de Henares
The city of Alcalá de Henares (197,562 inhabitants), located in the eastern part of the Madrid Metropolitan Area, Spain, served as the case study (Fig. 1). This city is part of a relevant industrial and logistics area, with a privileged location next to both Madrid (35 Km.) and a crossroad of national transport corridors.
Alcalá de Henares is promoting active and electric mobility (walking, cycling, electric scooters), as well as public transport use, through significant efforts by local
Research design
The research design follows a three-stage approach: (i) identification of e-shopper groups; (ii) analysis of distance-decay functions to reach in-store retail locations; and (iii) evaluation and mapping of spatial effects of multimodal accessibility for e-shopper groups.
Identification of e-shopper groups
Three e-shopper groups were identified along the main distinguishing characteristics: age, car ownership, e-shopping frequency, and perception of e-shopping as a time saver (Fig. 5).
- (i)
Group #1: Occasional e-shoppers with a car. Formed by 168 people, they are between 25 and 65 years old, own a car, occasionally buy online and perceive e-shopping as a time saver.
- (ii)
Group #2: Infrequent e-shoppers with a car. Made up of 45 people, they are between 40 and 75 years old, own a car, rarely or never buy
Conclusion and discussion
This study addresses the following research questions: Which are the time intervals that indicate shifts in spatial multimodal accessibility to reach in-store retail between e-shopper groups, and which are the spatial and social effects of such multimodal accessibility levels? Using the city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid Metropolitan Area, Spain) as case study, three e-shopper groups were identified: “occasional e-shoppers with a car”, “infrequent e-shoppers with a car”, and “frequent e-shoppers
Author statement
All persons who meet authorship criteria are listed as authors, and all authors certify that they have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content, including participation in the concept, design, analysis, writing, or revision of the manuscript. Furthermore, each author certifies that this material or similar material has not been and will not be submitted to or published in any other publication before its appearance in the Journal of Transport Geography.
Acknowledgements
This paper has been developed in the context of the following research projects: (i) iACCESS: The impacts of e-shopping on shopping travel behaviour. The project was founded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2020-2022); (ii) “iCITIES: Efectos urbanos y sociales del uso de internet para compras y trabajo.” Accion financiada por la Comunidad de Madrid en el marco del Convenio Plurianual con la Universidad Politecnica de Madrid en la lınea de actuacion estımulo a la investigacion de
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