ABSTRACT
Research on grocery shopping channel preferences has been growing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, few studies have utilized the discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit choices in hypothetical scenarios. Moreover, attitudinal factors, which may better explain preference heterogeneity, are rarely considered. Given that the evolution of shopping behavior in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic has huge implications for transportation planning and modeling, this study aims to examine consumers' grocery shopping channel preferences through a DCE that was constructed with three grocery shopping channels (home delivery, curbside pickup, and in-store) and five time–cost attributes (product price, shopping time, delivery time, delivery cost, and travel time). 8,603 responses were elicited from 1,229 Florida residents between February and April 2021. Information on various aspects of respondents' shopping attitudes as well as their socio-demographic and household attributes, grocery shopping activities, and distance to the grocery store were also collected. Using mixed logit modeling for analyses, results indicate that individuals with low education, in low- to middle-income earning households, with three or more household vehicles, and having full access to a vehicle tended to prefer in-store shopping. Also, perceived security risk, pro-alternative mobility options, pro-local store shopping, and shorter distances to grocery stores predisposed individuals toward in-store shopping. Alternatively, females, young and middle-aged individuals, workers, and individuals in large households tended to prefer home delivery and curbside pickup. Technology savviness, pro-environment, pro-online shopping, and shopping enjoyment were also drivers of home delivery and curbside pickup purchases, while cost and time consciousness did not show significant effects. Overall, the findings in this study have implications for retailers, transportation planners, and policymakers. © 2023 Tongji University and Tongji University Press
ABSTRACT
Space-time flexibility is defined as the extent to which individuals can participate in activities at different lo-cations and different times. High space-time flexibility of travel enables people more freedom to choose when and where to make trips and assists in achieving both environmental and social sustainability. Applying a quasi -experimental approach - propensity score matching - to data obtained from 624 interviews in Chengdu (China), this paper aims to examine the effects of metro accessibility on space-time flexibility of shopping travel for non -daily goods. The results show that people residing around metro stations (i.e., high calculated accessibility) have a higher level of space-time flexibility of shopping travel than those living elsewhere. Meanwhile, people who perceive easy access to metro services (i.e., high perceived accessibility) are also likely to have a higher level of space-time flexibility. The findings highlight the importance of metro accessibility from the perspective of time geography. In practice, improving calculated and perceived accessibility to metro services may be an effective urban planning strategy to increase residents' space-time flexibility of shopping travel and inform policy rec-ommendations for the design of sustainable cities.
ABSTRACT
Inequality to food access has always been a serious problem, yet it became even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated social inequality and reshaped essential travel. This study provides a holistic view of spatio-temporal changes in food access based on observed travel data for all grocery shopping trips in Columbus, Ohio, during and after the state-wide stay-at-home period. We estimated the decline and recovery patterns of store visits during the pandemic to identify the key socio-economic and built environment determinants of food shopping patterns. The results show a disparity: during the lockdown, store visits to dollar stores declined the least, while visits to big-box stores declined the most and recovered the fastest. Visits to stores in low-income areas experienced smaller changes even during the lockdown period. A higher percentage of low-income customers was associated with lower store visits during the lockdown period. Furthermore, stores with a higher percentage of white customers declined the least and recovered faster during the reopening phase. Our study improves the understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on food access disparities and business performance. It highlights the role of COVID-19 and similar disruptions on exposing underlying social problems in the US.