Are we moving online? Assessing the interactions between telework and grocery purchases, eating out and meal deliveries

Abstract

This study explores the impact of telework on shopping and travel behavior, explicitly addressing how increased telework adoption may influence online and in-store shopping activities and how these relationships might be mediated by the period of the week in which they occur, namely workdays vs weekends. The results show that frequent teleworkers tend to substitute in-store grocery shopping over weekends with online grocery shopping, especially during workdays, while also being more inclined to order meals online, in general, than to eat out on weekends. This behavior presents a stark contrast with those showing an in-store preference. In-store shopping preference is positively associated with activities to which telework frequency is negative or non-significant, such as shopping in-store for groceries on weekends and eating out on workdays and weekends. In-store shoppers will be older non-teleworkers, with older, less educated, and less affluent individuals being the ones less likely to telework and more likely to hold to previous habits built around a commute. Moreover, since non-teleworkers with a preference for online shopping also engage in meal deliveries during workdays and online grocery shopping on weekends, the expected delivery uptake can potentially impact residential areas through (e.g.) increased noise, curbside occupation and pedestrian-vehicle conflicts. These shifts in workplace preference and preferred shopping channels will influence travel demand, the location of economic activities, and how cities are structured, and will have to be considered in the development of policies that maximize their benefits while mitigating potential adverse effects.