PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2016, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (4): 476-486.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2016.04.008

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of e-shopping behavior of Nanjing residents:A case of books and clothes

Yuqing ZHANG1(), Feng ZHEN2,*(), Yongming ZHANG2   

  1. 1. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
    2. School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • Online:2016-04-27 Published:2016-04-27
  • Contact: Feng ZHEN E-mail:zhangyuqing_xy@163.com;zhenfeng@nju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41571146

Abstract:

With the rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT), e-shopping has increasingly become a significant part of today’s social and economic life, deeply influencing residents’ shopping behavior and the development of traditional retail trade. Residents’ shopping behavior differs in different countries, among different groups of people, and with different types of goods. This article analyzes the characteristics of e-shopping behavior of Nanjing residents and compares residents’ e-shopping behavior by distinguishing product types based on a sample survey. The survey was conducted in Nanjing City from April to June 2015 by a research group at Nanjing University, which resulted in 963 valid samples that were later applied for analysis of variance. The study result has important implications for understanding the interactions between e-shopping and in-store shopping, as well as the influence of online shopping on transportation and urban retail space. By comparing two types of products—books and clothes, the article summarizes the general characteristics of Nanjing residents’ e-shopping behavior based on shopping frequency, distance of shopping trips, and shopping attitudes. The result of one-way ANOVA shows that residents’ e-shopping behavior is a complicated process. Considering the two types of products, residents with different e-shopping frequencies clearly differ in socioeconomic attributes, spatial locations, Internet use and shopping habits, and shopping attitudes. Residents with different frequencies of shopping clothes online have significantly more dissimilarities, which means experience goods response more strongly to the new shopping mode. Specifically, people with a high frequency of shopping books online are often older (with an average age of about 33), have higher level of education and household monthly income, are more likely to use online search to get product information and less sensitive to prices. People with a high frequency of shopping clothes online are often younger (with an average age of about 30.4), have higher level of education and household monthly income, and low shopping accessibility in place of residence with an average trip distance of 20 minutes, more likely have rich experiences in using the Internet and conduct unexpected consumption, value the recreational function of shopping, and pursue fashion. The results of this study may provide some references and basic data for dissecting the relationships between online shopping and in-store shopping from a geographic perspective and examining trends of retail sales in the city.

Key words: Information & Communication Technology(ICT), e-shopping, types of goods, one-way ANOVA, Nanjing City